Planet ISKCON

This material world is a world of duality—at one moment we are subjected to the heat and at the next moment to the cold; or, at one moment we are happy and the next moment distressed. At one moment honored, at the next dishonored. In the material world of duality, it is impossible to understand one thing without understanding its opposite. It is not possible to understand what honor is unless I understand dishonor. Similarly, I cannot understand what misery is if I have never tasted happiness. Nor can I understand what happiness is unless I have tasted misery.

One has to transcend such dualities, but as long as this body is here these dualities will be here also. Insofar as one strives to get out of bodily conceptions—not out of the body but out of bodily conceptions—one has to learn to tolerate such dualities. In the second chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna informs Arjuna that the duality of distress and happiness is due to the body alone. It’s like a skin disease, or skin itch. Just because there is itching, one should not be mad to scratch it. We should not go mad or give up our duty just because mosquitoes bite us. There are so many dualities that one has to tolerate, but if the mind is fixed in Krishna consciousness, all these dualities will seem insignificant.

How can one tolerate such dualities?

“A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi (or mystic) when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything—whether it be pebbles, stones or gold—as the same.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.8)

Jnana means theoretical knowledge, and vijnana refers to practical knowledge. For instance, a science student has to study theoretical scientific conceptions as well as applied science. Theoretical knowledge alone will not help. One has to be able to also apply this knowledge. Similarly, in yoga one should have not only theoretical knowledge but practical knowledge. Simply understanding “I am not this body” and at the same time acting in a contrary way will not help. There are so many societies where the members seriously discuss Vedanta philosophy while smoking and drinking and enjoying a sensual life. It will not help if one only has theoretical knowledge. This knowledge must be demonstrated. One who truly understands “I am not this body” will actually reduce his bodily necessities to a minimum. When one increases the demands of the body while thinking “I am not this body,” then of what use is that knowledge? A person can be satisfied only when there is theoretical and practical knowledge side by aide.

When a person is situated on the practical level of spiritual realization, it should be understood he is actually situated in yoga. It is not that one should continue to attend yoga classes and yet remain the same throughout his life; there must be practical realization. And what is the sign of that practical realization? The mind will be calm and quiet and no longer agitated by the attraction of the material world. Thus self-controlled, one is not attracted by the material glitter, and he sees everything—pebbles, stones, or gold—as the same. In the materialistic civilization, so much paraphernalia is produced just to satisfy the senses. These things are produced under the banner of material advancement. He who is situated in yoga sees such paraphernalia as simply rubbish in the street. Moreover,

“A person is said to be still further advanced when he regards all—the honest well-wisher, friends and enemies, the envious, the pious, the sinner, and those who are indifferent and impartial—with an equal mind.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.9)

There are different kinds of friends. There is suhrit, who is by nature a well-wisher and always desires one’s welfare. Mitra refers to an ordinary friend, and udasina is one who is neutral. In this material world someone may be my well-wisher, friend, or neither a friend nor an enemy, but neutral. Someone else may serve as a mediator between me and my enemies. One may also see someone as pious and another as sinful according to his own calculations. But when he is situated in transcendence, all of these—friends, enemies, or whatever—cease to exist. When one becomes actually learned, he does not see any enemy or any friend because in actuality “no one is my enemy, no one is my friend, no one is my father, no one is my mother, etc.” We are all simply living entities playing on a stage in the dress of father, mother, children, friend, enemy, sinner and saint, etc. It is like a great drama with so many characters playing their parts. However, on the stage a person may be an enemy or whatever, but off the stage all the actors are friends. Similarly, with these bodies we are playing on the stage of material nature, and we attach so many designations to one another. I may be thinking, “This is my son,” but in actuality I cannot beget any son. It is not possible. At the utmost I can only beget a body. It is not within any man’s power to beget a living entity. Merely by sexual intercourse a living entity cannot be begotten. The living entity must be placed in the emulsification of secretions. This is the verdict of Srimad Bhagavatam. Thus all the multifarious relationships between bodies are just so much stage play. One who is actually realized and has actually attained yoga no longer sees these bodily distinctions.

