My birthday was on a Wednesday November 9th and I turned 28. This year was a very special birthday.Why you may ask? Because my guru Maharaj was here on my birthday and I felt that i got some purification out of it not that I really deserved it but it was also Krishna's arrangement this time that I could be here in Toronto and with my guru Maharaj on my birthday. He was the first one to say happy birthday to me this year.
The temple was short on help with cooking and Maharaj had volunteered to cook the breakfast and this was on the morning of my birthday. His cooking was great. I had two servings of what he made. He had made kitri and oatmeal and he had cut up some fruits and he made the best chapatis! They were tomato chapatis.
Then Maharaj had given class. He had given me his flower garland because he knew it was my birthday. Talk about mercy! And not only that later in the day at lunch I was sitting with Maharaj and a couple guests who he said are George Harrison fans. I was telling Maharaj that I felt I was in the wrong decade and the one guest said I probably was there in the past in my past life. Then Maharaj said to me that I will probably be finishing up in this life and go home back to Godhead back to Krishna and not have to come back here to this Earth. I was left stunned when he told me that. Back in Janurary Maharaj had said that if I keep doing what I am doing with my seva and sadhana that I'd go back home back to Krishna as well. So this was twice he has said this to me.I don't deserve to have this kind of mercy from him or blessings. I still have ego and tolerance issues to work on but Maharaj believes that that will get worked out in due course of time.
Over all it was a very quiet birthday. I did not have a party or anything which is fine because I really don't like being the center of attention and I don't want to be glorified for anything. I just don't want to get puffed up by that. My mom had sent me a birthday package that she likes to do every year for me My dad's side of the family got me a plane ticket to California so that was my birthday present from them.
I hope maybe I can be here again for my birthday but that is up to Krishna.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
This Morning's Class
This morning's class was supposed to be given by Rupa Nuga prabhu but he had asked Maharaj to give the class.Lately they have been choosing different topics to talk about and this particular topic we talked about was balance in spiritual life.
Maharaj says we should be steady and stay in the middle when it comes to spiritual life not going this way or that way as we may become confused or lost and cannot regain our balance spiritually. It's like riding a bike. A child is on training wheels so that he or she will not fall off the bike.As they get older they can learn to ride the bike straight and not wobble it and lose balance that would make them fall off.So Spirutal life is like that in Krishna Conciousness. I've had this happen to me off and on but I still pull through and stay Krishna Concious. In this age of Kali it's not easy to stay balanced as we are always in maya(illusion). Im still on "training wheels" in Krishna Conciousness. Im not that advanced and im not a first class devotee as I still have much to learn yet.
So at the end of class today. Maharaj asked some of us if we could look up Bhagavad Gita verses that relate to "balance." I found about four of them so far. Still have to check the rest of the Bhagavad Gita for the verses.I hope I found the right ones. I'll find out when I show him the verses.I like it when Maharaj gives us these little assignments. I actually want him to give me more assignments like this to read from the Gita. I like to look up certain verses in it. I find that alot of the answers to my problems are all in the Bhagavad Gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivendenta Swami Prabhupada.Again I grately thank Srila Prabhupada for giving us this wonderful book that Krishna Himself spoke from. A lot of my problems were cured from this book alone. I still have to work on some of my problems but other than that I've been so much better than I used to be before I became Krishna Concious and my life is more balanced and less stressed. Krishna Conciousness can make your life more purified if you just try it and give it a chance instead of judging it in your own words. You have to know what it REALLY teaches before you judge it as something mundane or fake.It's not fake. It's very real and it has REAL knowledge about the aim of life. Being in Krishna Conciousness is awesome I think. They make it more fun and interesting to learn about God. And like the topic was about...it helps to keep your life in balance.:)
Thank you Srila Prabhupada. All glories to you!
Maharaj says we should be steady and stay in the middle when it comes to spiritual life not going this way or that way as we may become confused or lost and cannot regain our balance spiritually. It's like riding a bike. A child is on training wheels so that he or she will not fall off the bike.As they get older they can learn to ride the bike straight and not wobble it and lose balance that would make them fall off.So Spirutal life is like that in Krishna Conciousness. I've had this happen to me off and on but I still pull through and stay Krishna Concious. In this age of Kali it's not easy to stay balanced as we are always in maya(illusion). Im still on "training wheels" in Krishna Conciousness. Im not that advanced and im not a first class devotee as I still have much to learn yet.
