Hash Browns

INGREDIENTS
potatoes (one large per pancake)
salt and pepper
grated rennetless cheese (mozzarella or favorite)
minced fresh ginger root (opt)
chopped chilies (opt)
melted ghee for frying
lemon juice (opt)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Grate the potatoes. Add salt and pepper and other suggestions, as desired.

2. Add a generous tablespoon of ghee to a griddle and heat until smoking hot. Spread on the grated potato as thinly as possible. Then drizzle a teaspoon or two of melted ghee over the layer of potato, especially where there are any holes, so that more ghee goes to the other side. Fry on high heat until the edges start to brown.



2. Loosen and lift to check underneath the pattie. If it is browning nicely flip it over. This shouldn't be difficult; if the potato is browned nicely, it will all hold together. Drizzle on a little more ghee now - another teaspoon or so, and lower the heat to medium to allow the other side to cook more slowly and thus ensure the center is cooked.

3. Add cheese and chilies as desired onto half the pattie.


4. Fold the pattie in half over the cheese and chilies and continue to flip side to side if not quite as brown as you like.

MORE VARIATIONS- Hash browns are also good plain or with only cheese.
Here's some more favorites:
chopped wilted spinach and cheese
thinly sliced tomatoes and cheese
grated bell pepper and cheese
or a combination of the above

It is helpful to add another layer of cheese over any layer of vegetable added in between, to ensure the two halves stick together nicely.
Here's a variation with Italian seasonings and pizza toppings inside:

Handy Cooking Tools

Here's an ongoing list of kitchen helpers:

Spice Can


These sets from India can be filled with freshly ground and most-often-used spices. It has a lid, too.

Deep Fry Utensil


Useful not only for draining items that are deep fried, but also it is super handy for removing the foam that collect when dahl begins to boil. The heat can be temporarily turned off whenever foam needs to be removed. That way the dahl will settle and will not get skimmed off with the foam.

Colander

A colander has many uses- sifting debri out of dahl, draining curds from whey, washing and draining rice, getting ants out of flour... Here one is used to quickly remove seeds from squeezed lemons.

Or use it over a pot of water to easily rinse rice.

Cast Iron Griddle
Great for cooking many things- pancakes,dosas, hash browns, veggie burgers, chapatis. Or baking biscuits or roasting potatoes- and lasts a long time. Easy to clean and maintain and lasts many, many years. Also said to add minute portions of iron to one’s diet via cooking with it. It's a good idea to keep two or more for faster quantity cooking.


Graters
Two sizes for different needs.


Improved Rolling Pin
Some Indian style rolling pins are too small and irregular and western versions either too big or come with unecessary handles. Pictured below these got removed and the center of the pin was filled with Bondo resin filler for a east meets west rolling pin. Works great.






A side note:  I've learned not to use my rolling pin for anything besides cooking. I no longer use it as a hammer in a pinch or to whack open coconuts. That keeps the wood nice and smooth.


A Collection of Knives
Different sizes and types of knives have different uses. The one I use often is larger and heavier for chopping potatoes, beets... or mincing ginger.

A long bread knife is best for bread cutting.
Paring knives are good for peeling.
The best knife brand we use is Wusthof.
A tool for knife sharpening is good to have, too.

Heavy Bottomed Cookware
Recommended are stainless steel cookware with heavy bottoms. That's because there is less chance of burning anything. On the downside, look out for the way the handles are made. One version has handles attached by large bolts that make a little more cleaning necessary around them within the pot, so it might be a good idea to watch out for such things before purchasing.

Grinding stone


Essential for grinding small amounts of herbs and spices, so that they are very fresh. Electric mills cannot handle small amounts. Larger quantities are ground and then sit on the shelf, losing freshness.
LATER NOTE:
The Bengalis called it a Bhatta stone. This one I got in India for an incredibly affordable price, but sadly had to part with it when going back to the U.S.  Now I use a stone mortar and pestle
https://domesticdevotion108.blogspot.com/2018/04/grind-your-own-spices-and-powdered-sugar.html
Whisk
Besides stirring lumps out of preparations, a whisk is handy for quickly cutting soft butter into flour or loosely mashing something when a potato masher is not available.

apple crisp

INGREDIENTS:
6 medium apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into bite-sized chunks
water
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour (freshly ground is best, with the bran intact)
1/2 c oatmeal
1 c sugar (turbinado, or favorite)
1 t cinnamon
a pinch of salt
1/2 c (1/4 lb.) melted butter
lemon juice (opt.)
butter (opt.)
water

