Celebration of Independence

Here in the USA today is Independence Day, a celebration of that day in 1776 when the US declared independence from Great Britain. It is a national holiday, and everything shuts down so that everyone is free to celebrate their independence.

But are they really independent? As long as we are under the influence of three modes of material nature, we are not independent. We remain entangledly bound in the clutches of illusion.

So instead of becoming all excited to celebrate the independence of one nation from another nature, we should cultivate pure devotional service to the Supreme Person so that at every minute we can celebrate our independence from birth, death, old age, and disease order to become factually independent from the binding influence of the material nature.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: How to Rise Above Job Stresses?

For this entire week I have been "acting-president" of the hat company I work for. Taking on so many new responsibilities, and so many new stresses alike. When I read your "Thought for the Day" I was thinking about how you are setting foot in different countries each week. You answer 100's of emails, and you do it all for Krishna. On top of it all, when I have the opportunity to sit with you in a room one-on-one, I feel as if I am your only disciple. That may be very selfish, but it's the truth. I am so thankful that Krishna put you on this planet at this time to help the world better understand the causeless mercy of the Supreme. Let alone, the small speck that is me.

Thank you, Gurudeva.

How can I better rise above the stresses of my daily job, and do this job for Krishna? Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with stress.

Fully surrendered,
Sukhada Dasa

Answer: Become Surcharged with Bhakti

For a stress free day, rise early in the morning before sunrise. No later than 4:00 am is the ideal time. Take your bath. Dress yourself in devotional clothing and decorate your body with tilaka. Then after offering obeisances to Guru and Krishna, sing the Gurvastakam prayers with great feeling and devotion, chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra on your Japa mala beads, study the Srimad Bhagavatam, and have a Krishna prasadam breakfast. Now you are fully surcharged to handle and conquer over any and all stresses that the material energy may hurl at you throughout the day.

And once you get to work the best way to rise above the stresses of your job is to see that this entire material world is a special arrangement of the Lord to help you reconnect yourself with Him. There is nothing here that is absolutely important save and except your fully surrendering yourself at the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna. The things and events of this world only have genuine importance when they are offered fully in the Lord's service. In this mood you should enthusiastically and expertly conduct your job for the pleasure of Krishna for He is your ultimate boss.

Doing your job for the pleasure of Krishna means that all of the money earned from your job is Krishna's money. It is not your money. He has entrusted that money unto you for spending in a Krishna conscious way. In other words, you should provide your family with a comfortable Krishna conscious life style, save for their future needs, and beyond that the remaining balance should be donated to those who are pushing forward this Krishna consciousness movement for the deliverance of the suffering souls of this age.

In this way you will cultivate detachment and gain deeper and deeper practical realization of how everything throughout the entire world is the property of Krishna and should all be utilized in His service. By such an enlightened lifestyle, you will be an acharya, someone who teaches the principles of Krishna consciousness by his example, and you will qualify yourself to regain your original, eternal position as an associate of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His unlimited pastimes in the spiritual world.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari