The first annual New Year's Day Japathon was an opportunity for the devotees to get together as a community and perform in togetherness the most essential practice of our spiritual lives. It was also a great chance to introduce all guests and visitors to that essential practice. Everybody who dropped by the temple was willing to help us reach the goal of 289 rounds (one name of God, Krishna or Rama, for each of the 250,000 residents of Utah Valley) by chanting at least one round.
January 02, 2009
Gaura Nitai das, Mayapura, IN : fear and intelligence
The murderous acts towards innocent civilians in Mumbai have affected the whole world in many ways. The most common effect is the promotion of fear. Fear is an all-pervading component of human society. Actually all living entities are more or less controlled by fear. Animals in particular are constantly in a state of fear and rightfully so. At any moment the entity will become killed and eaten by a more powerful living entity. If you ever watch documentaries on the lives of animals (tigers, fish, birds, etc,) you will notice that there are four common elements of focus in these clips. It is described in the Vedic literatures and obvious through observation that the extent of animals' intelligence is limited to fulfilling the four basic animal propensities. These propensities are eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The intelligence of living entities is present in humans and animals in different degrees in order to direct their bodily sustaining activities. The human’s intelligence, however, has a unique property. The human’s intelligence is capable of existential questioning. In other words the human is capable of asking “Who am I, where did I come from and what is my relation with the rest of the world?” Most importantly humans have the ability to practice a lifestyle so that the answers to these questions are fully realized. One of the natural byproducts of this realization is fearlessness.
Scientists are amazed when newborn animals know what to do to insure safety or gather food. When sea turtles are born on the beach they immediately know that they must crawl back to the sea for safety. Two months or so after a kangaroo is conceived it must crawl from the bottom section of the mother to the safety of their mothers pouch half a meter up. In that pouch the young kangaroo stays in that pouch for many more months without leaving. How does this young entity know how to do this? How does the mother know that this must be done? The mothers and fathers of various species know how to make nests, procure food and defend itself from predators. How do the animals know how to do this? Where is that intelligence coming from?
We can consider the explanation of intelligence as given in the vedic literatures and self-realized sages. Intelligence is defined as "the power to analyze things in their proper perspective." Based on the conclusion of the intelligence the mind initiates the senses and body into action. According to Vedic philosophy, intelligence is ultimately guided by the paramatma. In Sanskrit the word for an individual soul is atma and para means above or supreme. The paramatma is thus the Lord's personal expansion within the heart of every living entity. The paramatma accompanies every atma (individual soul) in its journey through different species of life. According to our desires and karmic qualification the Lord directs our intelligence so that we may attempt to fulfill those desires. As stated earlier the intelligence given to the animals is limited to fulfilling the four bodily (eating. sleeping, mating, and defending.) We can observe that those belonging to the human species have also used their intelligence to fulfill these four propensities. Since the intelligence provided to the human is remarkably more advanced than the intelligence offered to other species, the bodily needs are satisfied in a far more sophisticated manner. The atomic bomb (defending) and skyscraper buildings (sleeping, defending) are prime examples of this. Relatively noble advancements such as advanced medical care and mass communication are other examples of sophisticated application of human intelligence.
Despite the advances in medical knowledge and technology there remains no solution to the basic problems of old age and death. There are also countless diseases that have not been conquered by medical application. On occasion when an antidote to a particular disease is discovered, a new and perhaps more deadly disease will likely take its place. The expectation of old age, disease and especially death are the root causes of human anxiety and fear. Anxiety is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “ painful or apprehensive uneasiness of mind usually over an impending or anticipated ill.” Fear is similarly defined as “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.” Disease and old age are the precursor to death. However, if we become diseased there is always the hope that we may return to a healthy state. Old age is a sobering stage as we are aware that death is just around the corner. Nonetheless in old age we are still in our bodies and may have developed valuable wisdom from life’s previous experiences. Death, however, is the point where our relationship with everything that we have accumulated and everyone that we have known in this life is permanently terminated. Your close friends and family will grieve because there is zero chance of being reunited in this world. The person undergoing the exit from his body is horrified by the unknown nature of his future existence after death. The dying living entity is forcefully taken out of his body and placed in a new situation. The ignorance of the passage of the atma after death increases this fear.
I
Throughout the Bhagavad Gita there are descriptions of the self realized person and his inherent qualities. One of those qualities is abhaya or fearlessness. How does the self realized person view those things which prompt fear and anxiety in most living entities? How does the intelligence and realization of the self realized soul understand his situation such that he is genuinely fearless? As opposed to increasing the sophistication of satisfying our bodily needs, the proper use of human intelligence is to arrive at the realization of ourselves as the eternal atma and to reestablish our relationship with the paramatma. This indeed the primary function of the intelligence and the only path to genuine fearlessness.
to be continued...
Also below are some links that contain a lecture given by Radhanatha Swami in Mumbai. The events hotel attacks) took place just a few minutes walk from the mandir. I would suggest that you listen to this class. OK?
The first link leads to the lectures given in November. The lecture that I am refering to is the last one on the list on this page (you can download from there). The second link is a link is the page where you can listen to the lecture by the streaming method.
by Gaura-Nitai das (Eric Rush) (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 01:08 PM
Giridhari das, Brasilia, Brazil : Studies Show: Religion Improves Self-control
Michael McCullough and Brian Willoughby of University of Miami have reviewed eight decades of research and concluded that religion improves self-control. Their findings will be published in the next Psychological Bulletin.
“Brain-scan studies have shown that when people pray or meditate, there’s a lot of activity in two parts of brain that are important for self-regulation and control of attention and emotion,” said Dr. McCullough in the New York Times. “The rituals that religions have been encouraging for thousands of years seem to be a kind of anaerobic workout for self-control.”
Studies showed that it was not enough to be “spiritual”, in the modern sense of feeling connected to something higher, etc. People who were “spiritual”, but not religious, did not show as much self-control. Less surprising, studies also showed that merely going to church or participating in a religion for mundane reasons of appearance or social acceptability had no discernible effect on self-control.
ISKCON Singapore : Media Rebuttals 2: Hare Krishnas In Singapore: The Success Story
Review On ‘Hare Krishnas in Singapore: Agency, State And Hinduism’ Essay in the SOJOURN (Journal of Social Issues in South East Asia) Issue 23: April 1, 2008
I appreciate the effort of the authors in their research on the evolution of the Hare Krishna movement in Singapore. Their essay (click here for the full article) was divided into two sections: Firstly, the State – Hare Krishna nexus and secondly, the Hinduism – Hare Krishna nexus. For the most part of my review here, I would comment on the former section as the latter for the most part comprises individual opinions which depend on individual perception whereas the former comprises many conclusive statements by the authors which are partially or entirely incorrect owing to their insufficient research both spiritually as well as factually.
It is mentioned in the preamble of the essay that
“This paper … serves as a documentation of the growth of the Hare Krishna movement in Singapore.”
Since this documentation is going to be the basis of future study on the Hare Krishna movement in Singapore, I, being a full-time member of the Sri Krishna Mandir, felt it very much necessary to rectify the many erroneous conclusions of the authors.
Firstly, the cause of the so many splinter Hare Krishna groups should be understood in the proper perspective. To understand this, one must understand the executive order of Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of the Hare Krishna movement as delineated in his Will, the Direction of Management (DoM) and the July 9, 1977 directive.
The crux of the fragmentation of the Hare Krishna devotees in Singapore or in any other country for that matter, lies in the differences of their understanding of mainly the July 9th directive. The July 9th directive is a plain written order by Srila Prabhupada on the method of accepting disciples into the movement (technically called initiation) especially after his departure. It is very clearly mentioned in that letter that an aspirant should be initiated by a proxy (technically called Rtvik) representative of Srila Prabhupada and that the newly initiated disciple becomes a disciple of Srila Prabhupada. In fact, this point has been stressed thrice in that document. The representatives were also named and they numbered eleven with a provision to increase according to necessity.
Following Srila Prabhupada’s departure, these eleven representatives of Srila Prabhupada most unrightfully proclaimed themselves as ‘gurus’ and the general body of devotees were kept in dark regarding the actual intention of Srila Prabhupada. They initiated disciples on their own behalf and there was a sense of competition between the ‘gurus’. In this way, due to their severe offence at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, they degraded so much so that many of them went to the extent of committing heinous crimes such as murders, rapes, pedophile, etc.
All the devotees that are existing in this island were trained in Sri Krishna Mandir (which was called Shiv Mandir in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s), a regular temple with worship of their beloved Deities, Sri Sri Radha Madan Mohan, Jagannatha, Baladev and Subhadra, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Nrsimhadev. After they were trained to a certain standard, they were then initiated by either this ‘guru’ or that. Following such initiation, these bogus ‘gurus’ played politics with the temple authority and induced their own disciples to form factions and to work against the temple authority as is the trend in our current ISKCON. In this way, so many splinter groups came into existence and Sri Krishna Mandir is the parent of them all.
The devotees at Sri Krishna Mandir have dedicated their life completely to the service of Lord Krishna and follow the strict daily temple program and preaching work everyday as enunciated by Srila Prabhupada whereas all the other groups comprise devotees who work outside for an income and due to lack of association of full-time temple devotees, follow a boiled down Hinduized version of Krishna Consciousness and hardly have any strength to practice the rigid guidelines set out by Srila Prabhupada. That is why they are restricting their activities to only weekly evening programs conducted conveniently either at houses or Hindu temples with no monetary overheads required.
Although the Singapore government had barred Srila Prabhupada in the year 1971, it amended its ways and has now recognized Sri Krishna Mandir as the sole authority to practice and preach freely the Hare Krishna religion within the island even at times keenly supporting our many festivals and benevolent activities. Ministers of Parliament grace our festivals as guests of honor thereby further reinforcing their faith in us. Others still have to hide in the backyard of the Hindu temples to avoid the limelight lest they might be penalized. Moreover, any one affiliated with Sri Krishna Mandir does not have any problem at the while entering or leaving the country in their devotional attires. So far, we did not have any incidences of any one being apprehended while dressed in their devotional attires at the immigration.
