Author Archives: Candidasa dasa, UK

Why do bad things happen to good people?
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<p>In this talk at Gaura Yoga in Wellington, New Zealand I discuss a topic that has confounded many statesmen, philosophers and theologians. Why do bad things happen to good people and why do good things happen to bad people? I give an overview of different so-called answers that people try to give to this question. I then explain how the science of Krishna consciousness gives a much more satisfying and sensible answer than any other source of knowledge. There are lots of questions in the end.</p><p> </p><p><a href=”http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/why%20bad%20things%20happen.m4a”>Click here to play audio/video</a></p><p> </p><p>or download the source AAC file <a href=”http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/why%20bad%20things%20happen.m4a”>bad things.m4a</a></p><p>or download the source MP3 file <a href=”http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/why%20bad%20things%20happen.mp3″>bad things.mp3</a></p><p>or download the slides as a PDF file <a href=”http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/why%20bad%20things%20happen.pdf”>bad things.pdf</a></p>

Why do bad things happen to good people?
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In this talk at Gaura Yoga in Wellington, New Zealand I discuss a topic that has confounded many statesmen, philosophers and theologians. Why do bad things happen to good people and why do good things happen to bad people? I give an overview of different so-called answers that people try to give to this question. I then explain how the science of Krishna consciousness gives a much more satisfying and sensible answer than any other source of knowledge. There are lots of questions in the end.

 

Click here to play audio/video

 

or download the source AAC file bad things.m4a

or download the source MP3 file bad things.mp3

or download the slides as a PDF file bad things.pdf

How to give a presentation (about Krishna consciousness)
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<p>In this talk at Gaura Yoga I give some practical advice on how to give an interesting and inspirational Krishna conscious presentation.</p><p><a href=”http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/how%20to%20give%20a%20presentation.m4a”>How to give a presentation</a></p><p>Download the talk as an <a href=”http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/how%20to%20give%20a%20presentation.m4a”>enhanced podcast (slides synced to audio)</a> in AAC/M4A format (35 minutes). This file is playable in iTunes or on iPods.</p><p>Or, if you can’t play or don’t like Apple’s media formats, here is the <a href=”http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/how%20to%20give%20a%20presentation.mp3″>audio of the talk in MP3 format</a>.</p><p>You can also download the <a href=”http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/how%20to%20give%20a%20presentation.pdf”>slides I used as a PDF</a>.</p>

PhD passed: I’m now officially Dr. Seidenberg / Candidasa dasa
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<p>It took over 4 years, but it has finally happened. I have completed my PhD in Computer Science at the University of Manchester, UK. That’s right: I’m now officially Doctor Julian M. Seidenberg / Candidasa dasa.</p><p>You can download and read <a href=”http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/pdf/PhD_Thesis_Julian_Seidenberg.pdf”>my PhD thesis</a>, if you like.</p>

Sleep is absolutely essential
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Sleep

Every living entity on the planet (and beyond) needs to sleep. Rats, die if they are deprived of sleep for 5 days (they also die if they are deprived of food for 5 days). Why this is, no one knows. It is one of the great unsolved mysteries of science. Wouldn’t it be better if we didn’t have to waste so much time with sleeping?

Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita (BG6.16):

There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yog?«, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.

The general trend nowadays (in the mode of passion) is to sleep too little. I was listening to this 60 minutes feature on sleep. They presented all the latest research on the subject. Some surprising and alarming results:

  • Sleep enhances memory: a study showed that students memorizing a list of words could recall them with 40% better accuracy after a night’s sleep than they could before going to bed. So, pulling an all-nighter to revise for an exam will actually harm one’s changes of remembering the material.
  • Insufficient sleep is cumulative: the negative effects of sleeping only 4-6 hours night-after-night build upon one another. The less sleep you get, the worse your state of body and mind becomes.
  • The effects of not sleeping are similar to intoxication: sleeping for only 4-6 hours has a similar effect on your mental awareness as drinking alcohol. So, for example, your ability to drive a car is severely impaired, your emotional mind takes over and can no longer be controlled by one’s rational/logical mind. In fact, the MRI brain image of someone who hasn’t had enough sleep is very similar to that of someone will a severe mental disorder. Caffeine can offset these effects for one or two days, but after three days insufficient sleep no amount of coffee can mask the intoxicating effect.
  • 2-second micro-sleeps occur after insufficient rest: if you have had insufficient sleep, then you will, most likely, not realize just how tired you actually are. Your body will fall asleep for 2 second, even with open eyes, without you realizing. Needless to say, this can be very dangerous when driving a car.
  • Many disasters are caused by insufficient sleep: lack of sleep played a factor in many accidents. For example: in the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, the Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown and the Staten Island ferry crash the staff responsible all had had inadequate sleep.
  • Lack of sleep causes obesity: not sleeping enough causes a drop of the leptin hormone, which regulates hunger. So, not sleeping enough will make you feel hungry, even if you’ve had plenty to eat. It produces an uncontrollable desire to eat. The result: not sleeping makes you fat.
  • Lack of sleep causes diabetes: studies have shown that if someone is restricted to sleeping just four hours per night, they start developing symptoms of type-2 diabetes (symptoms include: weakness/fatigue, tingling/numbness in hands and feet, blurred vision, dry/itchy skin, unquenchable thirst, extreme hunger, weight loss, irritability, frequent urination, slow healing of wounds). It seems not getting enough sleep disturbs the body’s ability to metabolize sugar. Indeed, type-2 diabetes, which used to only occur in elderly people, is becoming more and more common; even children are getting it (children need 9 – 10 hours sleep, yet frequently get less than 7 hours of sleep). Lack of sleep also increases one’s risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

Most people need 7.5 – 8 hours of sleep per night, yet the median amount of sleep people in the USA get today is just 6.7 hours. Sleeping is just as important as eating. Not sleeping is really dangerous. So, if you are not getting enough sleep, then what are you waiting for? Get to bed!

PhD result: not quite there yet
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I had my PhD viva (final oral exam) a few weeks ago. After an incredibly grueling 4:40 hours the result is: “major corrections without the need for another examination”.

The examiners were happy with my performance in the viva, but they thought that the thesis had some major shortcoming which needed to be corrected before awarding me the title. They estimate about two months more work is necessary to make the corrections. Then I have to re-submit the thesis, pay a ?£250 “admin fee” and the corrected thesis gets sent to both examiners for review and approval.

This is somewhat of a disappointment, but it could have been a lot worse. At least I (kind of) passed the exam. Still, the grind goes on…

Saturday Feast: Good Government
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I hosted what will probably be the last of my Saturday Feasts in Manchester yesterday. There were a total of eight people present (much to my surprise everyone I invited came and some people brought friends along – and there was just enough prasadam to satisfy everyone). On the menu:

  • cumin basmati rice
  • chickpea, roast potato, tomato stew (from the Yamuna’s Table cookbook)
  • sweet potato pie (from Great Vegetarian Dishes)
  • apple chutney
  • leaf salad with carrot strips, roasted pumpkin seeds, roasted sesame seeds and coconut (with a lemon juice dressing)
  • fruity chamomile with orange juice (which surprisingly tastes a lot like it has ginger and cinnamon in it, even though it doesn’t)

After lunch we all chanted one round of the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra on beads. We then engaged in a lively discussion on: SB 4.22.45.

Since only a person who is completely educated according to the principles of Vedic knowledge deserves to be commander-in-chief, ruler of the state, the first to chastise and the proprietor of the whole planet, P??>thu Mah?r?ja offered everything to the Kum?ras.

Srila Prabhupada makes several statements in the purport which are against conventional so-called wisdom. Some people might even consider such statements controversial. However, I find the plain-spoken tell-it-like-it-is nature of Prabhupada’s statements highly refreshing, enjoyable and philosophically sound.

After a discussion that lasted a little over an hour we had a stand-up kirtan. Everyone seemed to really enjoy that. After that, a little general talk and saying goodbye to everyone and the last meeting in Manchester came to a close.

Unfortunately, Vedicsoc Manchester is now no more.