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I am ok with humility and modesty , but being this submissive creature makes people take advantage of me, both inside and outside of my personal life.

 

I am taken for granted and I am insulted alot by the people these days. People take advantages of me numerous times.

 

So I ask you, Is submission fair? Why do I have to be so selfless and be insulted and hurt in many ways? I am a teen trying to be a hare krishna, and humility is not working for me.

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You need only be submissive to Krsna, not to the people about you. Krsna won't let them use and abuse you. He will just walk you away.

 

I even remember once telling one of them, referring to others but knowing too her mind, "They mistake humility for stupidity; but actually their arrogance should be taken as stupidity."

 

A few days ago I was so pleased that Sri Krsna supported me in front of my neighbour as a drunk joked about me being crazy, sitting motionless so long. Usually I don't bark back at the dogs, but immediately as I looked at my neighbour the words came out: "Actually, I am the only sane man here. It's so funny; the psychotics all think I'm 'crazy'. Fallen-down drunk they crawl on the ground complaining 'He doesn't drink booze; he doesn't even toke. What the *&^%'s wrong with you, boy?'" My neighbour who had joined me at Ratha Yatra last year burst into laughter; the rumour was dispelled and my critics were humbled with red-faced sheepish grins. They may still think I live on another planet, but at least now they know it is a better planet.

 

So Krsna will not let it go on forever. Don't worry. Let Him manage it.

 

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firmness is good... however one way of looking at it is...

 

the negative forces which surround can be seen as fertilizer for one's spritual growth... just as a beutiful rose needs fertilizer to grow...

 

to give into the negative forces only helps in making the forces of negative grow... ie. feeding the beast (sort of say) more and more... i agree with gHari that one needs not be subimissive to the demons... however one will (in time) come to the realization that the demons cannot hurt you... unless you loose faith in the One... and fall off the path of God...

 

may patience and constancy be your light...

 

peace be on you...

 

/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

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I look at the image of Lord Nrsimha - I meditate on His beautiful form for several minutes. Then I close my eyes for about one minute with His image remaining in my mind. This helps me to "burn" His image in my mind. Then as my day goes on and I battle my way through this material world - Lord Nrsimha's image is always there; always everywhere.

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When I first went to India to see my son in 1979 (after an almost 2 year absence)I was 6 months pregnant and got dysentry. I was sure the fetus had died and passed out during feverish diarehha, vomitiming. When the doctor at the hotel in Delhi examined me and said the heart was still beating, I IMMEDIATELY took shelter of Lord Nrsinghadev to protect my baby. Events conspired to increase my meditation and prayers to Lord Nrsingha; A bad marriage, a letter circulated c.c. to all temples saying that I was an 'enemy to the KC movement' for going 'temple to temple, spreading vicious lies and rumours about the gurukula in India'.

 

Being very 'humble' and ignorant at the time, I thought maybe it was true, that I had 'inadvertedly 'spread a false story to my godsisters and that the 'powerful sages' like BSwami would curse me and my unborn child.

Just before my son was born I was reading my 2 year old (very precocious) daughter the story of Nrsinghananda brahmacari, a devotee of Lord Caitanya, who was 'given' that name by the Lord because he always had Lord Nrsingha manifest in his heart. She became excited and said "lets call the baby 'Sringhnana bamacheri'. So it was settled.

On the way to the delivery room, after 18 hours of labour in hospital with a godsister chanting with me and helping me through delivery, I took a the same picture you presented and it was facing down on the sheet. The nurse said "Oh, is this your other little one?" and lifted the picture up to see Nrsingha's (apparently) angry face, the scene of (to the untrained eye) horror and blood splurting. She quickly put the picture down as if she'd seen a vampire.

I was young still at the time and even in intensive labour had to have a secret laugh on 'straight society' who didn't have a clue, not that it was thier fault or anything.

The baby was born a bit scrawny, but otherwise healthy and hungry. After a few days he filled out and actually looked beautiful. Lord Nrsinghadeva saved him from anything that could harm him in the womb, is my firm faith.

 

Perhaps the result would have been the same if the prayers would have been directed to Krishna instead of Nrsingha.

 

There's just something about a manifestation of God that tears apart anything that is evil and harmful in your life, be it disease, bad vibes, evil intensions. Lord Nrsighadeva rightly causes fear in the hearts of those who are ill-intentioned and joy in the hearts of the devotees who believe the God can manifest himself in any way or form that the devotee has faith in.

 

A p.s.; Maybe Krishna is busy doing other things, like tackling demons with Balaram, protecting the villagers of Vrndavan, calling the gopis out to dance in the moon-light, smashing butter pots to get his Mother's attention...and thus the lila of Lorsd Nrsingha is there to keep us protected until we get back Home.