Albeit it is true that the Hare Krishna movement here cannot be affiliated with the world-wide ISKCON owing to the natural protective measures taken by the Singapore government, it is a blessing in disguise for the devotees here in Sri Krishna Mandir because in this way, they are shielded from the influence of the so-called ‘gurus’ who have track-record of being murderers, rapists, thieves, rowdies and what not? This measure by the Singapore government is laudable as it facilitates Sri Krishna Mandir in proving its genuineness and sincerity in establishing Srila Prabhupada’s position as the sole Diksa Guru.
Sri Krishna Mandir was so successful that the government had no qualms in endorsing the registration of a second society called Sri Krishna Mandir Welfare Society to execute the Food For Life program. Esteemed charitable organizations like the Lee Foundation, Shaw Foundation, The Singapore Totaliser Board and the Chinese Kwan Im Thong temple have generously donated both in cash and in kind to support the Food For Life program in which we were distributing food to the tune of twenty thousand people every month for the past five years.
The Prisons Authority of Singapore recognizes the Sri Krishna Mandir as the only Hare Krishna counseling authority in its Prisons Preaching Program. Therefore Sri Krishna Mandir plays a vital role in the rehabilitation of the inmates of the prisons in Singapore. Owing to its benevolent work in the prisons, Sri Krishna Mandir periodically receives many accolades and adulations from the Prisons Department. No splinter groups are allowed in this activity.
Owing to its good-standing in the country, Sri Krishna Mandir has been granted an official membership in the Inter-Faith Religious Council. It plays an active role in contributing to the religious harmony here in Singapore. The meetings are chaired by a Member of Parliament of the Singapore government.
One more feather in the cap of Sri Krishna Mandir is that the Singapore government has authorized Sri Krishna Mandir by issuing police permit to conduct house-to-house and street-to-street book distribution programs apart from placing book tables in strategic locations around the island to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. This facility is the prerogative of Sri Krishna Mandir alone.
Owing to the important role that Sri Krishna Mandir is playing here in Singapore, the National Library Board (NLB) has deemed its website to be an important part of Singapore’s documentary heritage and would like it to remain available to researchers and generations of Singaporeans in the future by archiving it.
Sri Krishna Mandir has come a long, long way by gaining considerable recognition from the same Singapore government which once barred Srila Prabhupada from entering the island country. This has all been possible by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and the forty years of sincere, genuine efforts of the devotees in serving their beloved spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada.
In fact, no other Hare Krishna splinter group here could come even close to what Sri Krishna Mandir achieved in its preaching endeavor over the decades. In fact, they are still taking shelter of the Hindu temples where the pioneering devotees preached as long back as 1979 (not 1992 as the author claims).
There is a gulf of difference between Sri Krishna Mandir’s achievement in establishing Srila Prabhupada’s precepts and that of all the other glow worm groups here and consequently, from any angle, it was not right on the part of the author to mention Sri Krishna Mandir on equal terms with the so many splinter Hare Krishna groups.
This incredible success that it has achieved is only due to the causeless mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. It was not the result of our “ability to negotiate our place within mainstream Hinduism” as the author speculated. We have come this far and only time is separating us from establishing a permanent temple here and by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, we are sure we will achieve that in the near future.
We are very sure that Srila Prabhupada and Krishna are very pleased with our determined efforts in establishing the Hare Krishna movement here in Singapore. We pray that the authors do justice to these sincere efforts of the devotees of Sri Krishna Mandir.
Since ISKCON is venturing into Hinduization of itself in order to seem relevant and appealing, the Singapore success story is definitely an eye opener and can be most easily emulated in all parts of the world to successfully revamp ISKCON by strictly following the order of our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada.
By Tattva Vit Das
by Tattva Vit Das (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 12:20 PM
H.H. Mukunda Goswami : Abortion
It's been said that those who perform abortions will have to be aborted in
the womb again and again. Srila Prabhupada says this in a poignant way: "He dies
within the womb, again transferred to another womb, and again it is
killed.
So those who are too much sinful, those who are causing these
abortions, they will get this sort of life. They will never see light. One womb,
killed; another womb, killed; another womb, killed; another womb,
killed.
This is so sinful, this abortion. And the modern civilization and
Madhava Ghosh dasa : Radhanath Kirtan 1987
Another pic from Laxmi Honest. A kirtan at her house in 1987.
I am going out on a limb here saying the head closest to the camera is Bhimasena and the kid with the hand to his forehead is Bhagavan. Partly because they look like them but mostly because they are in other pictures from the same event. I believe the kid on the far left was Sankirtan, who was also there.
Posted in News, Ramblings or Whatever
Tirtharaj dasa : Sign of the times
Is this going to be the slogan for the New Year?
Mayapur Online : Welcome 2009! New Year Harinam and Acrobatic show (Video)
What could be the best way to start the New Year other than glorifying the Lord, singing & chanting His holy names and dancing in ecstasy?
ISKCON Melbourne : Daily Class - Bhanu Swami
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.8 - In Kali-yuga Krsna has come as Srimad Bhagavatam which is just like the sun.
ISKCON Melbourne : Daily Class - Bhanu Swami
Bhagavatam class given on Thursday, 1st January 2009
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.7 - Materialistic people cannot appreciate the transcendental status of devotees.
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.7 - Materialistic people cannot appreciate the transcendental status of devotees.