PREPARATION:
(preheat oven to 400 degrees F)
1. Add some water to the apple chunks and cook covered over moderate to high heat until the apples soften and make their own juice (about 15 minutes)
2. In a bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter, cutting in the butter with a wire whisk until a coarse meal-like consistency is achieved.
3. Spread the cooked apples and remaining water in the bottom of a buttered (8-9") baking pan. Sprinkle with a little lemon juice and top with a little extra butter slices if desired. Without pressing down, spoon on all the topping onto the cooked apple chunks and spread evenly.
4. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.
Offer hot or slightly cooled, garnished with whipped cream or alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Serves about 6-8 people

Variation: add a handful of chopped walnuts or almonds. Peaches or pears make good  replacements for the apples. You may wish to add a little more sugar to the peaches when precooking for extra sweetness. 

Varnasrama Dharma Begins at Home

When the world was created, the Vedas appeared which contain everything knowable and therefore Veda means "knowledge". They're sort of a user's manual that comes along with the cosmic creation. Within is described Krsna's perfect plan for human beings known as varnasrama dharma. Varna means occupational duties, also known as prescribed duties given according to the natural tendencies of a person- whether a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sudra. Asrama is the progressive spiritual orders of life- brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa. By Krishna's design, these work together to maintain a society that is both peaceful and prosperous materially as well as progressive spiritually.

For such a society to exist, Srila Prabhupada worked foremost to resurrect a genuine class of brahmanas to guide the rest of the varnas and asramas, both practically and spiritually. Yet, for such brahminical culture to grow, Prabhupada also stressed cow protection as absolutely essential. They go hand in hand; one cannot exist without the other. Milk is braminical brain food, also known as "liquid religiosity". --SB 1.16.4 purport states:

"Human civilization means to advance the cause of brahminical culture, and to maintain it, cow protection is essential. There is a miracle in milk, for it contains all the necessary vitamins to sustain human physiological conditions for higher achievements. Brahminical culture can advance only when man is educated to develop the quality of goodness, and for this there is a prime necessity of food prepared with milk, fruits and grains"


Qualified brahmanas in turn have the duty to train and advise able ksatriyas or qualified leaders as managers and protectors of a varnasrama society. The ksatriyas job is to ensure that everyone is employed and does their respective duties. Everyone is needed to do his part in his community, and the central point for such cooperation is devotion to Lord Krsna, known as Yajnesvara, the enjoyer of all sacrifices:

"A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries." --Bg5.29

With Krsna in the center, everyone does his work with the aim to please the Lord  via the bhakti yoga process which is protected by the ksatriyas for the spiritual welfare of the society. Bhagavad gita and Srimad Bhagavatam state:

"Work done as a sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed, otherwise work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your duty for His satisfaction and in that way you will always remain free from bondage." --Bg 3.9

"O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead." --SB 1.2.13

The path for awakening of Krsna consciousness is a gradual process for most people. In the meantime, it is Krishna's plan that by working within His varnasrama system, one purifies his material existence while at the same time satisfies his material needs or legitimate desires. Prabhupada writes:

"The Third Chapter of Bhagavad-gitä specifically considers material activities for the purpose of sense gratification and material activities for the purpose of satisfying the Supreme Lord. The conclusion is that these are not one and the same. Material activities for sense gratification are the cause of material bondage, whereas the very same activities for the satisfaction of Krishna are the cause of liberation. How the same activity can be the cause of bondage and liberation can be explained as follows. One may get indigestion due to eating too many milk preparations—condensed milk, sweet rice, and so on. But even though there is indigestion or diarrhea, another milk preparation—yogurt mixed with black pepper and salt—will immediately cure these maladies. In other words, one milk preparation can cause indigestion and diarrhea, and another milk preparation can cure them."--SB 4.30.19p

In other words, the same work that is usually done for one's sense gratification becomes an act of love for the Lord in the bhakti yoga process. In this way we become karma free and Krsna conscious.

Along with the productivity of the land and nature's gifts, overseen by the ksatriyas, the vaisya community or productive varna can flourish and provide all necessities of life and natural wealth as well as save the cows and mother earth from Kali yuga's present disastrous and exploitative economic systems. The sudras or working class in turn are meant to assist the work of the other varnas. In exchange, they are protected and provided for, unlike the current mindless industrial society in which they are abused and neglected and eventually discarded. Thus, when the devotees (of all varnas and asramas) and cows are sumptuously cared for, the Lord, Bhaktavatsala, finds this more pleasing than any amount of gorgeous deity worship.

"I am present in every living entity as the Supersoul. If someone neglects or disregards that Supersoul everywhere and engages himself in the worship of the Deity in the temple, that is simply imitation."-- SB 3.29.21

"Therefore, through charitable gifts and attention, as well as through friendly behavior and by viewing all to be alike, one should propitiate Me, who abide in all creatures as their very Self."--SB 3.29-27

All throughout history, land has been considered true wealth. Besides that, country living nourishes the mode of goodness, because it brings us closer to Krishna. For one thing, we see where our food comes from.








And by getting all our necessities from the cow and earth, we can naturally think of them as mother and Krsna as the supreme father. God consciousness then prevails in such societies, along with the desire to please the Lord in all areas of life. Simple living saves valuable time, too, for such spiritual cultivation.

The Krsna consciousness movement, therefore, isn't only for individual self-realization, but it is intended to bring the whole human society back to its proper condition. With the development of such independent varnasrama communities as described above, the Vaisnava culture will  flourish and become an incomparable preaching tool, a living testament to Srila Prabhupada's teachings from the Vedic scriptures.

VARNASRAMA BEGINS AT HOME
So how do women fit in the plan of things? How can women contribute to the development of a materially prosperous, spiritually progressive society on earth? Srila Prabhupada certainly had a hope for reestablishing the brahminical order of first class men, but he also expressed concern for the protection of women. First class women are needed to nurture the children that will be eligible to participate in the varna and asrama program. In Bhagavad gita 1.41 purport it is stated:

"The different family traditions of religious activities should always engage them (women), and thus their chastity and devotion will give birth to a good population eligible for participating in the varnasrama system. On the failure of such varnasrama-dharma, naturally the women become free to act and mix with men, and thus adultery is indulged in at the risk of unwanted population. Irresponsible men also provoke adultery in society, and thus unwanted children flood the human race at the risk of war and pestilence."

With the return of an agrarian based economy, however, extended families can take root and replace the industrial nuclear family model along with a whole set of social problems connected with it. Strong families will bring about solid Vaisnava communities. As one woman put it, "They say it takes a village to raise a child. That may be the case, but the truth is that it takes a lot of solid, stable marriages to create a village." (Diana Sollee). Stable family life greatly depends upon, again, faithful womanhood.

Stable family life is needed in ISKCON, which currently tries to provide "family" for the many divorcees, unwanted children, widows, and the elderly because without the structure of varnasrama society, it is a recipe for disaster. In a letter to a male disciple (requesting vanaprastha shortly after his marriage) dated 1/4/73, from Bombay, Prabhupada warned:
"We cannot expect that our temples will become places of shelter for so many widows and rejected wives, that will be a great burden and we shall become the laughingstock in the society. There will be unwanted progeny also. And there will be illicit sex life, that we are seeing already."

Women should be taught, therefore, the important role they play in varnasrama development. We need men competent to rule Vedic villages, protect the cows and promote a natural, sane existence for all living entities, but it is women's chastity and devotion that supports all that.  And any ignorance about such duties can be eradicated by reading Srila Prabhupada's books and applying them. And by implicit faith in his instructions, their imports will be revealed. 

glorious ghee

Scroll down to see 2018 update below

Ghee is Mother Nature's healthiest cooking substance from Krsna's favorite and the best of animals- mother cow.

A SUPER QUICK STOVE TOP METHOD
Put about 4 lbs of unwrapped butter into a large pot. Bring the butter to a boil.

STAGE ONE
It foams up in this initial stage, so make sure the pot is big enough that it won't boil over kept on high heat. You might want to stir it, but with experience you'll find it isn't necessary.

STAGE TWO
The next stage, the foam will go down and the texture changes to a glossy-like, oily looking consistency.

STAGE THREE
Keep cooking and stirring if needed until the ghee and ghee solids separate. It'll start looking more clear instead of opaque. Make a test by taking a little scoop with a measuring cup and examining it. The solids will settle at the bottom of the cup.

