Planet ISKCON

At least four other US states- Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, and Kansas have similar laws on the books.

In an effort to hide from public eyes the horrors of the industrialized slaughter of animals, industry leaders have been busy lobbying (paying off) politicians to introduce what are known as “Ag-Gag” laws. The intent of these laws is to prevent whistleblowers, journalists, or anyone concerned about the welfare of animals from taking pictures or video of a slaughterhouse without permission. In some states these laws further criminalize “gaining employment” at a slaughterhouse with the intent of conducting an investigation.

In the case of Amy Meyer, she was on public property when she used her phone to video the insidious scene of an injured cow being scraped up and carted away by a tractor. The owner of the slaughterhouse (who also happened to be the mayor of the town in which the factory is located) called the police and claimed Meyer had trespassed. Although not arrested on the spot, Amy was later charged with violating Utah’s “Ag-Gag” law and faced becoming the first person in the nation to be prosecuted under such a statute.

Utah’s “Ag-Gag” law passed through the legislature during the 2012 legislative session. At least four other US states- Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, and Kansas have similar laws on the books. Meyers’ case resulted in public outcry by animal rights groups, First Amendment activists and threatened to be a public relations nightmare for the Animal Murder Industry. The charges against Meyer were eventually dropped but the laws remain on the books.

On August 22, 2013, the Financial Times published the following letter from KN Al-Sabah.

Sir, Iran is backing Assad. Gulf states are against Assad!

Assad is against Muslim Brotherhood. Muslim Brotherhood and Obama are against General Sisi.

But Gulf states are pro Sisi! Which means they are against Muslim Brotherhood!

Iran is pro Hamas, but Hamas is backing Muslim Brotherhood!

Obama is backing Muslim Brotherhood, yet Hamas is against the US!

Gulf states are pro US. But Turkey is with Gulf states against Assad; yet Turkey is pro Muslim Brotherhood against General Sisi. And General Sisi is being backed by the Gulf states!

Welcome to the Middle East and have a nice day.

According to Krishna’s view, as expressed in the Bhagavad-gita, not only is the Middle East a mess, but the whole world with all of its subtleties and grossness is like a jungle one can easily get lost in. To illustrate the example Krishna compares this world to an unkempt banyan tree. The banyan tree naturally grows huge, with its branches extending upwards and downwards. When its branches reach the ground, they take root and thus the tree gains additional trunks. In this way, one banyan tree can turn into a small forest. When unkempt, a banyan tree looks like a labyrinth, a confusing maze, a jungle of branches and twigs.

As it is nearly impossible to navigate the way out of a labyrinth; similarly, it is difficult to solve the complex problems of this world. It seems that every solution is a cause for yet another problem. When comparing this world to the unkempt banyan tree in the fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna advises the reader that the best solution is to cut down the banyan tree of material life with the ax of detachment and focus on the transcendental destination, the spiritual world, home of every soul.

In summery, the advice is: While trying to stay afloat in this complex and perplexing world, one is best advised to seek the way out of this world and make that one’s primary focus. Ultimately there is no material solution to material problems.

Since the dawn of creation people have been controlled by smaller groups of people thus many have always been controlled by a few. This control can be made possible by direct and indirect ways. Direct ways involve incarceration, torture – brute force. This methodology can not successfully continue for ever. People can live only in cages they do not see thus people, the many, have to be brought to the point of consent. Therefore indirect methodologies are resorted to. One indirect methodology is by fear. First, fear is introduced. Second, the few remove the artificial causes of fear, and therefore step number three, the many cling onto the few, seeking their protection.

The other methodology is by pleasure. First, pleasure is introduced. Second, the many become addicted to pleasure and therefore stupefied. Third, the many are ready to do anything to prevent cessation of pleasure.

TV is a major media through which the few get to control the many. Terror, terrorism, terrorists, weapons of mass destruction, etc. – these are for the most part lies meant to keep the people in a fearful state of mind.

Fashion, shopping, emotionally immature celebrities, entertainment – these are for the most part meant to keep people stupefied, attached, in bondage, and therefore incapable of independent critical thinking.

In this way, through the materialistic fear and the materialistic pleasure people lose their freedom.

Lord Krishna, however, teaches whole of the material creation exercises these two principles, the principle of materialistic fear and the principle of materialistic pleasure, to keep living entities in bondage.

Braking out of this bondage sets the soul free, free to experience real, conscious, spiritual existence. Conscious life, the life of a yogi really begins with the attempts to rise above the dualities of the material world. Krishna, in the Bhagavad-gita (2.14-15) has to say the following on the subject at hand:

The nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed. The person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.”

To ignore the disturbance of the fear-pleasure dualism is a great accomplishment, but it does not complete the process of yoga. For such a spiritual accomplishment there has to be one more element: determination and practice to advance in spiritual realization. Thus, in his commentary on the above quoted texts from the Bhagavad-gita, Srila Prabhupada writes: “Anyone who is steady in determination for the advanced stage of spiritual realization and can equally tolerate the onslaughts of distress and happiness is certainly eligible for liberation.“

Buycott is an application for your cellular phone. With it you can use your phone to scan the barcode of a product to find out what brand the product belongs to, what company owns the brand, and who ultimately owns the company. In this way you, the buyer, can be selective as to who you want to support or boycott with your purchases.