ISKCON Melbourne : Daily Class - Bhanu Swami
Bhagavatam class given on Wednesday, 31st December 2008
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.6 - The entire universe is meant to be offered to Krsna as sacrifice.
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.6 - The entire universe is meant to be offered to Krsna as sacrifice.
On the Web : An other victim of credit crunch: cows and their milk!
NY Times: it turns out that shutting down the milk supply is not as easy as closing an automobile assembly line. The thing is, they are going to produce it because they have to milk the cows. Jaya Kesava Das, USA : WITH THE AIM OF
nana-sastra-vicaranaika-nupunau sad-dharma-samsthapakau
lokanam hita-karinau tri-bhuvane manyau saranyakarau
radha-krsna-padaravinda-bhajanandena mattalikau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Six Goswamis, namely Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatana Goswami, Sri Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunath dasa Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami and Sri Gopal Bhatta Goswami, who are very expert in scrutinizingly studying all the revealed scriptures with the aim of establishing eternal religious principles for the benefit of all human beings. Thus they are honored all over the three worlds, and they are worth taking shelter of because they are absorbed in the mood of the gopis and are engaged in transcendental loving service of Radha and Krsna.
As 2008 said goodbye I sat with a friend and talked about culture- by gone cultures like the Maya, Aztec and Vedic. We talked about how little is known about the Aztec and Maya, and how the Vedic knowledge, although still available, is normally presented from a historical, and often myth oriented point of view. History does show, as far as Maya and Aztec are concerned, through the art and architecture they left behind, that they were quite cultured and advanced people. The Vedic science of living, although still available today usually reaches the west in a very watered down form. Yoga, Ayurveda and Vastu have all entered mainstream as people today look for pieces from the past to better shape the future of mankind.
One of the topics we agreed on is the fact that the vedic knowledge isn't a "do-it-yourself" kind of knowledge. Everything in that system was presented by qualified teachers to qualified students. Society was set up in such a way that the welfare of every being was met. The intellectuals guided the administrators ,who gave protection to the merchants, and in turn the merchants provided for their employees, their protectors and the teachers who guided them all. A person was not qualified by birth, as mistaken today, but by ones natural actions. For example the son of a warrior wasn't born a warrior, but trained up to be. And if during training it was found that this boy had a natural tendency towards intellectual pursuits, mercantile , or other talents, he was then trained in that particular field. So naturally everyone had something to do in vedic culture; no one was homeless or jobless.
The culture was not only occupationally minded, but also spiritually oriented with gradual developmental knowledge for the individual. A young person was thought the principles of respect, responsibility, truthfulness etc, but most of all self control. Control of the senses and mind was very important in going deeper into spiritual realms. Later in life, usually around 25, a young person entered family life and used the principles previously learned. At 50, knowing that death was approaching soon, husband and wife would then focus on the deeper and highest goal in life, freedom from the bondage of matter and reinstatement into ones eternal constitutional position.
During this part of the conversation we laughed a lot about how puffed up modern man has become with the audacity to claim that such cultures as the Maya or Vedic were primitive and how advanced we are now because of our advancement in "science". One example given was how those cultures existed for many thousands of years and left historical monuments and art that still baffle scholars today. Not only did they build or write or live a wholesome life, they also left the earth practically more beautiful than they met it. In our few hundred years here, our monuments often depict wars and struggles, and our exploitation of mother earth hasn't left her lush and green, rather bored with spots of land fill, plastic waste in the oceans- you name it.
I told an historical account from the Vedas of how gold and silver were offered as gifts to the priests who performed great sacrifices for the benefit of society, yet the priests, satisfied in themselves would leave the paraphernalia where they were. Imagine leaving heaps of gold ornaments and other things in an arena or by the road today... . Everyone was provided for so well, that no one was in need of anything. At functions, or even simple house parties, guests were served with gold or silver plates, and the women were ornamented with diamonds, gold and silver, plus other earthen perfumes. Compared to today's advancement, we kill for gold, eat in glassware, and that's if you can afford it, or plastic, paper and other things that harm the human body and our women now wear plastic ornaments as decorations.
As mentioned before, yoga, amongst other art forms are becoming a prominent part of society today. But the fact is that yoga now, doesn't elevate people to higher consciousness, rather it keeps them on a more bodily platform, with capitalistic minds even providing interesting clothes for yoga lifestyle people. Did sages of bygone ages were tight spandex outfits in a heated room in downtown Delhi? Was yoga for reducing bodily fat? Hmmmmm...
Ayurveda was not meant for curing illnesses, but more for preventing them through a strict dietary and physical lifestyle. In our advanced culture today, we've created cures for cancer and other deadly diseases; but to be honest we've also created the diseases. We live in a lazy culture: work now involves sitting for hours in front of a computer in a building without good lighting, food consists of things I will not write about, and to top it all, the stress of it all drives us to the next whiskey bar to drown our troubles. When that doesn't work, SEX :)
To avoid the responsibility of sex life, which nature designed for procreating beings who can continue the task of honoring and preserving mother earth, we, by out expertise invented the condom. Yes, spill your life out in a plastic. And when you do want a child, the same pills taken to prevent the responsibility of pregnancy then, now hampers you from having children. In short, we are advancing to a quick demise rather than something the future can look back on and learn form.