So at the end of class today. Maharaj asked some of us if we could look up Bhagavad Gita verses that relate to "balance." I found about four of them so far. Still have to check the rest of the Bhagavad Gita for the verses.I hope I found the right ones. I'll find out when I show him the verses.I like it when Maharaj gives us these little assignments. I actually want him to give me more assignments like this to read from the Gita. I like to look up certain verses in it. I find that alot of the answers to my problems are all in the Bhagavad Gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivendenta Swami Prabhupada.Again I grately thank Srila Prabhupada for giving us this wonderful book that Krishna Himself spoke from. A lot of my problems were cured from this book alone. I still have to work on some of my problems but other than that I've been so much better than I used to be before I became Krishna Concious and my life is more balanced and less stressed. Krishna Conciousness can make your life more purified if you just try it and give it a chance instead of judging it in your own words. You have to know what it REALLY teaches before you judge it as something mundane or fake.It's not fake. It's very real and it has REAL knowledge about the aim of life. Being in Krishna Conciousness is awesome I think. They make it more fun and interesting to learn about God. And like the topic was about...it helps to keep your life in balance.:)
Thank you Srila Prabhupada. All glories to you!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
A bit of instruction from Guru
Well today Maharaj gave me a little instruction.
I told him that it bothered me seeing him mopping the floors by himself. I cannot mop floors due to a bad back but I helped Maharaj do other things and stayed near by him so that he's not doing all this cleaning himself.
Maharaj told me today that I should read Chaitanya Caritamrta about when Lord Chaitanya Himself cleaned the Gundica Temple. Unfortunately I do not have these volumes to read but thankfully it is on the internet so I started to read it. I hope the botique gift shop has this particular volume with this chapter in it because I won't always have the internet to read it from.
As I was reading this chapter in Madhya Lila volume about Lord Chaitanya i discovered that that day when I was helping Maharaj, it was just like the past time of Lord Chaitanya and His devotees working together to clean Krishna's Temple. Of course we cannot imitate pure devotees like that in this age of Kali but we can follow in their footsteps Srila Prabhupada has said. There were other devotees around though when I was helping Maharaj but I was the only one helping him.I was a bit upset about that. I did not want Maharaj to be doing all that by himself. I stayed to help him until he was done cleaning. I refused to leave him do all that himself. I wish some of the other men would have helped but there was no one and Krishna was kind enough to have had sent me to help Maharaj. My Guru Maharaj is so humble though. He told me he had enjoyed cleaning the floor but I still felt uncomfortable and upset about him doing that himself.
So since then I've been trying to keep the floor clean everyday. I told Mahavendra Puri that I needed help in mopping the floor everyday as Maharaj wants it done everyday. As I've said due to a bad back I cannot mop the whole entire floor myself as I would like to to follow Maharaj's instructions. :( But Maharaj seemed pleased enough with me sweeping the floors at least. He understands I can't mop floors. He instructed me not to let the cleaning go of the temple so Im trying my best to keep up with it as much as I can. I will have to keep this instruction with me when I live in the Los Angeles Temple. One must obey's Guru's instructions otherwise one cannot spiritually advance and they will falldown. that's no joke it's the truth. Im glad Maharaj told me to read Chaitanya Caritamrta. I wish I could have the whole volume set now since Maharaj told me to read it. I got inspired just by him alone saying that to me.
I told him that it bothered me seeing him mopping the floors by himself. I cannot mop floors due to a bad back but I helped Maharaj do other things and stayed near by him so that he's not doing all this cleaning himself.
Maharaj told me today that I should read Chaitanya Caritamrta about when Lord Chaitanya Himself cleaned the Gundica Temple. Unfortunately I do not have these volumes to read but thankfully it is on the internet so I started to read it. I hope the botique gift shop has this particular volume with this chapter in it because I won't always have the internet to read it from.
As I was reading this chapter in Madhya Lila volume about Lord Chaitanya i discovered that that day when I was helping Maharaj, it was just like the past time of Lord Chaitanya and His devotees working together to clean Krishna's Temple. Of course we cannot imitate pure devotees like that in this age of Kali but we can follow in their footsteps Srila Prabhupada has said. There were other devotees around though when I was helping Maharaj but I was the only one helping him.I was a bit upset about that. I did not want Maharaj to be doing all that by himself. I stayed to help him until he was done cleaning. I refused to leave him do all that himself. I wish some of the other men would have helped but there was no one and Krishna was kind enough to have had sent me to help Maharaj. My Guru Maharaj is so humble though. He told me he had enjoyed cleaning the floor but I still felt uncomfortable and upset about him doing that himself.
