Daily Thoughts

Svagatam!

Dear Readers, thanks for being here.  

"Daily Thoughts" is the place where I add short entries on a daily basis, stuff that I feel is too short to post as an article.  Please check here often.  Haribol.  I love you all and pray for your spiritual success.

Srila Prabhupada instructed us to write down our realizations.  "Two lines, four lines, write your realizations."  I have been writing down thoughts or realizations when they come to me, or pasting wonderful verses I would like to share with you when I run across them in my daily reading of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita and Ramayana.  Srila Prabhupada also told us to write for purification, not publication.  So here on WTNF, we are trying to depend on Krsna to speak through us, and we are also trying to write as a humble offering to the Lord.

Here's one of my favorite quotes from Srila Prabhupada: "There is need of a clue as to how humanity can become one in peace, friendship and prosperity with a common cause. Srimad-Bhägavatam will fill this need, for it is a cultural presentation for the respiritualization of the entire human society." (SB, Preface)

Thought: The purpose of human life is to uncover our love for Lord Sri Krsna.  Krsna has kindly set up human society so that each and every one of us has to answer to someone else.  It's like the guru-parampara where every disciple has a guru he answers to, and in turn, that disciple becomes a guru and his disciple obeys him, and it goes all the way back to Krsna.  In a family, the husband/father is the leader.  Women are supposed to obey and serve their husbands and be the first guru for their children.  Husbands are instructed to obey their guru and lead their wives.  Krsna instructs Arjuna to obey Him and serve Him according to His desire, and He instructs us to obey and serve our husbands according to His desire.  If we're disobeying Krsna or His representative in the form of our husband, how can we be a guru to our children?  Our children are watching us and learning by our example.  When we obey our husbands and serve them according to Krsna's plan, our children learn how to be obedient and dutiful.  The whole idea is that once we learn how to be obedient and dutiful, we can then learn how to love Krsna.  If we're disobeying Krsna's representative, how can we love Krsna?  Krsna knows our hearts.  How is this love if we don't follow His instructions to surrender to our immediate guru, our pati-guru, whom Krsna has kindly arranged for us to follow?

Thought: Prabhupada said "this must be observed" about two things: shyness and respecting the husband's need to be in the superior position.

Thought: How to have a good marriage?  First of all, you have to really want it.  If you want to always be right, or if you want to be honored, you need to clean those desires out of your heart before you can have a successful marriage. 

"She is a true wife who is clean, expert, chaste, pleasing to the husband, and truthful." (Canakya Pandita, Niti-sastra, IV.13) 

One aspect of practicing femininity is to depend on our husband.  The quality of dependence in women is attractive to men.  Because men's bodies are stronger than women's, it is their natural inclination to protect and provide for women.  When we assume our own natural roles as the weaker sex, our men tend to step up to the plate and offer their assistance.  This is very satisfying to a man to be needed in his masculine role.  And when our men are satisfied, we become happier and feel more secure in our roles as feminine women. 

Realization: Lord Caitanya is so merciful.  He came to this earth only 500 years ago as both Radha and Krsna combined.  Many incarnations of Krsna can be found represented in their arca-vigraha forms on this planet.  Lord Caitanya also can be found in His Deity form, blessing devotees all over the world with His merciful darshan.  But Lord Caitanya left more than His Deity form.  He left the Holy Names as well!  He left us the maha-mantra, in which He is present as the names of both Radha and Krsna, available to us at all times and in all places to associate intimately with and take shelter of constantly, if we desire.  Talk about MERCY!!!! 

When you're depressed and down, think about something or someone you love and your spirits will gradually lift until you begin to feel happy.  Yesterday, I was feeling down.  I had been sick for several days and couldn't do my normal duties.  My japa was half-hearted, my Deities were neglected and every day for the last week, I have barely been able to finish sixteen rounds, what to speak of cook, clean, do laundry and take care of my Deities and my family.  My hair was dirty and I looked terrible.  So my spirits were sinking lower and lower until I realized yesterday that I needed to do something about the state of my consciousness and my overall mood.  I was desperate.  So I forced myself to think of something positive.  I thought about my favorite Deities: Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman at Juhu Temple.  I thought about Lord Jagannatha on His Ratha in Salem and Bangalore Ratha-yatras.  I remembered how tasty the kirtans were during our travels in India.  Slowly, I noticed my spirits lifting.  I kept thinking about my favorite Deities and about Lord Jagannatha's Ratha-yatra until I went to sleep last night.  When I woke up this morning, there was no more depression and I actually felt better, not only emotionally, but physically, too!  

It's interesting that even when husbands are not acting according to expectations, they still feel the need to be in the superior position.  And this must be honored.