Gift of human life

• Some realizations from this week:
• Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead
• We are parts and parcels of Krishna.
• We have an eternal relationship with Krishna which we have forgotten.
• Krishna has very mercifully given us this human form of life, which we have got after millions of lifetimes, to be able to remember our forgotten relationship with him.
• We can remember and go back to our home in this very lifetime.
• The only means to remember is to chant the Holy Name and perform devotional service of sharing this gift with everyone. 
• We should take full advantage of the gift we have received by being serious in our devotional practice otherwise everything will be lost and we have no guarantee how long it will take us to again have all these ideal conditions.
• Krishna has given me kids, which are a very important responsibility. He feels I will be able to help them in their journey to go back home in this lifetime. I should provide the suitable environment to help them grow in their spiritual practice in this lifetime. 
• To grow spiritually - chant rounds sincerely, read Srila Prabhupada's books, Devotee association, Deity worship and always remember Vrindavan vaas.

Reflections from Govardhan Yatra 2017

• Gurudev walks fast during Parikrama. He will take us back home back to Godhead, but if we don't do our endeavor, we can be left behind. Hence, we have to do our bit to keep up on the boat which is going directly back Home. 
• Just give this lifetime to Krsna, there have been multiple lifetimes I've enjoyed for myself, this lifetime give it to Krsna.
• Many times during Karthik, I remembered why I'm here, alone leaving family, spending so much time and money and helped me realize, I'm here to serve my Gurudeva and the Dhaam and the Vaishnavas. That meditation helped me to always remained focused in serving. 
• Always give your 100% in serving with your body, mind and words.
• When you are falling behind during parikrama, all we need to do is increase our step by a little centimeter to catch up. Same with spiritual practice, try to increase our step by a little bit and we will start seeing differences.
• Magical chanting at Radha Kunda. Krsna gave me a bhakti molecule to allow me to go deeper in my practice.
• Always cry out to Krsna, Please help me Please help me and He will help you.
• Everyone notices when you do service for sake of just serving others and not for personal credit. So serve in the right mood. Give everything to please Krsna, Srila Prabhupada and Gurudeva.
• Chant very very attentively and Krsna will reveal as we surrender to the process.
• Lotus feet of Gurudeva
• Always have a sankalpa/prayer before we start parikrama, chanting etc and we can meditate on that prayer during our service.
• Be focused while doing seva so we can do seva in the right mood. When doing parikrama for example Gurudeva was focussed on that seva to Giriraja.
• We are ornaments going around when doing parikrama like a flower garland. Giriraja remembers, oh this jiva is back.
• Over time we will see affect. 
• When doing parikrama, there are many things which come in our way, but we have to be focused on our seva and be fixed to complete our parikrama. Same way, during chanting many things will come our way but we have to be fixed. Same way in life, we will have many items to distract us but we need to be fixed on our path of KC
• This gift is very very precious and we have no guarantee if we will again get access to it in our next life, we have to take advantage of it in this life time and if we sincerely follow the process we can go back home back to Godhead in this lifetime only!
• Don't focus on seeing Krishna but focus on Krishna seeing you, same way focus on Gurudeva seeing you with you seva instead of you seeing Gurudeva.
• Have compassion for all Vaishnavas.
• Study Srila Prabhupada's books, everything is there in them.
• Chant your rounds very very sincerely.

Reflections from work layoff

Nov 8th 2017, I got my layoff notice and it was something I wasn't expecting. I realized this is how material life is: Things happen suddenly when you least expect it. I also realized how important it is to always be ready and have that firm faith so these things don't affect us. During the process of searching for a job, I realized that this was Krsna's plan all along. I have been praying to Krsna to help me get a job so I'm able to have a good schedule, one which I can follow and have a good work, life balance. I realized Krsna was directly intervening to help me come closer to him. My faith has increased going through this process of losing a job, searching for a job and seeing Krsna always helping me. I'm hoping I always remember this and multiple other instances where Krsna has helped me and constantly be devoted to Krsna in good or bad. Always be able to be engaged in His service.

Reflections on getting sick

I have a high fever and body ache. Last night it was very hard to even breathe as my airways were blocked and I was breathing through my mouth, very uncomfortable. It made me realize, that at time of death, I'm not only going to be in a similar situation but only worse, probably on a hospital bed with no ability to move or share with others how I'm feeling as I wouldn't have the strength to express myself. My only hope would be to think about Lord Krsna's lotus feet and surrender myself to Him.

Then, I realized, well who knows when death is going to come, it might happen today, tomorrow etc, so it's very important to take this process very seriously and be able to take full advantage of this human form of life. This is the boat provided by Krsna to be able to cross this material ocean of birth and death. Sometimes (most of the times) we take this process for granted but by devotee association and reading Srila Prabhupada's books we understand what a precious gift we have received.

Praying to all Vaishnavas to bless me so I can take this process seriously. Hare Krsna!