 

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1. bhuliya tomare, somsare asiya

peye nama-bidha byatha

tomara carana asiyachi ami,

bolobo duhkhera katha

 

2. janani-jathare, chilama jakhona,

bisama bandhana-pase

ek-bara prabhu! dekha diya more,

boncile e dina dase

 

3. takhona bhavinu, janama paiya,

koribo bhajana taba

janama hoilo, pori maya-jale

na hoilo jnana-laba

 

4. adarera chele, swajanera kole,

hasiya katanu kala

janaka-janani- snehete bhuliya,

somsara lagilo bhalo

 

5. krame dina dina, balaka hoiya,

khelinu balaka-saha

ara kichu dine, jnana upajilo,

patha pori ahar-ahah

 

6. bidyara gaurave, bhromi dese dese,

dhana uparjana kori

swajana palana, kori eka-mane,

bhulinu tomare, hari!

 

7.bardhakye ekhona, bhakativinoda

kandiya katara ati

na bhojiya tore, dina britha gelo,

ekhona ki habe gati!

 

Translation

 

I forsook You, O Lord, and came to this world of pain and sorrow. Now I submit my tale of woe at Your lotus feet.

 

While still in the unbearable fetters of my mother’s womb, I saw You before me You revealed Yourself but briefly and then abandoned this poor servant of Yours.

 

At that moment I swore to worship You after taking birth; but birth came, and with it the network of wordly illusion which robbed me of all good sense.

 

As a fondled son in the lap of relatives, I passed my time smiling and laughing. My parents’ affection helped me to forget the pangs of birth, and I thought the world was very nice.

 

Day by day I grew and soon began playing with other boys. Shortly my powers of understanding emerged. I read and studied my lessons incessantly.

 

Travelling from place to place, proud of my education, I grew wealthy and maintained my family with undivided attention. O Lord Hari, I forgot You!

 

Now in old age, Bhaktivinoda is sad. He weeps. I failed to worship You, O Lord, and instead passed my life in vain. What will be my fate now?

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I wish I had a story to share like that, but Narasimha in my stories is the God that makes you fear him.

 

For example, we used to go to a temple in India , like almost every year(This is not the balaji temple) .

 

The story of this temple was that the stone itself became an idol. The idol was naturally formed and it was the idol of Narasimha.

 

The people used to go worship lord narasimha there, but the devotees used to say that the lord is ferocious and very angry. The devotees also used to get chased by a tiger near by the temple.

 

Then one day the priest said, may be he needs some one to calm the God. So, they basically made an idol of Sri Laxmi and placed it in the temple.

 

They said that the moment they placed Sri Laxmi in the temple, the tiger disappeared.

 

Anyway, still the devotees who go to that temple(it is on a hill) are afraid of Narasimha. They also have rumors that the Lord Narasimha there demands devotion.

 

In some instances , our family people in India also had the same experiences.

 

When I was very young like a 2 year old baby, my aunt did not want to bath in the holy water of the temple. She said that she bathed in the house and she did not want to do it there because the water is dirty and everything. Then, she went into the temple and basically when she got the prasadam, she saw the prasadam as all worms. She was going crazy , when ever they gave her the prasadam she threw it down.

No one knew why... until finally she went to Lord Narasimha and basically saluted the image. Then miraculously the prasadam became prasadam again.

 

She could then eat the prasadam and she didn't see the worms in it.

 

I don't know if Lord Narasimha was the one who made her see all the worms in the prasadam or something else.

 

But after she went to the deity in her fear , she basically got back to normal. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

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ILK; You must be well into your 'reading assignment' from Living Entity by now. This is why it's said that the Bhagwatam is the answer. Unless the child-devotee Prahlada's story is heard, the 'idol' of Lord Nrsinghadev will be an object of superstition and misunderstanding.

 

Not only did Vishnu appear as Nrsinghadev to give protection to the child-devotee Prahlada, He fulfilled a promise to personally kill the demon Hyranyakasipu and therefore deliver him and eventually reinstate him as the Lord's eternal devotee in Viakuntha. But you'll find all that out by yourself.

 

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I look at the image of Lord Nrsimha - I meditate on His beautiful form for several minutes. Then I close my eyes for about one minute with His image remaining in my mind. This helps me to "burn" His image in my mind. Then as my day goes on and I battle my way through this material world - Lord Nrsimha's image is always there; always everywhere.

 

 

WOW That's such a good idea! And great advice! I think I'm gonna save that to hard drive somewhere. Thanks!

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Bhaktavasya, thank you for sharing that story. Quite captivating.

 

I know a devotee who I guess I should leave unnamed for now anyway, but she told me personally an incredible story how Lord NrsimhaDeva saved the life of one of her unborn twins. Since it was such an incredible story, I asked her to tell it to me again years later, just to make sure I hadn't misunderstood. And I hadn't. But years have passed and I again dont recall details, so don't want to write what I dont remember. (Devotees really need to put a book together on these things!) Anway, what she told me was that she was in labor with her twins, and one was dying. It was not "iffy." Not maybe it will die, maybe it wont. The baby was clearly dying. She started to pray, and suddenly had a vision (yes, thats what I said, and she said, and she's not the crazy type at all!) of Lord Nrsimhadeva. From this vision she knew that the baby who was dying would be protected by Him, and therefore live. And it did. And that baby (a girl) is now grown and married.

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