So, going back to the first prayer in of this blog, we humbly thank those monks who, 500 years ago foresaw the issues of today and scrutinizingly give the essence of Vedic knowledge that we may qualify ourselves and honor human life as it is meant to be honored. Furthermore, we thank Our Grand Spiritual Teacher His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who brought the teachings of the six Goswamis from Vrindavan to the shores of America, China, Europe and everywhere else we have temples today. I urge the readers of this article to take advantage of these temples and learn how to live peacefully and happily, and look forward to another year of properly learning rather than blindly following what is the status quo.
Happy New Year
lokanam hita-karinau tri-bhuvane manyau saranyakarau
radha-krsna-padaravinda-bhajanandena mattalikau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Six Goswamis, namely Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatana Goswami, Sri Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunath dasa Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami and Sri Gopal Bhatta Goswami, who are very expert in scrutinizingly studying all the revealed scriptures with the aim of establishing eternal religious principles for the benefit of all human beings. Thus they are honored all over the three worlds, and they are worth taking shelter of because they are absorbed in the mood of the gopis and are engaged in transcendental loving service of Radha and Krsna.
As 2008 said goodbye I sat with a friend and talked about culture- by gone cultures like the Maya, Aztec and Vedic. We talked about how little is known about the Aztec and Maya, and how the Vedic knowledge, although still available, is normally presented from a historical, and often myth oriented point of view. History does show, as far as Maya and Aztec are concerned, through the art and architecture they left behind, that they were quite cultured and advanced people. The Vedic science of living, although still available today usually reaches the west in a very watered down form. Yoga, Ayurveda and Vastu have all entered mainstream as people today look for pieces from the past to better shape the future of mankind.
One of the topics we agreed on is the fact that the vedic knowledge isn't a "do-it-yourself" kind of knowledge. Everything in that system was presented by qualified teachers to qualified students. Society was set up in such a way that the welfare of every being was met. The intellectuals guided the administrators ,who gave protection to the merchants, and in turn the merchants provided for their employees, their protectors and the teachers who guided them all. A person was not qualified by birth, as mistaken today, but by ones natural actions. For example the son of a warrior wasn't born a warrior, but trained up to be. And if during training it was found that this boy had a natural tendency towards intellectual pursuits, mercantile , or other talents, he was then trained in that particular field. So naturally everyone had something to do in vedic culture; no one was homeless or jobless.
The culture was not only occupationally minded, but also spiritually oriented with gradual developmental knowledge for the individual. A young person was thought the principles of respect, responsibility, truthfulness etc, but most of all self control. Control of the senses and mind was very important in going deeper into spiritual realms. Later in life, usually around 25, a young person entered family life and used the principles previously learned. At 50, knowing that death was approaching soon, husband and wife would then focus on the deeper and highest goal in life, freedom from the bondage of matter and reinstatement into ones eternal constitutional position.
During this part of the conversation we laughed a lot about how puffed up modern man has become with the audacity to claim that such cultures as the Maya or Vedic were primitive and how advanced we are now because of our advancement in "science". One example given was how those cultures existed for many thousands of years and left historical monuments and art that still baffle scholars today. Not only did they build or write or live a wholesome life, they also left the earth practically more beautiful than they met it. In our few hundred years here, our monuments often depict wars and struggles, and our exploitation of mother earth hasn't left her lush and green, rather bored with spots of land fill, plastic waste in the oceans- you name it.
I told an historical account from the Vedas of how gold and silver were offered as gifts to the priests who performed great sacrifices for the benefit of society, yet the priests, satisfied in themselves would leave the paraphernalia where they were. Imagine leaving heaps of gold ornaments and other things in an arena or by the road today... . Everyone was provided for so well, that no one was in need of anything. At functions, or even simple house parties, guests were served with gold or silver plates, and the women were ornamented with diamonds, gold and silver, plus other earthen perfumes. Compared to today's advancement, we kill for gold, eat in glassware, and that's if you can afford it, or plastic, paper and other things that harm the human body and our women now wear plastic ornaments as decorations.
As mentioned before, yoga, amongst other art forms are becoming a prominent part of society today. But the fact is that yoga now, doesn't elevate people to higher consciousness, rather it keeps them on a more bodily platform, with capitalistic minds even providing interesting clothes for yoga lifestyle people. Did sages of bygone ages were tight spandex outfits in a heated room in downtown Delhi? Was yoga for reducing bodily fat? Hmmmmm...
Ayurveda was not meant for curing illnesses, but more for preventing them through a strict dietary and physical lifestyle. In our advanced culture today, we've created cures for cancer and other deadly diseases; but to be honest we've also created the diseases. We live in a lazy culture: work now involves sitting for hours in front of a computer in a building without good lighting, food consists of things I will not write about, and to top it all, the stress of it all drives us to the next whiskey bar to drown our troubles. When that doesn't work, SEX :)
To avoid the responsibility of sex life, which nature designed for procreating beings who can continue the task of honoring and preserving mother earth, we, by out expertise invented the condom. Yes, spill your life out in a plastic. And when you do want a child, the same pills taken to prevent the responsibility of pregnancy then, now hampers you from having children. In short, we are advancing to a quick demise rather than something the future can look back on and learn form.
