namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

Today I discovered a great devotee resource:

http://www.vaisnavafamilyresources.org

This is a website dedicated to providing guidance and insight into achieving a healthy marriage and family situation, set up by a grass roots volunteer group of Krishna devotees who are mental health or educational professionals.

Today I read several articles including:

Commitment is an essential feature of all devotee relationships, especially the marriage relationship.

All of us have ups and downs, periods of craziness, and periods of clarity. Of course, as we become purified, situated in goodness and, ultimately, transcendental, we fluctuate less and less in our mood and character. But while our material conditioning still has a grip on us we experience periods of more or less Krishna consciousness.

This been said, devotees who have seriously committed themselves to applying the process have in effect declared, by this demonstration of commitment, that they deeply value purity of heart and aspire for it themselves. When a person shows such commitment and dedication, Krishna takes a personal interest in them and is committed to them in return. As devotees we must do the same for each other.

Studies show that women are attracted when they perceive the following traits in a man:

-          Strength

-          Power (social influence)

-          Money (economic capacity)

-          Intelligence

In my research into the male/female dynamic, a certain theme seems to arise again and again. Although this theme is obviously prevalent in traditional cultures of the old world, it is likely to cause a knee-jerk push-back to those of us conditioned by a more contemporary worldview. Still, when we scratch the surface, we see similar ideas arising in moden studies of relationship/attraction psychology:

Classically stated: