Let the mercy pour down

Shoot for goals you think are impossible to achieve. Don’t just shoot for chanting sixteen rounds; make an effort to chant better rounds than you could ever imagine. Don’t just do service; think of how to do it better than you ever thought possible. This is how to attract the mercy required to achieve these goals.

What Forgiveness Is and Is Not ?

Forgiveness is:

• Giving up all hope for a better past
• Giving up the resentment to which you are entitled
• Returning unkind acts with kindness
• Taking responsibility for how you feel
• Healing your wounds
• A trainable skill that everyone can learn and practice
• Living in the present instead of being controlled by the past
• Taking back your power
• Becoming a hero instead of a victim
• A means of releasing negative energy that could be potentiallydamaging to your mental and physical health
• Your choice
• The virtue of the brave
• Giving kindness
• Showing mercy
• Walking in another’s shoes
• An act of love
• Understanding and accepting other people
• Breaking the emotional bond you have with your offender
• The attribute of the strong
• Setting oneself free
• Forgiving oneself
• Leading us to the transcendental realm

Forgiveness is not:

• Forgetting that something painful happened
• Giving up your feelings
• Denying or minimizing your hurt
• Condoning unkindness
• Excusing poor behavior (making a wrong a right)
• Reconciling with the offender (although you may choose to)
• Telling the offender you have forgiven them (although you may choose to)

Chanting is a relationship

Chanting is not just a process, it is a relationship. You and the holy name are together for two hours every day. If you are conscious of this while you chant, your chanting will dramatically improve.

Walking is good for your health

The Best Exercise is Walking

Lots of walking is good for your health.

Walk away from maya when she invites you to play with her.

Walk away from your mind when it invites you to do something that is not Krsna consciousness.

Walk away from arguments, anger, envy, jealousy.

Walk away from those who criticize devotees.

Walk away from any thoughts that discourage you.

Walk away from fears that stifle your goals.

Walk away from people whose association is detrimental to your bhakti.

The more you walk away from anything that is not favorable to your Krishna Consciousness, the more you walk towards Krishna.

So keep walking. It is good for your spiritual health.

The Mind Won’t Easily Surrender

When we decide to become devotees our minds do not agree. The mind goes on as if nothing had changed.