So, going back to the first prayer in of this blog, we humbly thank those monks who, 500 years ago foresaw the issues of today and scrutinizingly give the essence of Vedic knowledge that we may qualify ourselves and honor human life as it is meant to be honored. Furthermore, we thank Our Grand Spiritual Teacher His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who brought the teachings of the six Goswamis from Vrindavan to the shores of America, China, Europe and everywhere else we have temples today. I urge the readers of this article to take advantage of these temples and learn how to live peacefully and happily, and look forward to another year of properly learning rather than blindly following what is the status quo.
Happy New Year
by Jaya Kesava Das (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 07:39 AM
Subuddhi Krishna dasa, Chicago, USA : Srimad Bhagavatam Analogy - 45
This King Prithu will be as powerful as the sun-god, and just as the sun-god equally distributes his sunshine to everyone, King Prithu will distribute his mercy equally. Similarly, just as the sun-god evaporates water for eight months and, during the rainy season, returns it profusely, this King will also exact taxes from the citizens and return these monies in times of need.
Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 4 Chapter 16 Verse 6
by Subuddhi Krishna das, Chicago (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 07:15 AM
Sita-pati dasa : The Right Thing
There is a subtle but important difference between someone who is doing the Right Thing(tm), and someone who is pretending to do the Right Thing.
Someone doing the Right Thing because it's the Right Thing is really doing the Right Thing.
Someone doing the Right Thing because it's the convenient thing is pretending to the Right Thing.
In fact, they are really doing the Convenient Thing.
Krishna explains this to Arjuna in the second chapter of Bhagavad-gita. (more after harinam...)
ISKCON Melbourne : Daily Class - Sankarsana Prabhu
Bhagavatam Class given on Tuesday, 30th December.
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.5 - Ritualistic religious ceremonies without surrendering to Krsna results in false pride
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.5 - Ritualistic religious ceremonies without surrendering to Krsna results in false pride
Vrndavana Vinodini dd, Toronto, Canada : Katwa Trip-Part 1
As I previously mentioned, on December 31, 2008 I had the great fortune to go to Katwa. Katwa is the place where Lord Caitanya took sannyasa from Keshava Bharati. It is mentioned that Keshava Bharati did not want to give Lord Caitanya sannyasa and the Lord Caitanya only convinced him by whispering the very same sannyasa mantra that Keshava Bharati would give to him. At that time, Mahaprabhu's curling, black locks of hair were shaven off. Lord Caitanya's hair was so beautiful that if one saw just one strand of his hair, one would be infused with Krsna prema. The barber who shaved this beautiful hair of Mahaprabhu was called Madhu and after doing this service, he never resumed his occupation of being a barber.
Beautiful deities of Nityananda, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Jagannatha at the temple in Katwa
Lotus feet of Lord Caitanya and Keshava Bharati
Beautiful picture of Lord Caitanya with his sannyasa guru Keshava Bharati and the barber Madhu who shaved Mahaprabhu's hair.
Hearing Gaura katha from our guide-HG Rukmininath Prabhu
Paying our respects to Mother Ganga at Katwa
Beautiful deities of Nityananda, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Jagannatha at the temple in Katwa
Lotus feet of Lord Caitanya and Keshava Bharati
Beautiful picture of Lord Caitanya with his sannyasa guru Keshava Bharati and the barber Madhu who shaved Mahaprabhu's hair.
Hearing Gaura katha from our guide-HG Rukmininath Prabhu
Paying our respects to Mother Ganga at Katwa
by Vrndavana Vinodini dd (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 05:44 AM
1970 January 2: "Forty years before when two of my eldest God-brothers came to London with this mission they simply devoted their time in lecturing in some renowned public place and inviting some leading politician to preside over the meeting."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
by letters (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 04:10 AM
1970 January 2: "When I began my preaching work in New York I never followed this policy of lecturing amongst stereotyped politicians or society elites. If I had, I think I would have gone back to India without any success."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
by letters (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 04:10 AM
1970 January 2: "By the grace of my Guru Maharaja and Krishna, this policy of Sankirtana, Prasadam and Srimad-Bhagavatam has become successful in the practical field. Please follow this transcendental policy with heart and soul."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
by letters (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 04:09 AM
1972 January 2 : "In the spiritual world the center is one. If you draw innumerable circles they will not overlap. Similarly, whoever is rendering service, there is never competition or maliciousness."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972
by letters (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 04:09 AM
1972 January 2 : "Krishna Consciousness means practical living, not something utopian, idealistic or vague. We simply do the needful, whatever pleases Krishna most, that's all. That you will learn by studying our books."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972
by letters (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 04:08 AM
1973 January 2 : "Krsna Consciousness movement rests upon the words of Krsna, so if people can read for themselves what Krsna is saying, then they shall understand. Otherwise it will be very difficult to convince them."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973
by letters (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 04:08 AM
1973 January 2 : "So many big big lawyers, doctors, government ministers, professional men are there. So make many, many life members amongst this class of men, that will be your great contribution."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973
by letters (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 04:08 AM
1974 January 2 : "When I was alone in India I introduced my books in so many libraries and schools. The American Library of Congress took 18 copies. If you try you will get also an order for 18 copies of all our books."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
by letters (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 04:08 AM
1974 January 2 : "An initiated disciple although he has respect for the Christian Bible, nevertheless must understand the Bhagavad-gita and must apply all study there and not spend time unnecessarily with other literatures."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
by letters (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 04:07 AM
1975 January 2 : "We should have a little common sense in all activities. Deity worship or lecturing in the colleges is just as important as book distribution. Not that we should do one thing at the sacrifice of another."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
by letters (noreply@blogger.com) at January 02, 2009 04:07 AM
Japa Group : New Start
Jaya Narasimhadeva!
