Q: What should be the thought that comes to mind when we see a situation wherein there is opportunity to enjoy material nature?

How we can help improve our devotee relationships? What we do with others should be what we do with ourselves. Or, what we do with ourselves will be what we do with other people. As we move along, our life may bump into another person's life, and by associating together for some time we will come to know more about them…We may not know the circumstances of life of someone who is coming from a different culture and upbringing, which explains why they are carrying on in certain ways. The ways they are carrying on are exhibiting their spirituality or shortcoming that makes the present make-up of that person.

Q) What is most pleasing to the spiritual master or the preceptor?
A) The most pleasing thing is that the devotee becomes a pure lover of Krishna. Like Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita 8.7, that when one is mindfully absorbed in Krishna, with intelligence engaged in Krishna's service, he will attain Krishna without a doubt. So, become like that and be like that.

Q) What is your advice on anger management?
A) Anger management means don't have any anger. Just like the best way to manage stress is not to have any stress or anxiety. That is Vaikuntha. So, be a Vaikuntha man or woman. The same is true with anger. But, if there is some anger, and if we are not fully attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then the advice of Bhismadeva is to put something on the other side of the pan scale. That is forgiveness. Anger is when we are holding something against the other person. So let go of that something we are holding against the other person. Practice forgiveness. It elevates the quality of goodness.

Discipline is not a word that most people like, because it sounds harsh. However, there is also a loving kind of discipline, wherein discipline means making oneself obedient to something that will elevate one in a spiritual sense. In Srila Prabhupada's words, "there is no disciple without discipline". It is kind of self-evident. How can one be a disciple without being disciplined? So, discipline is a voluntary function, one in which we submit to the instruction or the understanding that is being imparted.

Q) Could you explain a little bit more about the feeling of guru being present in the form of his instructions and the mood of separation?
A) There are times when Srila Prabhupada said that he felt separation from his spiritual master. I have also heard Srila Prabhupada say how he always felt the presence of his spiritual master. Feeling separation, in part, has to do with the physical presence. The physical presence of a person who you care about very much is very nice and it is very wonderful.

If you don't want to have conflicts life after life, resolve them now.

Adapted from a lecture by His Holiness Romapada Swami entitle Life of Ramanujacarya (Part 1) given in Hyderabad during January 2009.

The call for co-operation is to put the instruction that the spiritual master has given first, and our will in the second place. We have to learn how to subordinate our will to the collective will. Just like in the unit of a family, the individual members should understand first and foremost that each one is a devotee of the Lord, and that there are some opportunities for service provided by Guru, Krsna and the community of Vaishnavas. It is a service relationship in which we serve each other, understanding one another to be Krsna's property and not mine. We serve in the different capacities as husband or wife, but the essential relationship is service. Our wills are united with Krsna at the center, although there are separate wills.

Q) The more I hear about dependence, the more I recognize how far I am from depending fully on guru & Krishna. Sometimes I get stuck in the space of guilt, thinking that I am progressing slowly. What to do?

Without the attractiveness of loving activities in the association of devotees, how will others be attracted? When coming into the association of those who are engaged in the process of devotional service, it will only be natural to examine the nature of the relationships that exist among them.