There are a good number of buyers who would not want to contribute their money to Monsanto or the Koch Industries for example. Monsanto is known for their production and sales of GMO seeds and an unofficially declared war on those who prefer natural seeds that do not terminate after one cycle of production. Koch Industries has a bit of a history of environmentally unfriendly behavior including their funding of human-caused global warming skepticism.

Since large companies often have their subsidiaries, it can be difficult to tell who really owns a company. Fellas at Buycott Inc. have done the investigation for you. They also keep track of what some of the companies support or lobby against. You can learn all this simply by scanning, with your phone, the barcode of a product.

The app has been developed beyond the initial stages, but still has room for improvement. Thus far it looks promising and many are happy to use it.

My concern is that some of the buyers may use this app to practice boycotting based on their personal agenda and social fads rather than on objective grounds and from a well informed position. However, I understand that it is the responsibility of the users how they will avail themselves of this app. The Bhagavad-gita (13.21) teaches that even though an entity may create certain circumstances, ultimately it is the user’s responsibility to respond to the circumstances in the morally healthy way.

To check out this app, see buycott.com.

Thirty-eight years ago what is arguably the greatest mystery ever puzzled over by scientists—the origin of life—seemed virtually solved by a single simple experiment.” This is how the February 1991 issue of Scientific American begins a review of theories of the origin of life.

The simple experiment, carried out by a University of Chicago graduate student named Stanley Miller, involved placing a mixture of methane, ammonia, hydrogen, and water in a sealed flask and zapping it with electrical sparks. The result was a tarry goo containing amino acids, the building blocks of the proteins found in living organisms.

To Miller it seemed but a few inevitable evolutionary steps from this primordial soup of water and biomolecules to the first living organisms. And from that day, college science students have been taught that science has explained life’s origin. Indeed, many students are under the impression that life itself has been synthesized in a test tube. Unfortunately, as the article in Scientific American points out, scientists are far from understanding life’s origins.

First of all, some scientists have argued that the conditions on the primordial earth would have been unsuitable for amino acids to form in. Miller’s theory calls for a reducing atmosphere rich in hydrogen-based gases such as methane and ammonia. But the primordial atmosphere, some say, consisted mainly of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, so that the raw materials for amino acids and other small biological molecules would have been missing. In fact, scientists can only guess about what the earth was like billions of years ago, and the guesses they make can agree or disagree with Miller’s theory.

Let’s suppose, for the sake of argument, that amino acids would have formed on the primordial earth. And let’s suppose they would have piled up with other simple biological molecules without being naturally destroyed or dispersed. We’d then run into another problem: Although the rules for chemical bonding may allow simple biological molecules to form, these same rules don’t guarantee that the higher forms of organization found in living organisms will arise.

We can illustrate this by a simple example. We all know the story of the monkeys that randomly hit typewriter keys and by chance write Shakespeare’s plays. Monkeys who strike keys completely at random are unlikely even to come up with English words, apart from short words like is or at. But we can improve on the monkeys’ performance by introducing a simple rule.

Here’s how the rule works. If a monkey has just typed th, we require that the next letter be fit for an English word including th. For example, the next letter might be e, forming the word the, or it might be r, since thr appears in throw. But the letter couldn’t be q or x, since thq and thx don’t come up in English words. By this rule, the monkey always randomly chooses a letter that in English could follow the last two letters he typed.

Another part of our rule is this: we instruct the monkey that the more often a letter appears in English after the two he has just typed, the more he should tend to choose it. For example, e follows th more often than r does, so after th the monkey is more likely to choose e than r. (We also let the monkey choose spaces, commas, and periods along with the twenty-six letters of the alphabet.)

You can think of this rule as an imitation of chemical bonding. An e or r can bond to th, but q or z can’t. Allowing the monkey to type sequences of letters by this rule is like letting molecules form in a primordial soup by the rules of chemical bonding.

I compiled a table of allowed three-letter combinations (letter-triples) by running my July column, on Vedic astronomy, through a computer. Then I programmed the computer to generate sequences of letters according to the resulting rule. I call these sequences of letters “sentences,” even though they’re generally not punctuated properly. Here’s an example:

“To the local thers an ut once scorpith ese, ar and astar. The ma, wers a godern the sky srittailis othicein volumn of the onsmilky way, thears”

Evolutionists, this seems promising. The computer-monkey is coming up with many English words, and some even seem to convey a faint glimmer of meaning. One can imagine that in just a few evolutionary steps the computer will begin to express profound thoughts—with impeccable English grammar.

But unfortunately if we read a few pages of this stuff we find no signs of emerging complex order. We find short English words, often relating to astronomy, since the letter-bonding rule comes from such words. But there are no signs of the more complex order needed for the grammatical expression of thoughts. In the bonding rule, the information for these complex patterns is simply not there.

Biological chemistry puts before us a similar problem. By the rules of chemical bonding, atoms of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen will tend to form amino acids and similar compounds under appropriate conditions. But these rules are not enough to bring together the highly complex structures found in even the simplest living cells.

Of course, our rule for generating letter sequences doesn’t take into account Darwinian evolution by mutation and natural selection. Many scientists regard this process as essential for the development of complex order. So it’s not surprising, one might say, that our simple rule cannot produce such order.

But the simple forming of molecules by chemical bonding in a primordial soup also doesn’t involve Darwinian evolution. Darwinian evolution calls for a self-reproducing system of molecules. Indeed, one of the main tasks of origin-of-life theories is to explain how the first self-reproducing system arose.