So since then I've been trying to keep the floor clean everyday. I told Mahavendra Puri that I needed help in mopping the floor everyday as Maharaj wants it done everyday. As I've said due to a bad back I cannot mop the whole entire floor myself as I would like to to follow Maharaj's instructions. :( But Maharaj seemed pleased enough with me sweeping the floors at least. He understands I can't mop floors. He instructed me not to let the cleaning go of the temple so Im trying my best to keep up with it as much as I can. I will have to keep this instruction with me when I live in the Los Angeles Temple. One must obey's Guru's instructions otherwise one cannot spiritually advance and they will falldown. that's no joke it's the truth. Im glad Maharaj told me to read Chaitanya Caritamrta. I wish I could have the whole volume set now since Maharaj told me to read it. I got inspired just by him alone saying that to me.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Diwali Sunday Program
Today's Sunday program was very nice. I didn't stay all the way at the end as it got a little too crowded for me.I recorded most of the kirtan at the end.
The Deities were looking beautiful as always. Today i spent most of the day in Tulasi'sgreen house transplanting her. I still have a few more to go yet. I will not be taking care of her anymore after this week. I have to train Rashmin how to take care of her since I will be leaving soon. I have one more month left.
Anyway back to the Sunday program.I attended the 6pm Aarti. And then took a short break.I bought two new photo of Srila Prabhupada. I feel I don't have enough photos of him. So these two will be nice to take with me when I go back to the United States.
When i went back into the temple I discovered that my guru Maharaj and BhaktiVasudeva Swami Maharaj would be giving the lecture this evening. So I sat through the whole thing. I am always eager to hear my guru give lectures. He's the only one who can keep me awake lol. I try to be attentive though to other devotees. That can be a challenge sometimes. Both my maharaj and BhaktiVasudeva Maharaj explained about Diwali, and also about chanting rounds and performing kirtans. They also talked about the age of Kali Yuga.
Then after that the lights dimmed and we all chanted with Srila Prabhupada. It was a nice feeling surrounded by devotees and chanting. Lastly they led a fabulous kirtan at the end. It got too crowded for me at the end because I felt I was being pushed around too much with people making their way in the temple room so I left at the end. I spoke to maharaj for a few minutes also and told him I want to send a letter to my Cleveland devotee friends from me to be read to them. So I will send it with him. I really wish I could go to Cleveland but unfortunately I cannot. Krishna wishes me to remain here and then after that He is sending me to Los Angeles.
It was a nice Sunday. I was very quiet for most of the day. I've been pretty quiet lately. I just get into those moods where Im just quiet and stay in my own space. Sometimes I prefer it that way.
The Deities were looking beautiful as always. Today i spent most of the day in Tulasi'sgreen house transplanting her. I still have a few more to go yet. I will not be taking care of her anymore after this week. I have to train Rashmin how to take care of her since I will be leaving soon. I have one more month left.
Anyway back to the Sunday program.I attended the 6pm Aarti. And then took a short break.I bought two new photo of Srila Prabhupada. I feel I don't have enough photos of him. So these two will be nice to take with me when I go back to the United States.
When i went back into the temple I discovered that my guru Maharaj and BhaktiVasudeva Swami Maharaj would be giving the lecture this evening. So I sat through the whole thing. I am always eager to hear my guru give lectures. He's the only one who can keep me awake lol. I try to be attentive though to other devotees. That can be a challenge sometimes. Both my maharaj and BhaktiVasudeva Maharaj explained about Diwali, and also about chanting rounds and performing kirtans. They also talked about the age of Kali Yuga.
Then after that the lights dimmed and we all chanted with Srila Prabhupada. It was a nice feeling surrounded by devotees and chanting. Lastly they led a fabulous kirtan at the end. It got too crowded for me at the end because I felt I was being pushed around too much with people making their way in the temple room so I left at the end. I spoke to maharaj for a few minutes also and told him I want to send a letter to my Cleveland devotee friends from me to be read to them. So I will send it with him. I really wish I could go to Cleveland but unfortunately I cannot. Krishna wishes me to remain here and then after that He is sending me to Los Angeles.
It was a nice Sunday. I was very quiet for most of the day. I've been pretty quiet lately. I just get into those moods where Im just quiet and stay in my own space. Sometimes I prefer it that way.
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