SANJAY

  patraḿ puṣpaḿ phalaḿ toyaḿ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad ahaḿ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ [ Bg. 9.26] "My devotees..." God is not... The Lord is not in need of our offering, but still, He is so kind, if we offer Him something... Patraḿ puṣpaḿ phalaḿ toyam. Not that we have to offer him very luxurious things, very high valuable things. He says that even a piece of leaf, patraḿ, a piece of flower, patraḿ puṣpam, a piece of fruit and little water... That means these four things can be secured by any poor man in any part of the world. There is no botheration for securing a piece of leaf, a piece of flower or a little water or a piece of fruit. Any poor man, any rich man, can secure. And the Lord says, patraḿ puṣpaḿ phalaḿ toyaḿ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati: [Bg. 9.26] "Anyone who offers Me these four things with devotion, with love, I accept them. I accept them." Why? Now, tad ahaḿ bhaktyā upahṛtam aśnāmi. "Because that is secured with...

  New York, March 30, 1966 Prabhupāda:  This is a song which a devotee is praying and asking his mind, bhajahū re mana. Mana means mind. Because, at the present moment, our mind is the driver, and this body is just like a car... In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated, bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā [Bg. 18.61 ] . This body is a car made of this material nature. The living entity, what is said, "I," I am now seated on this car prepared by the nature, material nature. And the driver is the mind. And the driver is not in my control. The driver is taking me anywhere he likes. You see? I am... Personally, I am not able to drive. I have engaged one driver, which is called the mind, and this body is the car, and the mind is carrying me like driver anywhere it likes. So therefore the proprietor, I, I am, I am requesting the driver... When I am helpless, so I am requesting, "My dear mind," bhajahū re mana, "my dear mind..." Mana means mind. "You...

Think of Your Problems as Potential Teachers Most people would agree that one of the greatest sources of stress in our lives is our problems. To a certain degree this is true. A more accurate assessment, however, is that the amount of stress we feel has more to do with how we relate to our problems than it does with the problems themselves. In other words, how much of a problem do we make our problems? Problems come in many shapes, sizes, and degrees of seriousness, but all have one thing in common: They present us with something that we wish were different. The more we struggle with our problems and the more we want them to go away, the worse they seem and the more stress they cause us. Ironically, and luckily, the opposite is also true. When we accept our problems as an inevitable part of life, when we look at them as potential teachers, it's as if a weight has been lifted off our shoulders. Think of a problem that you have struggled with for quite some time. How have you dealt w...