In living organisms, self-reproduction is a dauntingly complex process involving proteins, deoxyribonucleic-acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). If Darwinian evolution can’t take place until such a complex system is operating, scientists are at a loss to explain how that complex system has come about.

The only hope has been to suppose that the first self-reproducing system was much simpler than the simplest of today’s living cells. If somehow a single molecule could reproduce itself under suitable conditions, then perhaps it could evolve, develop liaisons with other molecules, and eventually give rise to the kind of organisms that exist today.

One of the most popular scenarios for a self-reproducing molecule has been the so-called “RNA-world.” The idea is that an RNA molecule might be able to catalyze its own replication and so be able to evolve in a Darwinian manner. It has been shown that RNA molecules can act as enzymes that act on other RNA molecules. And Manfred Eigen of the Max Planck Institute has shown that RNA molecules reproducing under the influence of modern cellular enzymes can undergo a process of Darwinian evolution.

But the RNA-world models have problems. One is that RNA would seem unlikely to form on the prebiotic primordial earth. Another is that RNA cannot readily make new copies of itself in the laboratory without a great deal of help from scientists. (For one thing, RNA replication calls for pure conditions that can be provided in a laboratory but would not be expected in nature.)

Still, let’s suppose that a self-reproducing molecule (which might or might not be RNA) did arise on the primordial earth. What might we expect it to evolve into? To gain some insight into this, I introduced evolution into the computer-monkey model.

Darwinian evolution rests on the idea of survival of the fittest, or natural selection. So I defined the fitness of a monkey-generated “sentence” by looking at how often the letter-triples of that sentence appear in English. If a sentence has many frequent triples (like the or ing), it has high fitness; if it has few, it has low fitness. So if we replace infrequent or nonexistent triples (like inz) with common ones (like ing), we increase the sentence’s fitness. Essentially, the closer a sentence gets to a real English sentence, the more fit it is.

I used survival of the fittest to simulate how evolution might take place in a population of twenty monkey-generated sentences. For a sentence to “give birth,” I would simply add to the population a copy of the sentence that might differ by one letter. The copy would be the offspring, and the differing letter would correspond to a random mutation.

I divided time into generations. During each generation, the ten fittest sentences in the population would each give birth to ten offspring. At the same time, I cruelly killed off the ten sentences of least fitness, so that the fit sentences multiplied at the expense of the less fit ones. This was survival of the fittest.

I began with a population of twenty copies of the sentence “godern the sky srittailis othicein volumn of the onsmilky way,” generated by the letter-bonding rule. Here is how the fittest sentence in the population changed at intervals of 200 generations:

godern the sky srittailis othicein volumn of the onsmilky way,

zodur, the sky mriquat isuothyzet, volumn, of the oesmilky way,

zodur. the sky wriqua. isuothyzed, volumns of the oesmilky way.

zodur. the sky wriqua. invothyzed. volumns of the oesmilky way.

zodur. the lky wriqua, unvothyzed. volumns of the boesmilky way.

zodur. the lky wriqua, anvothyzed. volumns of the boesmilky way.

We see that the sentence is indeed evolving. But unfortunately it’s not evolving into anything meaningful. This process of evolution is simply not able to generate the complex patterns of actual English speech.

My point is this: Assuming that self-replicating molecules could exist on a primordial earth, where can we expect their evolution to go? Nowhere meaningful. Such molecules may indeed evolve and grow molecularly more fit, but there is no reason to think they will evolve into living cells.

Molecular fitness will have something to do with how strongly a molecule’s bonds hold it together and how well the molecule can catalyze its own replication. This kind of fitness may increase through Darwinian evolution. But there’s no reason to think that anything will ever emerge from this, other than modified self-replicating molecules of the same type. There’s no reason to suppose that the self-reproducing molecules will ever give rise to something completely different, such as an elaborate system of reproductive machinery based on DNA, RNA, enzymes, and the famous genetic code.

My purpose in giving these examples from sequences of letters is not to claim they prove anything about the origin of life. Rather, I’m simply illustrating some of the obstacles that theories of life’s origin face. We can talk about these obstacles in purely chemical terms. Such discussions are necessarily technical.

So, again, here are the two obstacles we have discussed: (1) Natural rules for bonding between atoms may give rise to simple biological molecules under special circumstances (as in Miller’s experiment), but they can’t give rise to the complex structures needed for organisms to grow and reproduce. (2) If some hypothetical molecules were able to jump start their own replication, they might evolve by Darwinian natural selection and random variation. But no one has given any solid reason to suppose they would evolve into anything more than better self-replicating molecules. And, of course, it has not been shown that prebiotic molecular self-replication could happen.

In years since Miller’s famous experiment, scientists have come up with many complicated theories about how life might have originated, but they have failed to overcome these and other fundamental obstacles. Miller himself tends to disapprove of the futile speculations of the theorists. He argues that what the origin-of-life field needs is good experiments that actually demonstrate how life got started. But such experiments are not easy to devise. “I come up with a dozen ideas a day,” Miller says, pausing to reflect, “and I usually discard the whole dozen.”

Recently, we published an article on ojas – the subtle earth energy in the body that helps one stay grounded, calm, and resistant to disease.