We are here on the Sankirtana festival on Simhacalam, South Germany. In the festival opening speech, H.H.Sacinandana Swami mentioned how things which went nicely last year we should carry with us to a New Year and things (or mentalities) which were not that nice, we should leave to last year.I thought this can be seen in connection to Japa also - things what we were doing nicely, let's keep up with these and things where we were lazy, better to leave these behind.
There have been lots of nectarean kirtans here - chanting for many hours with elevated devotees is always very uplifting. Last evening a thought came that one cannot enter into the mysteries of the holy name without mercy - in kirtan I can somehow understand that the holy name is something very deep, but there is no qualification to really enter into the depths.
It is same both with kirtan or Japa, we should do the maximum endeavor to concentrate and be attentive, but it is finally the mercy of the holy name and pure devotees, if we can actually realize something about the holy name.
Your servant,
Muniraja dasa
by muniraja dasa (muniraja108@gmail.com) at January 02, 2009 03:54 AM
H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA : Friday 2 January 2009--Time Went Backwards
Today on 31 December 2008 I arrived in Santiago, Chile at 12:55pm
flying in from Auckland, New Zealand. The most amazing thing
about this journey was that I left Auckland at 5:25pm on 31
December 2008, which is 5 1/2 hours after I arrived in Santiago. I
arrived in Santiago before I left Auckland. In other words time
went backwards. If I told this ............................
==================================================================
Thought...
by course@ultimateselfrealization.com at January 02, 2009 03:30 AM
Madhava Ghosh dasa : Balabhadra Has A Heart Attack
During our New Year’s Eve party, an ambulance went out the lane that passes through our property. We had just spoken to Mahati who has moved into Pusti’s trailer so we knew it wasn’t her. That left Stanley, a local who has lived alone at the end of the lane since his mother died, is well over 70, and a drinker, and Balabhadra’s crew. It easily could have been Stanley.
It was too late to call Balabhadra so I called this morning and got voice mail. He called me back this evening from the hospital and said he had a heart attack. They will be doing tests tomorrow (Friday) to see the extent of the damage but at least he can dial a phone.
FYI, if you or someone you know has a heart attack, it is recommended to take some aspirin while waiting for the ambulance. Aspirin is a blood thinner and can possibly limit the impact of the heart attack.
Balabhadra is a Prabhupada disciple who has dedicated his life to cow protection so please pray for him.
Posted in Cows and Environment, Health
Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA : Thank You, Chef Veggie!
Chef Veggie, AKA the very beautiful inside and out Cristina Carolan, was kind enough to send me some dried red chilis which she grew herself. Some of you may remember the very thorough guest post by Sean Carolan (Cristina's husband) a while back on square foot gardening. Well, these chilies are a reminder that the technique works!
In addition to the chillies this Waldorf inspired mom also sent me a human made beeswax candle which she crafted with her cute as a felted wool button daughter, Keli, and a Radha-Krishna trading card.
Thanks so much for my goodies! Your generosity and encouragement makes me not want to give up being "Sabjimata."
by noreply@blogger.com (Devadeva Mirel) at January 02, 2009 01:36 AM
Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA : Sir Mix-A-Lot
So just nowish I was asked by a blog reader in that far off land known as Canada if I use one of those fancy schmancy Kitchen-Aid stand mixers. To which I have to answer no, I use one of those fancy Kitchen-Aid hand mixers pictured below.
Here's my advice to any cooking aficionados out there. At the time of marriage, don't be a total putz like me. REGISTER!!!!
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Here's my advice to any cooking aficionados out there. At the time of marriage, don't be a total putz like me. REGISTER!!!!
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by noreply@blogger.com (Devadeva Mirel) at January 02, 2009 01:15 AM
Maddy Jean-claude Durr, New Govardhana, AU : Bondi Bandits (Our Show at Bondi Beach)
Saturday, 13th Dec, 2008.
The weekend starts with a bang here in Sydney. Saturday commemorates the Bhrigu feast. I wondered down from my ignorant state to a smorgasbord. I shot off to do some book book work (book work on the book table). After playing with numbers and throwing money all over the place I was keen for an aimless drive. Me and Tomtom (the GPS that talks and possibly has a personality) were sent to pick up a fancy electro gismo for the show (3phase to single phase adaptor for specifics) across the city. Tomtom was silly and took me through another etoll. I was building up a good collection of fines to deal with later.
I arrived to find a typical Aussie scene. No one was at work, after a Friday night. I presumed they were all either still in bed or totally hung over. I patiently waited and find the device myself due to my previous electrical experience. I booked it out and got the hell-up outa there.