With experience you won't need to follow this step. Simply allow it to continue to cook until a new sort of bubbles begin to arise. You'll learn over time to recognize what I mean. But be careful not to cook too long or the ghee will start to foam and continue to do so uncontrollably if used later on for deep frying! Luckily, the ghee is still usable; just not a good idea to deep fry with. Trust me. Do not deep fry with overcooked ghee.

So after the new bubbles start to arise (not foam), you can turn off the ghee at this point, leaving it on the burner and usually the solids will settle to the bottom and brown a bit while sitting to cool. This will make it easier to separate the solids from the ghee when straining it through a cloth shortly afterwards while the ghee is still hot.

FINISHED!
Strain the finished ghee through a clean thin cotton cloth and wire colander into a suitable container, such as a moderately large, stainless steel can with a lid (A smaller jar may also be used to keep near the stove and refill from the larger storage container as needed).

First pour out as much ghee as possible into the cloth to drain into the can without getting any solids in from the bottom that may interfere with the drainage. Finally, toss in all the solids and scrape the pot to get them all out. Tie the cloth and it hang above the ghee container to let the last bits of ghee drip from the solids before discarding them.

You don't have to refrigerate ghee if its been made properly, but it is a good idea beforehand, whenever traveling with ghee, to prevent spillage.

Also it may be a good idea that after once using ghee for deep frying during a cooking session, use up that ghee by way of chaunce, to fry pancakes, etc. instead of deep frying with the same ghee over and over again. That way, since the ghee is not overly deep fried in, it doesn't get nasty looking like motor oil nor taste bad and nothing gets wasted because ghee that has been deep fried in many times is not even suitable for eating and should be otherwise discarded. Before getting to that point, therefore, it can be used in better ways.

If you hate to throw out the solids, a little can be used in soups for extra nice flavoring. Also stray dogs and cats like it (Unsalted butter only). Let the solids drain real well and then refrigerate a bit first, so that they are easier to remove as a semi solid lump from the cloth. There must be other things that can be done with it, too...perhaps a bird feeder (?).

UPDATE
My latest method for removing even more milk solids than ever before:
In step three lower the heat to a simmer. When the gher is clear and solids browned at the bottom, skim off the foam on top and set aside.

Strain all into a storage container. After it drains, scoop out tensing solids and the foam set aside to strain out more ghee.

Sexual Liberation or Sexual Repression?

A pretty, young woman from the east coast told the following story:

"My propensity toward marriage and family life was present from early childhood. I got my first marriage proposal in the sand box at age five. He said he wanted to be a policeman when he grew up, and we planned to have ten children. Then when I was about eight years old,  a mock wedding was performed on my parent's front porch with my little brother acting as a priest. In my memory I wore a wedding gown that was just my size. Maybe I got it from a Halloween outfit...Otherwise, the power of imagination at that age certainly must have created one.

"In our neighborhood (the early 1960's), my friends and I roamed freely from house to house, knowing there was a mother present in every home. And although we lived in a major American city,  I safely walked alone down an alley several blocks to kindergarten each school day.

"Yet, sometime in the middle of fourth grade, my parents moved our family residence west and my world completely changed. Instead of planning on marriage, I was told to plan on college and a career. And my mother, attracted to the feminist movement and thus encouraging me in that way, was suddenly very restless and unhappy at home and started working outside.

"I felt like I'd lost my mother at nine years old. And we'd often hear about families close to us being broken up by divorce. And from the time I was 10-17, my friends ranged from runaways to rape victims to girls who were practically prostitutes by their promiscuous behavior. We felt encouraged to unrestrictedly mingle with the opposite sex during and after school  time.

"I remember my friends and I standing on a street in a tourist town looking for men... Some of us girls had abortions.

"We were told that this was freedom."

Meanwhile, understanding the sad situation of this young lady and so many like her, Srila Prabhupada had come to America, crossing the Atlantic to save us all from such an illusion. He spoke out:

"In the Bhagavad-gitä, the Supreme Personality of Godhead says that one who has spiritual vision sees everyone as equal. And yet in another place the Supreme Lord says, strisu dustäsu värsneya jäyate varna-sankarah: unless you protect women, low-class men will seduce them, and society will be burdened with unwanted children. Just take this 'women's liberation'—it is simply a trick by the men. Now the men can have free prostitutes, that's all." ( --BTG 1979)

Similarly, during a morning walk in Bombay in 1977, this conversation took place:

 Hamsadüta:  Prabhupäda, you gave the example that what is the use of keeping a cow if you can get milk in the marketplace.