O good soul, does not a thing, applied therapeutically, cure a disease which was caused by that very same thing? (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.33)

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada

The great Rishi Narada is the author of Narada Pancaratra. This Narada Pancaratra trains the karmis, or the fruitive workers, to achieve liberation from the bondage of fruitive work. The conditioned souls are mostly attracted by fruitive work because they want to enjoy life by the sweat of their own brows. The whole universe is full of fruitive workers in all species of life. The fruitive works include all kinds of economic development plans. But the law of nature provides that every action has its resultant reaction, and the performer of the work is bound up by such reactions, good or bad. The reaction of good work is comparative material prosperity, whereas the reaction of bad work is comparative material distress. But material conditions, either in so-called happiness or in so-called distress, are all meant ultimately for distress only. Foolish materialists have no information of how to obtain eternal happiness in the unconditional state. Sri Narada informs the foolish fruitive workers how to realize the reality of happiness. He gives direction to the diseased people of the world how one’s present engagement can lead one to the path of spiritual emancipation. The physician directs the patient to take treated milk in the form of yogurt for his sufferings from indigestion due to his taking another milk preparation. So the cause of the disease and the remedy of the disease may be the same, but it must be treated by an expert physician like the spiritual teacher Narada. The Bhagavad-gita also gives the same solution of serving God by the fruits of one’s labor. That will lead one to the path of naiskarmya, or freedom.

Society tends to teach us one thing—well, it tends to teach us many things, but I will focus on one specific thing. Society teaches that one should satisfy one’s desires. Society teaches that satisfying one’s desires is very important; it is not only important, but sacred. Success in life is measured in terms of how well one has satisfied his desires. To fail to satisfy them is to fail at life.

TWO TYPES OF DESIRE

However, there are different types of desire, and, as a matter of fact, material desire, which is a selfish, possessive desire, is the desire one would do best to ignore.

Material desire is also known as kama. Kama refers to the desire to please oneself, in the process of which one tends to become possessive of the beings or things that in some way bring one satisfaction. When the enjoyer experiences a sense of pleasure caused by another being or an object, the enjoyer becomes possessive of that being or object. Oftentimes people confuse this with love. Plato, for example, wrote in his Symposium about the difference between varieties of experience that often get lumped into one single category: love. He wrote, “The vulgar love of the body, which takes wing and flies away when the bloom of youth is over, is disgraceful, and so is the interested love of power or wealth.”

FIRST RESULT

When one’s senses—eyes, skin, nose, ears, etc.—come in contact with their appropriate sense objects—form, touch, smell, sound, etc.—one may experience pleasure. This pleasure is the enemy of the sense enjoyer. Srila Prabhupada writes in his commentary on Bhagavad-gita 3.39: “While one enjoys sense gratification, it may be that there is some feeling of happiness, but actually that so-called feeling of happiness is the ultimate enemy of the sense enjoyer.” The pleasure that comes from the contact of the senses with their objects is not the real problem. The real problem is that the sense enjoyer, due to the experience of pleasure, starts to become possessive. At this moment everything starts to turn bad! This is the beginning of trouble.

In other words, satisfying kama results in greed. Greed is not a good thing. Greed means that one wants more of the thing he already has. Since greed knows no limits, one can never satisfy this desire, or kama. To help us better understand this concept, the analogy of fire is given. Fire burns fuel, and the more it burns, the more fuel it wants. The more fuel that one places into the fire, the fire, unlike a civilized and cultured human being, does not say “Thank you” but wants more. In this way a simple attempt at satisfying kama, or material desire, results in greed, which, like fire, can never be satisfied. Thus one is left perpetually agitated.

SECOND RESULT

Trying to satisfy kama is not a smart option. But what if one does not satisfy kama? What happens then? Unsatisfied material desire results in frustration, and anger is a symptom of frustration. Frustration of desire, and only of the type of desire known as kama, results in anger. When one is angry, one is certainly not happy and tends to commit stupid acts.

In the Bhagavad-gita (2.62–63) Krishna teaches: “While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment material desire develops, and from such desire anger arises. From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one meets destruction.”

Anger can run on the surface, and that is when one may commit some fleeting stupid act, after which one can return to one’s normal state. But there is another type of anger. This anger is deeply rooted. This is a solid anger, sitting fat in the foundation of the sense enjoyer’s psyche, nurtured by kama.

SO, WHAT TO DO?

It seems that one should neither satisfy kama nor not satisfy it. What is the solution? The solution is to ignore it. To ignore or avoid it, one should know how to differentiate between a healthy desire and kama, or unhealthy desire. This is something that is not taught enough, or at all, in secular society and its educational institutions. First one should make it a point to not develop kama, and if one has already developed kama, then one should try to ignore it. If you do not feed it, it subsides and ultimately goes out.

I have been a monk for almost twenty years. In these twenty years I have trained and taught many monks. When they first come to the monastery, new monks have a lot of anger. They often exhibit this anger in the form of hate of many things. They may hate the world, cities, night life, computers, cars, sometimes even women – usually the things they feel possessive about. This, however, never disturbs me because I know that it is a good symptom. I know that their anger is arising due to ignoring their kama. If they manage to continue to not feed their kama, I know that the fire of their kama, and along with it their anger, will subside and then go out. Once their kama has subsided, the monks become very happy, satisfied, and situated in their natural spiritual position of love—love of God, the root of all existence.

SPIRITUAL MESSAGE

The spiritual message, unlike society’s message, is that material desire should be ignored. As Krishna teaches in Bhagavad-gita 5.22: “Pleasures that are due to the contact of the material senses with their objects are sources of misery. Such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise person does not delight in them.”

Since no living entity can cease to desire, and since material desire is unwanted, one should take care to learn what spiritual desire is. Spiritual desire is based on love, love of God. One who loves God transcends selfish, possessive desire and is always inspired to please the object of his love. Krishna being the root of all existence, the love that has Krishna as its object is distributed equally throughout the world, just as the water that nourishes the root of a tree nourishes the whole tree—its trunk, branches, twigs, leaves, fruits, and flowers. One who is in love is always inspired. One who is in love with God is always selflessly inspired.

BG 10.10 Krishna Is Not Our Sugardaddy 2013-07-24 Belgrade –  (Book Distribution) AKA So great that we take Him for granted

On August 21, 2013 Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for acting as a whistleblower against atrocities carried out by the US and its allies. Manning released well known information such as the “Collateral Murder” video of reporters in Iraq being attacked by US Apache helicopters and the “Cablegate” files, which revealed the level of spying and coercion conducted by the US on its allies and the facilitation of torture conducted by Iraqis against their prisoners. His act went against the codes of the country’s authorities and he was duly punished and made a public example.

35 years in prison is a long time. This kind of lack of freedom of movement and expression would probably be a formidable challenge to every human being. I believe that the following story about the saint named Haridasa Thakura could come as a great solace to Mr. Manning and it is something that all other readers can benefit from.

Haridasa Thakura was unique amongst practitioners of bhakti-yoga, the spiritual science of devotional service dating back to the oldest spiritual texts of India such as Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. Haridasa Thakura was born in Bengal, not from an Indian family, but from a Muslim family. We may take it for granted that in Western society one can freely choose to practice whatever faith one desires regardless of ethnic considerations. This was not the case in Muslim-ruled India. In many Muslim-ruled regions even today, if a Muslim changes faith, the punishment can be severe, and what to speak of five-hundred years ago. However, this did not deter Haridasa Thakura. He became so recognized within the bhakti-yoga tradition that he was crowned the namacarya, or the preceptor of chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, the mantra for spiritual realization: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

With such prestige and recognition for his spiritual merit within the bhakti-yoga tradition, it probably does not come as a surprise to most that Haridasa Thakura met strong persecution from the ruling Muslim government. At the time, the Muslim government was tolerant of Hindus practicing Hinduism and of course encouraged Muslims practicing Islam, but a Muslim practicing Hinduism was considered a great offense. This persecution culminated in the arrest and public whipping of Haridasa Thakura.

One day, wishing to make an example of Haridasa Thakura, the local kazi, or regional Muslim ruler, went to his superior, the king of Bengal. The kazi informed the king that Haridasa Thakura, a Muslim by birth, was practicing a non-Muslim spiritual tradition. The king immediately sent soldiers to arrest Haridasa Thakura. Haridasa Thakura was not in the least afraid of the situation. Haridasa Thakura was in full spiritual consciousness, and thus was always fully joyful, not desiring or lamenting for anything material. When he arrived at the prison, some prisoners heard that such an exalted personality as Haridasa Thakura was now imprisoned, and they desired to see him to clear away their sorrows through the transmission of spiritual knowledge. This is the spiritual tradition- to make arrangements to see and hear from spiritual personalities in order to improve one’s consciousness and advance in life. For this reason, they asked the prison guards to bring Haridasa Thakura to them.

When Haridasa Thakura came before the prisoners, the prisoners became ecstatic. Haridasa Thakura smiled at them, and gave them an ambiguous blessing by saying, “Stay, stay as you are now.” Hearing these words, the prisoners felt sadness.

Now imagine this situation from the perspective of the prisoners. You are stuck in prison, which most likely does not have luxurious conditions by any measure, and upon learning that a saint is coming, your hope is reawakened. But his blessing upon you is for you to stay as you are?! What would you think in such a situation?

Haridasa Thakura, seeing the sadness of the prisoners, explained his blessing to them. In the normal course of life, there are distractions all around. Bewildered by material enjoyments, a living entity thinks that he or she will live forever in this world, and thus forgets to make endeavors in spiritual life. Additionally, the possession of material assets tends to make people envious and hostile toward each other. In the prison, however, the prisoners no longer had anything material to be proud of and nothing to be distracted by. The humble position of the prisoners was in this way a better position than their position of freedom outside the prison. Haridasa Thakura thus explained the meaning of his blessing.

Lesson to be Learned

From this instance, we can see the mentality of a person in pure spiritual consciousness with purely spiritual priorities. Haridasa Thakura did not place importance on the facility for material enjoyment provided by a situation, but rather on the facility for inner spiritual reflection. This is radically different from the perspective propounded by secular society. The culture of unbridled materialism fills one’s life with distractions, fills one’s life with pride and envy, and takes away the motivation to seriously endeavor in a truly spiritual direction. To whatever degree one gives time to one direction, one is taking away one’s potential time from the other direction.

Well, what’s the big deal with that anyway? What’s wrong with focusing on material pleasures at the expense of spirituality? First and foremost, one must understand that as nice as material facilities and enjoyment may be, they all have an expiration date. There is no exception to this rule. By the force of time, either we will leave our object of enjoyment, or the object of enjoyment will be taken from us. Why then invest in such things? It is like moving into a sand castle on the shore while the tide is coming in. Better to invest one’s time and efforts in non-perishable items.

From this we can see the import of the motto “simple living and high thinking.” If we endeavor to minimize the complexities we are so fervently encouraged to grab onto while trying to maximize our introspection through things like meditation and study of spiritual knowledge, then we have a fighting chance of making a lasting, meaningful impression in our lives. This may mean sacrificing some material comfort, but the merit of such a sacrifice becomes clear when the reward presents itself.

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjJds5qT

SB 02.05.21 Who’s Working -The One Who Pressed The Button Or The Machine 2013-07-23

Pamporovo – Bulgarian

SB 02.05.20 Inconceivable Beyond Imagination 2013-07-22 Pamporovo – Bulgarian

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