As a quick review, our physical bodies contain a mixture of elements – earth, water, fire, air, and ether. Ayurveda divides these elements into three “doshas” or constitutions, namely: kapha (earth and water), pitta (fire), and vata (air and ether). To stay healthy, and to prevent disease before it starts, we need to keep these elements in balance. If one or more elements in the body or mind become out of balance, health problems, discomfort, and disease can result. Ayurveda is a science that enables and empowers people to become aware of their bodies – noting when the imbalances begin, so that these imbalances can be fixed before they grow and result in disease.

As our physical bodies are composed of the five elements, our subtle bodies (mind, intelligence, and ego) also contain more subtle forms of the five elements. Just as physical illness can result from elements being out of balance, mental distress and discomfort can occur if the subtle elements are out of balance. The subtle body contains ojas (earth/water), tejas (fire), and prana (air/ether).

The focus of this article will be on tejas – the fire within.

Tejas, being likened to fire, has the physical qualities of heat, dryness, and lightness, and the subtle qualities of sharpness and focus. It is related to the eyes and to vision. On a physical level, tejas allows our eyes to digest, or take in, the sites they see and make sense of them. On a more sublte level, tejas allows the intellect the sharpness to digest information it takes in, and to distinguish between truth and falsehood. On an even higher, spiritual level, strong tejas facilitates the ability to discriminate between truth and illusion. Tejas is focused in the muladhara chakra (the first energy center located at the base of the spine). Just as heat rises, tejas energy also rises, moving up the chakras, starting from at the base.

The heating quality in fire pushes us to action. When fire is strong, our determination to act is strong, Weakened tejas on the other hand, results in a loss of determination, and lessened ability to act.

Just as the elements in our physical bodies can get out of balance, so can the elements in our subtle bodies. A person with a healthy amount of tejas will have strong determination, the ability to concentrate, sharp intelligence, and the ability to discriminate. A person with low or weakened tejas on the other hand, may feel lack of energy, inability to concentrate, lack of determination, and lack of ability to discriminate between truth and untruth. A person with excess tejas may feel anger, irritation, and have a critical mind. Such a person becomes overly stuck in their ways, and unable to consider other options or other ways of seeing things.

How does all this information apply practically to our lives? If you can recognize signs of a tejas imbalance within yourself, you can take practical steps to fix this imbalance. If tejas is low, one needs to increase the fire and heat within the subtle body, whereas if it is too high, one needs to reduce the fire and heat. Tejas is increased by heating stimulants and activities such as bright lights, candle gazing, chanting, deep study, heating breathing exercises such as breath of fire, and by contemplation. Tejas is decreased by cooling activities. Tejas is decreased by avoiding controversy and deep, analytic thought, and by taking cooling herbs such as aloe, fennel, mint, and coriander.

To summarize, if you find yourself feeling overly critical, stubborn minded, or angry, you may have too much tejas or fire in your subtle body. If so, try to incorporate calm and cooling practices into your daily routine. Avoid intense study until your tejas comes into balance, eat cooling foods such as cucumber, coconut water, grapes, rice, and milk, perform lunar pranayama (breathing in through the left nostril and out through the right slowly, and for 5 minutes), take cooling herbs as described above, avoid bright lights of the city, and stay away from heated conversations.

If you find yourself feeling weakened in mind, unable to focus, discriminate or concentrate, you might need to increase your tejas or heat in the subtle body. Try practicing breath of fire (short and even exhales and inhales through the nose at a quickened rate – if new at this practice please take instruction from an experienced yoga teacher), or solar pranayama (breathing in through the right nostril and out through the left at a slow pace for five minutes), eat heating foods and spices such as ginger, pepper, tomatoes and yoghurt, and increase analytic study, and candle gazing.

Ultimately, keeping the elements in our minds and bodies balanced through our daily routines, habits, diet, herbs, and lifestyle choices, can be key in preventing diseases before they start. Keeping balanced also helps us to stay healthy, and to live comfortably inside of our bodies – the vehicles we have been given to achieve our purpose on this earth. Be aware of slight imbalances you feel in your body and mind, and work to fix them before they grow into greater imbalances. This is a key aspect of Ayurvedic living.

Hare Krishna, and remember your health is your wealth.

Lecture Podcast

Ppt

Lecture Podcast

Bozóki István (NVD)

Indranīla Dāsa – servant of Kṛṣṇa, who is like a blue sapphire

Magola Roland (NVD)

Rūpa-manohara Dāsa – servant of Śyāmasundara/Lord Caitanya who have mind enchanting forms

Bhakta Nayan (UK)

Nāmācārya Dāsa – servant of Haridāsa Ṭhākura

Bozóki Marika (NVD)

Mādhava-priya Devī Dāsī – servant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī who is very dear to Mādhava

Bhaktin Reena (UK)

Ratnamālā Devī Dāsī – servant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who wears a string of gems / who is a a string of gems around Śyāmasundara’s neck

Hadad Gyemila (Budapest)

Kiṅkarī Devī Dāsī – servant of the servants of Rādhā-Śyāmasundara, who are always asking „How may I serve You?”

Bhaktin Dana (Israel via Italy)

Dāneśvarī Devī Dāsī – servant of the Queen of Dāna-ghāṭi

PHOTOS

Srila Prabhupada at the Bahulaban Temple.

Srila Prabhupada Visits New Vrindaban – June 21st, 1976.

Excerpt from Hari Sauri’s Trancendental Diary.

Srila Prabhupada’s arrival caused quite a stir in the small Pittsburgh airport. Our fellow passengers looked on with obvious bemusement as Kirtanananda Swami and a group of forty or fifty devotees gathered around the boarding gate, offering him beautiful flower garlands and fanning him with peacock feathers. Happily oblivious to anything but Srila Prabhupada’s presence, the devotees chanted and danced all the way out to the waiting car. Their attire offered a hint of things to come with their dhotis, kurtas and saris matched in some cases with large rubber farm work boots.

Although it was a ninety minute drive to New Vrindaban, the ride was comfortable and as we progressed smoothly along the highway Prabhupada kept up a running conversation. He reflected on the fallen condition of modern man, telling Kirtanananda Maharaja his comparison of the dog’s running on four legs and man’s running on four wheels. He said that the only way to save them was to start with the basics and then after some time, when they become a little purified, give some philosophy. He reminded Kirtanananda that this had been his program right from the beginning. “You have all got this experience. This is the only way. I started this movement on this determination: I’ll give them prasadam, nice chanting, and they will not come? They must come. This was my determination. And I began with this. So this is the only way. Give them chance ‘No talk, please come. Chant and dance with us and take Krsna prasadam and go home.’”

Kirtanananda reflected that it was just ten years ago since he had first met Prabhupada.

Prabhupada gave one of his endearing little sideways nods of assent. “Yes. I never said that ‘You have to give up this, you have to do this.’ Never said. Then gradually ceto-darpana-marjanam. When the heart becomes cleansed, then little. There is no hopelessness. So many people have come, and they are coming. Both black, white, everyone is coming. But you cannot expect that cent percent people will come; that is not possible. But even one-fourth percent people come to this, then it will be successful. Compared to the American population, what percentage we have got? Still they have made some impression, the Hare Krsna movement. Literatures are selling, and they are appreciating, the learned circle. It takes some time, but if we stick to our principles and do not make any compromise and push on-in this way, I have given you instruction, it will never stop; it will go on. It will never stop. At least for ten thousand years it will go on.

“And this movement is meant for these fourth-class, fifth-class, tenth-class men. Not this movement is fourth-class, fifth-class. They are so fallen that they cannot be counted even third-class, fourth-class. Tenth-class of men. Deliver them. Patita-pavana-hetu tava avatara. Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s incarnation is for delivering these classes of men. Caitanya Mahaprabhu never meant to start this movement for high-class brahmanas, sages, saintly persons. No. This class of men — for the all fallen. Don’t be disappointed. Go on, go on. Stick to the principles. When there was no response, I did not know where to live, where to eat. Sometimes at Dr. Misra’s, some time with some friend somewhere. And I was going to inquire the shipping company when the next ship returning to India. Still I was renewing my visa: ‘Let us hope. Let us hope.’ In this way, we started Second Avenue in month of July, I think?”

He recalled the names of the first few young men to join him: Mukunda had been the first, then Hayagriva and Kirtanananda. And there were others who have now left — Jagannatha, Ravindra-svarupa, Carl.

As the car plied along the highway (America seems to me to be one continuous highway) Kirtanananda Maharaja told Srila Prabhupada that some devotee women selling books at the airport today, said that it had been the most demoniac day they had ever had. They were harassed as they sold books. As soon as a traveler stopped to talk to a devotee, some persons were causing problems by telling them not to buy. Maharaja said we get confused with the followers of a Korean so-called spiritual master, Reverend Moon. “It is causing a big stir, these ‘Moon’ people. He has just bought a hotel in New York for five million dollars. But the public is sometimes equating us with him and these other rascals. He claims that Jesus Christ never lived to fulfill his mission, which was to establish the perfect family. They killed him before he got married. So he [Moon] has come, and he has all these wives. At least he used to, whenever any of his disciples would get married, first he would have their wife.”
Prabhupada shook his head in mild disgust.

He settled back in his seat to chant on his beads, occasionally interspersing his soft murmur with conversation. He told Kirtanananda that he is now on the twelth chapter of the the Eight Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, exactly half way through. “There is no comparison of this literature,” he told him.

Kirtanananda Maharaja expressed his appreciation. “I think before you came, Bhagavatam was unknown.”

Prabhupada agreed. “Unknown, yes. The Ramakrishna Mission published one Bhagavatam commentary. You know that? Farce. These Ramakrishna Mission people have done the greatest harm to the Vedic culture. Of course it is not taken very seriously, Ramakrishna Mission.”

I agreed that in the West they were practically unheard of. “You made a good point about why although now thousands of American boys and girls are coming to India, no one is going to the Ramakrishna Mission, so what kind of impact has he had?”

Prabhupada said, “But they publicized in India that they have made all, everyone [followers]. In India they were doing like that. ‘Vivekananda Road,’ ‘Vivekananda Square,’ and rascals, they do not inquire even what is Vivekananda’s contribution. In Vrndavana they have got hospital and Ramakrishna temple. Who is going there? This is practical example. In our temple, thousands and thousands of foreign boys and girls are coming, and who is going there? It is because actually, if they did something, they should at least gone there out of inquisitiveness: ‘Oh, where is Vivekananda?’” Then he made us laugh. “Nobody going,” he grinned. “Not even to pass urine there.”