Prabhupäda: Yes. Yes. Cow-keeping is expensive.

Dr. Patel: Why keep a cow when milk is available. (laughs)

Trivikrama: It's a fact. The young men think like that.

Prabhupäda: They make pregnant and they go away. And this poor girl, either she has to kill the child or beg from the government, "Give me welfare; otherwise..." Is that freedom?

Today, the author of Domestic Tranquility, Carolyn Graglia echoes Prabhupada's statement.

"How could we allow such a catastrophe to take place? The feminist revolution was powered by male greed -- for sex, money, and irresponsibility. 'The women's movement,' Mrs. Graglia writes, 'could have been orchestrated by Playboy: readily available sex without marriage; if married, a working wife to unburden the male from responsibility for supporting the household; readily available abortion to eliminate unwanted children . . .' Women are advised nowadays (by sober, good-hearted feminists) that, given the no-fault divorce laws that make it so easy to chuck an old wife and get a spiffy new one, they had better be prepared to earn their own living. 'No-fault divorce laws did not, however, result from an edict of the gods or from some force of nature, but from sustained political efforts, particularly by the feminist movement.' Statistics show that in the first year after divorce the average woman and her minor children experience a severe decline in living standards."

So, it turns out that while this young woman and her girlfriends were told that we were sexually liberated, actually they were being sexually repressed, repressed from the normal result of responsible sex life, namely bearing children and nurturing them within the spiritual asrama designed by Krishna, within the husband and wife relationship. They are living proof that feminism doesn't work for normal women. Or as one devotee put it: "Although the feminists claim to be giving more freedom to people, actually they are taking away people's freedoms, freedoms to live a sane and normal life."

Srila Prabhupada writes in Srimad Bhagavatam 4.25.42purport: "A young woman who has no husband is called anätha, meaning 'one who is not protected.' As soon as a woman attains the age of puberty, she immediately becomes very much agitated by sexual desire. It is therefore the duty of the father to get his daughter married before she attains puberty. Otherwise she will be very much mortified by not having a husband." --SB 4.25.42 p

Reading such statements in Prabhupada's books, our young friend says that finally she felt understood and that "Despite such horrible conditioning during my teenage years and the untold, lifelong heartache it has brought to me, my life's been redirected towards a happier ending.  Thanks to Srila Prabhupada and the Vaisnava acaryas, I've found my way back home,  gradually learning to dovetail my natural girlhood longings towards marriaged life for the service of Lord Chaitanya's sankirtana mission." 

Woman's Work

I have the greatest work in the world;
A husband to encourage when things go wrong,
When he comes from work to greet with a song,
Trousers and shirts to wash and mend,
A helping hand, when needed, to lend,
Three times a day is meals to cook,
To strive to be my best to look.
His back to rub at the close of the day,
For his faithfulness to God I pray,
When hubby's in the field I take lemonade,
For all these tasks his love has paid.
I am a " Wife."


I have the greatest work in the world;
The job of rocking a baby to sleep,
That of guiding his tottering feet,
A baby's clothes to launder and fold,
A precious life to shape and mold,
A drink to give from a little cup,
At night his toys to gather up,
Hurts to heal and fears to quell,
A baby to keep clean and well,
A stack of diapers to put away,
Oh, what a happy worthwhile way!
I am a "Mother."

I have the greatest work in the world;
A home to keep happy, clean and bright,
Make things go smooth and strive for the right,
Jams to cook and jellies to make,
Cookies and pies and bread to bake,
Washing, ironing, and sewing to do,
So many tasks, will I ever get through?
Lettuce to wash and peas to pick,
Floors to scrub, lost items to seek,
Dishes to wash and windows to shine,
These and many more tasks are mine.
I am a "Homemaker."

Help me, dear Lord, to faithfully work,
Forgive if I unconsciously shirk,
Give me the patience and love I pray,
To keep myself in duties way;
With all the bustle that each day brings
May I not neglect the most needed things;

Each day to spend time alone with Thee
That Your love may be seen in me.
Whether as wife, mother...or friend to call,
I am "Your servant", above all.

Mary Lou Burkholder (adapted)



"A karmi works for his own sense gratification, and a bhakta works for Krishna’s sense gratification. That is the difference between a nondevotee and a devotee. Sense gratification is there in either case, but when you work for your personal sense gratification it is karma, and when you work for Krishna’s sense gratification it is bhakti. Bhakti and karma look similar, but the quality is different."
- A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Domestic Devotion, Hare Krishna Style

For us married women, sometimes we are conscious to please our husbands, and at other times we are conscious to please our children or friends or guests or extended family, and sometimes we are conscious to keep our home very nice for all these, but it is only when we are Krishna conscious, doing everything for dear Lord Krishna, we discover that we are able not only to include all these other priorities in our lives simultaneously, but also to remain steady in our respective duties.

That's because affection for the Lord is never disappointing.

In other words, for most of us, household life can start out very exciting and romantic. It is a new life and so on, but as time goes by, the tasks become repetitive and sometimes unbearable due to bodily consciousness. Spiritual consciousness or Krishna consciousness, on the other hand, never gets tiring. Instead, our enthusiasm and ability to do household tasks is ever-increasing.

Srimad Bhagavatam 4.30.20 states: "Always engaging in the activities of devotional service, devotees feel ever-increasingly fresh and new in all their activities. The all-knower, the Supersoul within the heart of the devotee, makes everything increasingly fresh."

That is the nature of spirit, and that is the test to know one is on the right track. Otherwise, what are we but slaves to our material bodies? Forced to get up each morning and work hard to provide meals and a bed for our own bodies and for the bodies of others connected to it.

Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.36 states: "My dear Lord Krishna, until people become Your devotees, their material attachments and desires remain thieves, their homes remain prisons, and their affectionate feelings for their family members remain foot-shackles."

But when we becomes Krishna's loving servants, we are slaves no more! And our otherwise bodily activities become spiritualized.

The inhabitants of Vraja exhibit the highest stage of this situation: "Apparently, the residents of Vrndavana, the abode of Lord Krishna, are simple householders engaged in ordinary affairs such as herding cows, cooking, rearing children and performing religious ceremonies. However, all these activities are intensely engaged in the loving service of Lord Krishna. The residents of Vrndavana perform all activities in pure Krishna consciousness and thus exist on the most exalted platform of liberated life. Otherwise, the same activities performed without Krishna consciousness constitute ordinary bondage to the material world.

"Thus, one should not misunderstand the exalted position of the residents of Vrndavana, nor should one consider oneself highly religious simply because one performs ordinary domestic affairs very enthusiastically, but without Krishna consciousness. By focusing our passionate attachment on our family and society, we are completely deviated from the progressive path of Krishna consciousness. Conversely, if we engage our family in the loving service of the Lord, our endeavors to maintain our family become part and parcel of our progressive spiritual duties."--SB 10.14.36p

Again, this makes our lives a lot simpler. Instead of being pulled this way and that to please the husband or the children or our friends to attend to so many things, we can simply focus on how to please Krishna in all our activities.

Bhagavad-gita 2.41 states: "Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched."

Srila Prabhupada also wrote: "Of course, the nature of woman is to be attached to her husband and family, so our system is to minimize this attachment by making the ultimate goal of our activity the pleasure of Krishna. Just try to please Krishna always, and no material circumstances will be able to cause you any discomfort." (letter to Soucarya, 10/23/72, Vrndavana)

This single mindedness is also the safest position.

Bhagavad-gita 8.6-7 states: "In whatever condition one quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that state of being without fail.Therefore... you should always think of Me in the form of Krishna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty... With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.

Bhagavad-gita also 7.23 states: "Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet."

In the meantime, "by studying the extraordinary status of the residents of Vrndavana, we can see that the essential quality of their lives is pure Krishna consciousness—the rendering of loving service to the Lord without a trace of material desire or mental speculation. Relishing a loving service mood towards the original Personality of Godhead, even though one appears outwardly as rendering ordinary domestic affairs, immediately creates the atmosphere of Shri Vrndavana-dhäma, the kingdom of God." -SB 10.14.36

"There is no difference between the kingdom of God and the devotional service of the Lord. Since both of them are on the absolute plane, to be engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord is to have attained the spiritual kingdom. In the material world there are activities of sense gratification, whereas in the spiritual world there are activities of Krishna consciousness. Attainment of Krishna consciousness even during this life is immediate attainment of Brahman, and one who is situated in Krishna consciousness has certainly already entered into the kingdom of God." -Bg 2.72p

You may also like:
Detachment via Loving Krishna

And for how this writer met her foremost teacher, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, click here.