Srila Prabhupada: Everywhere, in the office, there is some immediate boss. So you have to please him. That is service. Suppose in office, in a department there is office superintendent. And if you do in your own way, “Yes, I'm doing my business,” and the office superintendent is not pleased, do you think that kind of service is nice? No. Similarly, everywhere we have got immediate boss. So we must work. That is systematic. If everyone manufactures, invents his own way of life, then there must...

The monkeys of Raman Reti can undoubtedly be cute. But are they wise? Mostly they use their amazing climbing skills to wander from tree to roof to balcony for the purpose of foraging for soft leaves, berries, or other eatables. When they're not eating they fight, mate, or sleep. But, however, I've noted that they can also be clever and quite brave. Many strongly built males will always fiercely fight to protect from attack the young within their family. That can be sa...

Most devotees’ lives and views on devotional service change as their ashram changes. When several devotees pass through ashram changes at approximately the same time-or even if one respected devotee within a temple changes his ashram-a temple can become affected. My writing down these developmental stages, which is similar for both individual devotees and temples (If the majority of devotees within a temple are in a similar ashram situation, it can be said that that temple is at that particular stage of development.), does not seem revolutionary, for these stages have ...

Once, on the Hyderabad farm during a morning walk, Srila Prabhupada was asked whether a particular mantra could be chanted within the temple. Srila Prabhupada's reply was that there was nothing wrong with the mantra, but our principle should be to not change anything. Yet, on another occasion, while he was taking his massage in Melbourne during 1975, I heard Srila Prabhupada explain the reason for his success in preaching in the West as allowing women to live within the temples of the Krsna cons...

One fundamental requirement for active listening is the capacity to suspend the judging-propensity. Resist the temptation to immediately offer words of advice or throw out pat preachy lines. The general rule is to not advice unless you are quite sure the listener wishes to accept your words: “advice only when hired” is a saying used by professional counselors in this connection. Instructing one who is disturbed is usually not effective because the troubled person's turbulent mind will not al...

According to the Bhagavad-gita, one's activities can either be in goodness, passion, or ignorance. There is no being existing, either here or among the demigods in the higher planetary systems, which is freed from these three modes born of material nature. Bg. 18.40. Teachers will be affected by the modes of nature. Their style of teaching and discipline will, therefore, also be affected. In this chapter we analyze how the spectrum of discipline techniques are influenced by the three modes of ma...

Kamsa was thinking: "Simply hearing Krsna's name causes my heart to tremble. By some trick, by some clever plan, He must be killed. Already I have tried plan after plan, each one more clever than the last, but all have failed. They were useless." As he thought in this way, Kamsa walked out of the palace with one of his spies and asked him, "According to what you have seen, whom does Krsna love the most?" The spy reported, "Lord, I think Krsna is most filled with love for His calves." Kamsa then ordered, "Now return to your home." Kamsa then turned to another attendant: "S...

Desiring to milk the cows, the gopas met with Krsna, who tastefuly performs all artistic feats and derives pleasure from all that He does. Moving His lotus eyes in all directions, Krsna milked the cows with great fun and affection.

Prabhupada: I have faith in you. Now, I give sometimes this example. Just like you go to a barber shop, and you put your neck like this, and he is with the razor. So unless you have faith, "No, he is good man. He will not cut my throat," how can you do so?