After a short while Kirtanananda produced some cartons of prasadam from the New Vrindaban kitchens — puris, sabjis, samosas and various milk sweets. I thought Prabhupada would just try a morsel to oblige the devotees, but to our delight he had me spread out the preparations and he took a little of each. He enjoyed them and encouraged us to take some. He praised Kirtanananda as a good cook and told us, “So this was my dream, that a place should be there where we can get all nice foods, best foods, of milk. Krsna is fulfilling our desire. Everything’s there. These rascals they do not know how to live or to eat. Intelligence is there, everything is there. Simply for want of training they have become rogues. Make them human beings, your countrymen.”

As we drove the last few miles into the New Vrindaban countryside Kirtanananda Maharaja mentioned that the local authorities, including the sheriff, were becoming very favorable. A judge who had seen Srila Prabhupada on his last visit still keeps a picture of him on his desk. He said the local television had agreed to show Yadubara prabhu’s movie, Spiritual Frontier.

Srila Prabhupada was happy to hear it but told him, “One thing you have missed: how we are preparing all these foodstuffs.”

“In the movie?” Kirtanananda asked. “It was too short how to prepare it?”

“Yes. How from milk in different stages you get this foodstuff, kachauris, singhara, sandesa, rabri.” He gave a little chuckle. “And this channa [dal], if fried, if you prepare nicely with little hing and ginger, then it will exactly taste like meat. They’ll forget. If you give them without telling them, they will think that they’re eating meat. They prepare the semiliquid meat like that. You give them little piece and they will not understand that it is not meat.”

I told him that when we were in Los Angeles Palika had made some bada and it tasted so much like fish that Pusta Krsna Maharaja wouldn’t eat it.

Prabhupada smiled. “With urad dal, you can prepare fishy taste.”

“Someone told me that your Guru Maharaja said that?” I asked.

Srila Prabhupada laughed. “Yes. ‘Anyone who is not taking urad dal, he must be taking fish silently, secretly.’”
As the car came into New Vrindaban’s precincts Kirtanananda pointed out some new buildings, including one under construction next to the existing temple which will house workshops and a large hall for festivals, big enough to hold seven or eight hundred people. Prabhupada was happy to see it. “Oh, much improvement,” he said.

ISKCON New Vrindaban, Moundsville, West Virginia

At least a hundred adults and children welcomed him at the small, beautiful, temple of Sri Sri Radha-Vrindabanchandra at Bahulaban. A marble floor, cut, polished and installed by the devotees, hand-crafted stained glass windows, and exquisitely carved wooden simhasanas, all form a perfect setting for the full moon of Vrindavan, Sri Krsna, and His eternal consort, Srimati Radharani, and in the spiritually vibrant atmosphere Prabhupada took darsana of Their Lordships, Who were resplendently decorated with local wildflowers.

Srila Prabhupada then gracefully mounted his vyasasana, the centerpiece of some exquisitely carved wooden furniture that Kirtanananda Maharaja has had specially made for Prabhupada by artisans in Bombay. It has lions on either side, a lotus-flower shaped base, and a tiered wooden canopy. The back has small peacocks along its rim, and it is luxuriously upholstered in fine, multi-hued silk. Single strands of flowers tipped with red roses hung from the front edge of the canopy, enhancing its beauty.

After a lively kirtana during which Prabhupada played a gong, he gave a short talk. With obvious affection he glanced out at his disciples. “So after two years I think, I have got the opportunity of seeing you and your Radha-Vrindabanchandra Who is so kind upon you. So real happiness is here. Radha-Vrindabanchandra is staying here, and He’s pleased with your service. This is the perfection of life. Keep Krsna always with you and serve Him sincerely, then all happiness will come, without any endeavor.”

He emphasized that economic development does not increase life’s pleasures. Dogs run and we run, but the pleasure is the same; sex on the street and sex in a luxurious apartment give the same level of enjoyment, so what is the need to make an extra endeavor to advance economically he asked. If a rich man gets typhoid it doesn’t mean that his suffering will be any less. So trying to improve one’s standard of living is not the way to happiness.

“Actually there is no improvement,” he told us, “but we think that we have improved. Rather, we have taken so much risk. That requires knowledge, but anyone can understand. Suppose I can eat some quantity of food. Even if I am millionaire, I shall eat the same quantity. Kirtanananda Maharaja gave me so much nice foodstuff but I could take only according to my appetite. One puri, two samosas, that’s all.” Everyone laughed as he went on. “It is not that Kirtanananda Maharaja has given so nice food I shall eat the whole plate; no, that is not possible. I’ll have to eat so much as I can eat. So by improving the so-called standard, I shall eat the same proportion as I am able to eat, not more, not less — and that is destined. When I came to your country I had no shelter, I had no food, no arrangement, but I was eating. And now I have got so many nice sons and daughters, but I am eating the same. So when there was nobody to help me, I was eating, and now you are so many to give me satisfaction, I am also eating. So eating is not stopped, in any condition. That is arranged by God.”

He told us that the Krsna consciousness movement is meant to give a new life to civilization — how to become a servant of Krsna. If this is done then everything will come automatically. He thus encouraged the New Vrindaban devotees to continue serving Sri Sri Radha-Vrindabanchandra, saying that would make their lives successful.

Amid the joyful tones of kirtana Srila Prabhupada departed the temple and was driven to a house that has been vacated especially for his use. It has a few basic amenities, like hot and cold running water and electricity, which are seemingly lacking in other residential buildings of the New Vrindaban community.

Day 4 of Polish Woodstock 2013

Simply to understand that a living entity is not material is not sufficient. That may be the beginning of spiritual realization, but one should recognize the difference between activities of the body and the spiritual activities of one who understands that he is not the body.

Bhagavad Gita As It Is 9.1 Purport

Hare Krishna dear devotees,

Please accept my humble obesiances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Please see below the video containing footage of the Radhastami abhishek at the manor.

The video angle improves as the video progresses.

Please also enjoy the video footage of the Bhaktivedanta Choir who performed at Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK this morning during this auspicious day of Radhastami.

Apologies, Its only a short clip next time I need to be more prepared…

your servant,
dipak
your servant,
dipak

Some people ask: “Why does Krishna insist repeatedly in the Bhagavad-gita readers that he is God? Why does he need to prove his position?”

Because he wants to improve our disposition.

If we feel that Krishna is obsessed with his position, then the counter-evidence stares into our face each time we look at any standard picture of Krishna speaking the Gita. Krishna is situated in the menial position of a charioteer. That’s a position a status-obsessed person would find nightmarish and never choose voluntarily. Yet Krishna freely and joyfully accepts that position on the request of Arjuna because it enables him to serve and love his devotee.

Love is Krishna’s primary concern – that’s what he relishes in his own abode eternally, wherein his pastimes of love flood everyone with supreme ecstasy.

Krishna’s love is so great that it is not limited to those who love him, but also extends to those who do not love him – to all of us who are missing out an eternal life of love with him. To invite us to that life, he descends and demonstrates his pastimes. But due to our preconceptions, we mistake his pastimes to be ordinary, as just some stories for entertainment.

To free us from such misconceptions, he shares Gita wisdom so that we can see reality as it actually is. And that reality reveals Krishna as he actually is – God who conceals his godhood for the sake of love.

He speaks about his godhood so that we can appreciate the beauty of his concealing something that glorious for the sake of love. Appreciating his position as the Supreme who becomes the Supreme Lover improves our disposition; it inspires us to love Krishna wholeheartedly, as the Bhagavad-gita (10.08) states.

***

10.08 - I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.

VICARU DAS
BHAKTIVEDANTA MANOR
ISKCON UK.

Krishna is the supreme God, param brahma

Krishna is the source of all that exists

Krishna is the beginning,middle, and the end

Krishna is unborn, ajam.

Krishna is the cause of all that is, that was, or that will ever be.

Krishna possesses all the six opulence in unlimited degree.

All wealth- All power- All beauty- All wisdom- All fame- All renunciation.

Krishna lives in Goloka Vrndavana, in the unlimited spiritual cosmos.

Krishna incarnates whenever and wherever there is decline in religious principles and predominanat rise in irreligion.

Krishna-Parthasarathi-Vasudeva-Devakinanadana-Nandanandana-Yashodananadana-Madhusudhana-Narayana- Govinda-Keshava-Madhava-Ranchor- Janardhana-Mukunda-Damodara-Acyuta-Hari-Yadunandana-Ajita-Yogeshwara are some of Krishna’s names.

Krishna never pollutes- Never dies- Never ages- Never laments- Never becomes hungry or thirsty- Never unlawful- All his actions are correct- Never changes- He is firm in is decisions.

Krishna taught the science of Bhagavat-gita to the sun god Vivasvan hundreds of millions of years ago,The sun-god taught it to Manu, The father of mankind two millions years ago, Manu taught it to Iksvaku, the emperor of earth, at that time, and to His friend Arjuna, 5100 years ago.

Krishna taught the science of the vedas to Brahma, during the time of creation, 151 trillion years ago,To Vyasadeva, 5000 years ago.

Krishna’s immediate expansion is Baladeva.

Krishna at one month old killed Putana.

Krishna at three months old ,He killed sakatasura.

Krishna at one year old ,He killed Trinavarta,

Krishna at two years old He killed Vatsasura.

Krishna at four years old He killed Bakasura.

Krishna at five years old ,He killed Aghasura.

Krishna at six years old, He killed Dhenukasura.

Krishna at seven years old He lifted Govardhana hill.

Krishna at eight years old He perform the rasa dance.

Krishna at 12 years old ,He killed Kamsa.

VICARU DAS
BHAKTIVEDANTA MANOR
ISKCON UK.

Krishna is the supreme God, param brahma

Krishna is the source of all that exists

Krishna is the beginning,middle, and the end

Krishna is unborn, ajam.

Krishna is the cause of all that is, that was, or that will ever be.

Krishna possesses all the six opulence in unlimited degree.

All wealth- All power- All beauty- All wisdom- All fame- All renunciation.

Krishna lives in Goloka Vrndavana, in the unlimited spiritual cosmos.

Krishna incarnates whenever and wherever there is decline in religious principles and predominanat rise in irreligion.

Krishna-Parthasarathi-Vasudeva-Devakinanadana-Nandanandana-Yashodananadana-Madhusudhana-Narayana- Govinda-Keshava-Madhava-Ranchor- Janardhana-Mukunda-Damodara-Acyuta-Hari-Yadunandana-Ajita-Yogeshwara are some of Krishna’s names.

Krishna never pollutes- Never dies- Never ages- Never laments- Never becomes hungry or thirsty- Never unlawful- All his actions are correct- Never changes- He is firm in is decisions.

Krishna taught the science of Bhagavat-gita to the sun god Vivasvan hundreds of millions of years ago,The sun-god taught it to Manu, The father of mankind two millions years ago, Manu taught it to Iksvaku, the emperor of earth, at that time, and to His friend Arjuna, 5100 years ago.

Krishna taught the science of the vedas to Brahma, during the time of creation, 151 trillion years ago,To Vyasadeva, 5000 years ago.

Krishna’s immediate expansion is Baladeva.

Krishna at one month old killed Putana.

Krishna at three months old ,He killed sakatasura.

Krishna at one year old ,He killed Trinavarta,

Krishna at two years old He killed Vatsasura.

Krishna at four years old He killed Bakasura.

Krishna at five years old ,He killed Aghasura.

Krishna at six years old, He killed Dhenukasura.

Krishna at seven years old He lifted Govardhana hill.

Krishna at eight years old He perform the rasa dance.

Krishna at 12 years old ,He killed Kamsa.

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

Before taking to chanting the Hare Krishna mantra daily my wife used to smoke 2 packs of cigarettes every day.  But with the help of this mantra she quickly and easily gave up smoking.

Chantix

The prescription drug Varenicline (Chantix) helps you quit smoking.  It has a standard pharmaceutical list of side effects and warnings.  Here is a few of them.

Allergic reaction.  Anxiety, confusion, depression, restlessness, or mood changes.  Blistering, peeling, or red skin rash.  Chest pain. Fast, pounding, or uneven heartbeat. Lumps on your neck, armpit, or groin.  Numbness.  Red or black stools. 

Seeing or hearing things that are not really there. Seizures.  Thoughts of hurting yourself or others.  It may also cause some people to have suicidal thoughts and tendencies or to become more depressed.

So far it has only been linked to 98 suicides, no big deal.   Also it has been linked to murder/suicide cases as well.

vs

Chanting Hare Krishna

Chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, is the most effective prescription to give up smoking.  It is proven to work and literally hundreds of thousands of patients have easily given up smoking with this medicine.  Many of whom did it cold turkey.  Here is a list of a few of the side effects and qualities.

• Chanting Hare Krishna awakens love of God.

• Chanting Hare Krishna brings liberation as a side benefit along the way.

• When you chant Hare Krishna, you automatically develop knowledge and detachment.

• Chanting Hare Krishna gets you out of the endless cycle of birth and death.

• It is the most effective means of self-realization in the present Age of Quarrel. Nothing else works nearly as well.

• Chanting Hare Krishna cleanses the heart of all illusions and misunderstandings.

• By chanting Hare Krishna, you become free from all anxieties.

• Chanting Hare Krishna brings you to self-realization—and shows you how to act as a self-realized soul.

• It keeps you ever mindful of Krishna, the reservoir of pleasure.

• There are no hard and fast rules for chanting. You can chant anywhere, any time, under any circumstances.

• Krishna Himself is fully present in the transcendental sound of His name. And the more you chant, the more you realize it.

• All other Vedic mantras are included in the chanting of Hare Krishna. So just by chanting this mantra, you get the benefit of all others.

• Chanting Hare Krishna purifies not only you but every living entity around you. Whoever hears the chanting gets spiritual benefit.

• A person who chants Hare Krishna develops all good qualities.

• You can chant Hare Krishna softly for personal meditation or loudly with your family or friends. Both ways work.

• Srila Prabhupada chanted Hare Krishna, and so did great souls in the past. So why not you?

• It’s free. Chanting Hare Krishna never costs you money.

• Chanting Hare Krishna brings the highest states of ecstasy.

• There are no previous qualifications needed for chanting Hare Krishna. Young or old, anyone can chant—from any race, any religion, or any country of the world.

• Even if you don’t understand the language of the mantra, it works anyway.

• Chanting Hare Krishna brings relief from all miseries.

• Chanting Hare Krishna is easy. When the best way is also the easiest, why make life hard for yourself?

• Chanting Hare Krishna invokes spiritual peace—for you and for those around you.

• When you chant Hare Krishna, Krishna Himself becomes pleased.

• When you chant Hare Krishna, Krishna dances on your tongue.

• By chanting Hare Krishna you can return to Krishna’s world, the eternal abode of full happiness and knowledge.

• Chanting Hare Krishna frees you from the reactions of all past karma. Chanting Krishna’s name even once, purely and sincerely, can free you from the reactions of more karma than you could possibly incur.

• Chanting Hare Krishna counteracts the sinful atmosphere of Kali-yuga, the present Age of Hypocrisy and Quarrel.

• By chanting Hare Krishna you can relish at every step the full nectar that’s the real thirst of the soul.

• The more you chant Hare Krishna, the better it gets.

• If you look through all the Vedic scriptures, you’ll find nothing higher than the chanting of Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

However chanting Hare Krishna is not without warning.  Do not chant this mantra if you would like to keep attachments to pride, lust, anger, and greed.  It will destroy these attachments. 

SB 02.05.19 The Parrot May Chant But It Won’t Offer It’s Seeds 2013-07-21 Pamporovo

BG 15.08 Colonel Sanders reincarnates in the Same Company 2013-07-19 Balkan Summer Camp