I rolled back into the temple. Bhavananda was standing outside my car door. I applied a healthy fear factor as he approached. He asked for a lift around the block. I tried to relax and absorb every direction he gave me so that I didn’t look more a fool than I was. He asked about my parents and different things.
After this I had a chat with my parents on the phone and then packed my car to the max. There was…limited visibility. After we squeezed every ounce of junk possible into my now seemingly tiny vehicle I was off (as there was no room for any other). I headed off to Bondi. The traffic was as thick as an elephant skull. It was grid lock and a half. The Aussie summer decided to kick in and I was a boiling bilby in my overly snug car.
I reached the venue after some confusion. I chilled out and spent some quality time with myself in the shade sussing out dodgy a dodgy Jamaican guy yelling violent profanity. Some of the boys hit the surf and I was back on the taxi run. I made my way back to Liverpool st to pick up whoever was ready and whoever would fit in my car. I took some time off the hectic schedule to indulge in the mataji fridge and freezer. I was served out a nice helping of ice cream. I was tempted to eat some more but it seemed I might be stuck for time.
I was back into the action. I set up the book table. Domo insisted I grab some “flowers” into the hall. “What flowers?” I asked.
“Those flowers” he said, indicating to a plant.
I walked in to the hall room to place the plant and Pratapana says “where are you going with those flowers?”
“It’s a plant?!?!”
I suspected maybe Domo didn’t know the English but Pratapana had no excuse. I kept moving, a little bewildered.
I bumped into a Camri Mataji, passing on some messages of love to my parents. I had just read in Bhagavatam of the different animals in Vikuntha and Camri was one of them. Gypsies in India still made business off selling the tail hair, which we use in deity worship. The animal is something like a cow.
I checked on the book table. There was a need to take our cloth and we were getting a new one. Sri Prahlad came in and said: “Oh didn’t we tell you. There is no book table today.” It was a good joke. I threatened there would be no Sri Prahlad today either. We would be back to a solo MC, Chandra Shekara.
There was a really nice German gentlemen who came to our table. He was checking out our new Taiwan Gitas. He had one of his own and I talked with him and encouraged him to read back through it. He was lingering over the Krsna books and I was hoping he would take one. He said he would read it after he read his Gita again. I was excited also on the table because it was me and Mathuranatha. We had some fun wacky times on Polish tour. Me him and Gopa Kumar were dancing a few crazies in the back stage at the final show kirtanas.
It was show time! I left Mathuranatha, who was a little uncomfortable with his English ability, and hit the make up. We were little under practiced for the show so I had to wind myself up for a change rather than wind myself down. We ran across stage in a bit of a confusion, as its not the usual thing we do in the play. Desperate venues call for depressing mesures. We lined up on the side of the stage ready to make our marching entry. Then all of a sudden *crash*, man down! (Or more so, mataji down.) We just proved that preaching culture is dangerous business. Mathureshvari crashed off stage and fell over a meter to the hard floor. “The show must go on” I thought as I kept marching hoping they would stop it if it was really serious. Another mataji managed to bring her back to life and we continued as if nothing had happened. Only some in the front row seemed to hear the deadly loud thud.
I saw a young lady talking to Jai Sri and she seemed strangely familiar. They were looking over my way in some interest and I gave a reciprocating stare of confusion. The girl introduced herself as “Kusha’s sister” and it was one of those old skool kuli catch up sessions. We talked till she was captivated by the end of the show lecture and kirtana. I found out from her that Kusha was in the city so we could catch up. It seemed like only recently I had caught up with Kusha but it had been a long time and I had just lost track since my overseas travels.
Little did I know that in the show someone had announced Maharaja would be signing Gitas and so the table got an influx of keen people. We managed to sell 11 gitas and sold 15 Cds. Domo just payed off his investment with his Tour CD idea and from then on it was pure transcendental tour profits, all going to improve the show. People patiently waited for Maharaja to sign their books and off they all went.
After some mucking around with packing up we all rummaged our ways into cars and took off. I had Sri Prahlad in my passenger seat and a bunch of boys in the back. There was some good ole kuli katha and some overall audible activity in the car. When we got back to our room there was a late night wind down session of fired up talkativeness. It was closing midnight when we hit the lights out. The shows just kept getting better and better. We sadly had to turn back 100 guests from the show, so it was jam ram packed that evening. More and more interest was coming at the book table also and our newly added CD was a great feature. Our two day, double festival marathon was also over so we slept well and hard that night..
Book Distribution News : WW III postphoned
My Dear Friends in Krishna consciousness,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Here's an inspiring story about how Krishna consciousness can change things in this world.
There was a nuclear sub stationed off the coast of America during the sixties. They were just waiting for the command to launch the missles to get WW III going. One day they got a notice instead to come home. The war was cancelled.
The commander of that sub later read Srila Prabhupada's biography getting it from his grandson who had become a devotee. While reading he learned that the day he received the order to come home was the very day that Srila Prabhupada stepped foot on American soil!
I learned this personally from the grandson while I was traveling in Russia.
Krishna is the Supreme Controller. Keep preaching and distributing those books. Who knows how many other times WW III has been postphoned. Perhaps it will be permanently postphoned. Krishna consciousness can save this world!
Desiring to always remain a servant of the Vaishnavas, Dhanesvara Das
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