As all the bodily forms we take are temporary, does that mean the eternal and real is formlessness?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

From Ravikumar Shukla

Someone might argue that, after death, we also leave our present form, and may get another form, lets say a form of a dolphin.
That means our present form is not real, similarly the next form of dolphin is also not real, since it will get destroyed by time factor.

Now, can someone say that forms are not real because they get destroyed by time, but we are real because we don't get destroyed and hence we are truth.
For substantiating the above point, this people take the support of Srimad Bhagvad Gita, chapter-2, verse-16.

In which they claim that,
that which is false is always destroyed (forms)
And that which is true is never destroyed (soul)

Hence they conclude by saying that , soul is formless

How to understand this with Gaudiya Vaishnav commentaries in a better manner.please suggest

Answer Podcast

We Owe It To Ourselves
→ Japa Group

"We have so many things to do just to survive that sometimes we feel we have to sacrifice Japa and prayer as mere luxuries. Here again a balance is required, but we owe it to ourselves not to be forced into a situation where we find "no time" for basic daily devotions."

From Vandanam
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

Without a Trace of Emotion
→ Load Film in Subdued Light

Camera: Polaroid Big Swinger 3000 | Film: Fuji FP-3000B

Camera: Polaroid Big Swinger 3000 | Film: Fuji FP-3000B

I told you yesterday about Fuji discontinuing their B&W Polaroid film (FP-3000B). I also mentioned the Polaroid Big Swinger 3000 that could only shoot 3000iso film. Now that the film is discontinued and I’ve shot my last pack (the photo above being the last photo), the camera is now obsolete. It’s sad, but I didn’t let it get me down (too much).

I loved the BS3k. The blur around the edges was magical, and I had always wanted to shoot color with it. because of the size of the aperture (shutter, actually), it was impossible. But what I could do was remove the cheap plastic lens and put it in another Polaroid.

This was easier said than done, but I did it. I used a Polaroid Colorpack II. As I soon discovered, this was the wrong camera to try it upon. The lens system was built like a tank. Where most are plastic, this was metal with glass lenses. I made this discovery when the broken glass (I was using a hammer to remove the lens) cut my thumb. A bunch of blood later, and the lenses were removed.

I’ve been able to put the old BS3k lens inside it, securing it best I could by screwing down the focus of he CPII. The quandary is that I have no idea where the focal point might be – or even if there is one. With only one lens, what sort of depth of field will I have? Will everything be blurry? Will everything be in focus?

I don’t yet have the ability to focus (the BS3k was fixed-focus), but if the preliminary trials go well, I might try to find a way to make it a more permanent thing that will allow me to adjust the lens. We shall see. I’ve not yet loaded film into it, but it should take only a few shots to have my answers. I bet I’ll post the results.

The camera will be called Polaroid Colorpack Swinger (I suppose).


New Vrindaban Daily Darsan @ December 27, 2013.
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

IMG_7407

I meditate on wonderful Vrindavana, where there are millions of lakes, ponds, and wells, all filled with water as sweet as transcendental nectar, where there are many gardens filled with blossoming transcendental flowers and fruits and unlimited wonderful trees and vines, where there are numberless transcendental deers and other animals who move here and there, and where there are many beautiful transcendental groves.

Verse 18 from the Sri Vrindavana-mahimamrita Shataka (Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrndavana-dhama) by Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura.

Please click here for more Deity photos …..

 

Great Escape
→ Tattva - See inside out

Nothing can compare to lessons ‘on the road’. After spending nearly 250 hours over the last month speaking to random people from multifarious walks of life, I’ve gained some new insights and reconfirmed several old ones. A few days ago I asked everyone I met what they do to relax. The top 3 answers: 1) Sleep 2) Entertainment (TV, movies, video games) 3) Intoxication. It’s interesting that all three activities are essentially an attempt to disconnect oneself from ‘real life’. After we’ve seen, done, tried and bought it all, we usually end up wanting to escape it. Although most return to play the same game again, a rare few decide to ‘retire’ and seek something higher. According to the Bhagavad-gita, however, this desire to ‘escape’ the world is entirely natural.

“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”  – C.S Lewis

The Vedic scriptures offer a variety of enchanting accounts describing the nature of the metaphysical world. In that realm, every step is a dance, every word is a song, every action is motivated by pure love, and the atmosphere is infused with ever-increasing transcendental happiness. Sounds good. Maybe too good. Ethereal concepts formulated to distract us from the aches and pains of the ‘real’ world? Fairytale accounts fit for those living in cloud-cuckoo-land? Could there be reality beyond what we see around us?

Instead of dismissing our deepest and innermost desires as childish, naive and unrealistic, it may be worth exploring where such universal longings come from. Why is the yearning for immortality and unimpeded happiness common to every entity in the universe? Maybe such desires reveal something about our higher nature and self. Maybe such desires are a constant reminder to seek further and go deeper.

ISKCON News Announces Video Contest Winners
→ ISKCON News

In the Fall 2013, ISKCON News called out to Krishna devotee videographers to send their short videos of inspiring Krishna-conscious people, stories, interesting Krishna-conscious projects, events or activities, or their Krishna-conscious music videos. There were over 50 contestants applied from 14 different countries, and shared their inspiring short films of various subjects, including festivals, spiritual retreats, Deity worship, outreach and artistic programs.

New Advocacy Group Forming in New Vrindaban
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

INVITATION TO ALL DEVOTEES OF NEW VRINDABAN

First Meeting of Advocacy Sanga

Agenda: Caring for Each Other, Caring for Devotees 

Soul Searching: How can we attract devotees to live in New Vrindaban? What can we do to inspire long term commitment?

Dear New Vrindaban Devotees,

All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Candra.

There is now a very nice opportunity to get involved in making a positive difference in our community. The idea is to develop a sanga of caring devotees for discussing how to make the community better and more harmonious in all respects. Since serving Krsna is a dynamic activity there are a variety of ways to please Him.

As Prabhupada explains,

“So everyone can serve Krsna. Either with your life, your money, your intelligence or with your words.  If you can dedicate your life for spreading this Krsna consciousness movement, that is first class. If you cannot dedicate your life immediately, then spend some of your income for Krsna. If you think you have no money, you can serve Krsna by your intelligence or by your words.” [from a S.P. lecture on S.B. 1.2.9]

The formation of the New Vrindaban Community Advocacy Sanga (NVCAS) is an opportunity for devotees to get involved with the community by engaging their individual and collective intelligence in giving input to the current management regarding a wide spectrum of issues that concern the community members at large. The input will take the form of well researched and thought out written proposals in line with guru, sadhu and sastra for management to consider.

The NVCAS is not, of course, a revolution. But it is revolutionary in that it creates an opportunity to revolt against our own apathy and our tendency to complain in a corner to individuals who can’t necessarily do anything about it.  Such complaining tends to quickly sink to the level of fault finding and good solutions never come from destructive criticism.

Although the formation of the sanga is appreciated by management, it is not being created by management, nor will it be overseen by management. Rather it is being formed and will be run by concerned New Vrindaban devotees because of a desire to assist in the pursuance of Srila Prabhupada’s vision for New Vrindaban.

Participation is open to all residents, but there will be a Core Membership established. Core members will be entrusted with the responsibility to come to consensus on advisory proposals. Core members should be:

1) residents of New Vrindaban for a minimum of one full year

2) willing to consistently commit to a minimum of two 2 hr meetings a month to meet with fellow sanga members in serious discussions on community issues with the goal of formulating articulate proposals for management and/or community members to consider

3) willing to educate themselves on topics under consideration on their own time so that discussions can be more productive.

4) willing to make themselves available to community members who have concerns

The 5 broad categories of Srila Prabhupada’s vision for N.V. and their corollaries will be some of the topics under consideration in the coming year.

1) Cow protection/Earth protection

2) Spiritual education/Devotee School/ New Devotee Training/ Western Outreach

3) Self-sufficiency/Livelihood/ Devotee Care/Self Governance

4) Holy place of pilgrimage/Deity Worship/Festivals

All the above to be focused on

5) Loving Krsna

If you are interested to be involved especially as a core member or even as a participating member or just want to find out more, you are invited to the first meeting of the NVCAS on Tuesday Jan. 7, 2014. The meeting will be held at 6pm at the school building. Prasadam will be available from 5:30 onwards.  The agenda will be ”Caring for Each Other, Caring for Devotees”

You can also contact Lilasuka or Nityodita to find out more.

lilasooka@msn.com      or   nityodita@gmail.com

What can we do when religions use surrogate advertising for converting unsuspecting needy people?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Can you pl comment on the article below?

http://www.merinews.com/article/surrogate-advertisement-enters-religious-arena-too/15892151.shtml

Answer Podcast

Quote of Francis delighting in Deity desecration:

“I would gather all the boys of the village and go to the place where they had  made and worshipped the idols; and then the dishonour heaped on the devi was greater than the honour paid to him by the parents and relations of the boys at the time when they made and venerated the idols. For the boys would take the idols and break them to tiny pieces, and then they would spit on them and trample them under foot and do other things which perhaps it is better not to record in detail, thus showing their contempt for the one who had the impertinence to demand the veneration of their fathers.” (Francis Xavier in a letter to Father Ignatius,  Quoted in S. C. Neill, A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to ad 1707, 146.)

[p.s In yesterday's QA on conversion, the link of the huffington post article had got broken. The correct link is posted here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-goldberg/missionaries-in-india_b_4470448.html]

 

Initiation Ceremony, December 25, Vrindavan
Giriraj Swami

12.25.13_VdvnGiriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhaya-lila 19.151 and Adi-lila 8.24, during the initiations of Bhakta Akash and Bhaktin Komeshnee, in which he gave them the spiritual names Akrura dasa and Kamala-sundari dasi, respectively.

“Anartha-nivrtti is a very critical stage in which unwanted desires and behaviors are eradicated. Devotees can get stuck and spend a long, long time without passing through this stage—because to pass through it requires work. In Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s analogy about the devotional creeper, he says that after receiving the seed of devotion one should become a gardener and plant the seed and water it by chanting and hearing. And he states that one should be careful of weeds, or unwanted creepers, that grow up alongside the devotional creeper. These weeds can very closely resemble the devotional creeper; they can appear to be of the same size and the same variety as the devotional creeper, but they are actually weeds, and if one is not careful, the water from the chanting and hearing can be sucked up by these weeds. So, that is another way of looking at why someone can remain stuck for a long time—because the person is not able to distinguish between the real creeper and the weeds. The weeds, in broad terms, are material desires. So, one may be chanting and engaging in so many devotional activities, but within oneself one may want some material position or even harbor some covert desire to merge and become one with God, or Brahman. So, to pass through anartha-nivrtti requires sincerity and effort.”

Initiation Talk

TEXAS FAITH: What words of religious faith should politicians really hear and heed?
→ Nityananda Chandra Das' Blog, ISKCON Dallas

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

Dick Thornburgh, former Pennsylvania governor and U.S. attorney general, gave a speech last month entitled “The Role of Faith in Public Service.” In it, he said not only that his religious faith was important to him as a lawyer, governor and cabinet member under two presidents – but also that he tried to keep “a particularly instructive passage of scripture” in mind. It was Micah 6:8, a well-known passage for many Jews and Christians: “Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”

In his speech, Thornburgh explained why he tried to keep that particular passage in mind.

As a prosecutor, Thornburgh said the idea of justice meant making a good-faith effort to combine the toughness necessary to govern with a compassion for people in need. Of kindness, he said: “This admonition encompasses the highest claim upon those of us in public life – that of assisting others.” As for walking humbly, that sometimes means admitting when you’re wrong.

Every faith and spiritual tradition has its verses, phrases, expressions, central ideas. The Bible, the Torah, the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita, Tripitaka, myriad religious texts and spiritual beliefs – each has what Thornburg calls a “particularly instructive passage” providing guidance for people in public life.

The Faith Panel took up the question —What single passage from your faith tradition would you recommend to elected officeholders and those who advise them? Their answers were varied, similar, extraordinarily diverse and amazingly consistent.

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

"Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues." Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.21

People require leaders who can lead by their practical example. A leader who smokes cannot teach his followers not to smoke. Therefore honest persons do not take the position of leadership without first behaving above moral scrutiny. A leader must not only be an exemplary example but also their leadership should be guided by transcendental wisdom. If the leader does not have a complete understanding of the self he will not be create a peaceful situation. For only the self-realized are peaceful and satisfied.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

Santa in the Bhagavad Gītā
→ Nityananda Chandra Das' Blog, ISKCON Dallas

"The devotees of the Supreme Lord, or the persons who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are called santas, and they are always in love with the Lord as it is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.38): premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. The santas, being always in a compact of love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda (the giver of all pleasures), or Mukunda (the giver of liberation), or Kṛṣṇa (the all-attractive person), cannot accept anything without first offering it to the Supreme Person." -  Bhagavad Gītā purport 3.13

TEXAS FAITH 115: Where was God in the ordeal that young Lauren Kavanaugh faced?
→ Nityananda Chandra Das' Blog, ISKCON Dallas

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

 

Lauren Kavanaugh

Over the last week, the Dallas Morning News has run a series on the story of 20-year old Lauren Kavanaugh. In “The Girl in the Closet”, you will read a devastating, demoralizing account of depravity. (To access these stories, go to the chapters portion on the toolbar.)

The report tells the story of how young Lauren was locked in a closet, deprived of food and sexually abused by her mother and stepfather over several years. It will tell you how she rose above that horror to later be sexually abused again in her teen-age years. Throughout the story, you will learn of the rise and fall and rise of this young girl. You also will hear many an expert say this was as bad a case of victimization as they have seen.

Here, then, is my question:

Where was God in the ordeal young Lauren faced?

Of course, this is an age-old question, but I would like to hear your views.

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

My sister died when she was just two years old when I was a young boy in middle school. She suffered terribly in the hospital for two years and then passed away. For that reason, I also had this same question.

It is like if you were to walk into a grocery store and the cashier twists your arm behind your back and pushed your face hard down onto the table, all under the purview of the manager. If the manager did nothing to stop this mistreatment, naturally you would see this as bad management, neglect, or cruelty. In this same way, Mother Nature can be seen as the cashier and God is her manager.

Omnipotent means that God not only has the power to stop mistreatment but rather everything happens by His own sanction. Omniscience means that God knows all that is happening. And finally omnibenevolence means that God is the most kind and loving. So how does one resolve this great contradiction?

Since God is the most intelligent, shouldn't there be an intelligent answer? If that person who was at the grocery store was there the day before and they were shoplifting, then it would not be seen as cruelty, mismanagement, or neglect of the cashier and manager, if he were to be accosted and  arrested. Similarly, the only answer that gives a logical framework to the suffering of children and the existence of an all loving God, is that everyone bears the burdens of past karmas of previous lives. Otherwise a solid case for neglect and cruelty could be made against the Supreme Lord.

Why karma, what is the benefit of karma? Karma is material actions of the past that come with their concomitant material reactions. When one acts fully in God consciousness there is no karma, no reactionary bondage to their actions. Karma reminds the soul that the material world is not its home.

The true saint feels compassion and pain towards all other's suffering. A saint will teach by example one how to become fully God-conscious and thus destroy the problem of suffering at its root.

 

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

Rhythmus
→ Load Film in Subdued Light

Camera: Polaroid Big Swinger 3000 | Film: Fuji FP-3000B

Camera: Polaroid Big Swinger 3000 | Film: Fuji FP-3000B

Fuji is discontinuing their black & white Polaroid film, and I’m incredibly bummed out by it. I haven’t used it much (only three packs, I think), but it was magical and I was really planning on delving into it this coming spring. No such luck, I’m afraid.

So on Christmas day, we tramped out to Snoqualmie Falls so I could take my last two black & white Polaroids (ever?). These are the falls featured in the opening to Twin Peaks. Anyway, when taking the last two photos, I actually though that I had a spare pack of B&W in the fridge. Upon returning home, I discovered that I was mistaken. Thankfully, I’m pretty happy with both.

What makes me most happy about the shots is probably the camera. I was using a Polaroid Big Swinger 3000, which has a strange, ethereal blur. It reminds somewhat of a Holga. The problem is that this camera is only set up to take photos with 3000iso film. The color film is 100iso. I figured that I might be able to alter it. Maybe I could bore out the shutter blades, but no. I won’t go into why, but it was actually impossible.

What was possible, however, was moving the lens to a different camera. This was a bloody (literally) ordeal, which I’ll talk about tomorrow.

For now, enjoy my second to late black & white Polaroid photo.

(Yes, I know you can still get the film, but it’s going for $20+ a pack and I really can’t justify that. I’m really sorry to see it go.)