Podcast 005 – Tulasi Harison sings
→ Oxford Kirtan

In this podcast Tulasi Harison sings one bhajan and two kirtans. The first, Jaya Radha Madhava is a lovely little bhajan (hymn) meditating on Vrindavan, the birth place of Krishna, and remembering all the places associated with spiritual relationships of love.

The second is Sri Krishna Chaitanya a short mantra very popular in Bengal, and the third is Govinda Jaya Jaya, a song which originated in the Radha Raman temple some hundreds of years ago.

We are very thankful to Tulasi for leading us in kirtan so often in Oxford.

Podcast 005 – Tulasi Harison sings
→ Oxford Kirtan

In this podcast Tulasi Harison sings one bhajan and two kirtans. The first, Jaya Radha Madhava is a lovely little bhajan (hymn) meditating on Vrindavan, the birth place of Krishna, and remembering all the places associated with spiritual relationships of love.

The second is Sri Krishna Chaitanya a short mantra very popular in Bengal, and the third is Govinda Jaya Jaya, a song which originated in the Radha Raman temple some hundreds of years ago.

We are very thankful to Tulasi for leading us in kirtan so often in Oxford.

Podcast 005 – Tulasi Harison sings
→ Oxford Kirtan

In this podcast Tulasi Harison sings one bhajan and two kirtans. The first, Jaya Radha Madhava is a lovely little bhajan (hymn) meditating on Vrindavan, the birth place of Krishna, and remembering all the places associated with spiritual relationships of love.

The second is Sri Krishna Chaitanya a short mantra very popular in Bengal, and the third is Govinda Jaya Jaya, a song which originated in the Radha Raman temple some hundreds of years ago.

We are very thankful to Tulasi for leading us in kirtan so often in Oxford.

12-Hour Kirtan is Back – July 13, 2012!
→ Gaura-Shakti Kirtan Yoga


There is a festive buzz in the air as the Hare KRishna centre prepares for the 40th Annual Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra)! 


To celebrate this year's grand anniversary, they are thrilled to announce that they will, once again, be holding a 12-Hour Kirtan Festival on July 13th, 2012 from 10:00AM - 10:00PM. The Hare Krishna Centre will be creating a spiritual explosion with kirtaneers from around the world including HH Bhaktimarga Swami, Bada Hari Prabhu, Madhava Prabhu and many more! What better way to commence festivities than dancing to your heart's content for 12 straight hours?


Where: 243 Avenue Road, Toronto, ON
When: Friday, July 13 - 10am - 10pm


Also, check out the website: http://festivalofindia.ca/ for more information about the exciting festival that will take place on July 14-15! 


Be sure not to miss this! :D



12-Hour Kirtan is Back – July 13, 2012!
→ Gaura-Shakti Kirtan Yoga


There is a festive buzz in the air as the Hare KRishna centre prepares for the 40th Annual Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra)! 


To celebrate this year's grand anniversary, they are thrilled to announce that they will, once again, be holding a 12-Hour Kirtan Festival on July 13th, 2012 from 10:00AM - 10:00PM. The Hare Krishna Centre will be creating a spiritual explosion with kirtaneers from around the world including HH Bhaktimarga Swami, Bada Hari Prabhu, Madhava Prabhu and many more! What better way to commence festivities than dancing to your heart's content for 12 straight hours?


Where: 243 Avenue Road, Toronto, ON
When: Friday, July 13 - 10am - 10pm


Also, check out the website: http://festivalofindia.ca/ for more information about the exciting festival that will take place on July 14-15! 


Be sure not to miss this! :D



Mark and Nikki Special!
→ ISKCON London Online Devotees Magazine

Vaisnava Stories: Mark and Nikki

Mark

How I Came To Krsna

It is difficult to pinpoint the time when I first heard about Krsna, and it was most likely a series of small and unrelated events and realisations and that eventually brought me to the Soho Street temple in the early 1980′s.

Growing up through the Sixties and Seventies, like a lot of my peers, we found that the fashions and music of the time introduced us to an influx of cultural and spiritual diversity that enlivened the atmosphere and offered a real alternative to the seemingly grey way of life we were being offered by the establishment.

I always knew deep inside that I needed an alternative path to the one I was being conditioned to accept, although I didn’t know what this was. I studied various philosophies (particularly the ones that were coming from the east, as they attracted me the most) and particularly enjoyed Hatha Yoga. I didn’t really have a desire to know God: Christianity and going to church didn’t attract me at all.  I had come to the conclusion that there probably was no God, as all I could see was suffering and I couldn’t understand how a being that apparently loved us could sit back and watch his children suffer, so I rejected him.

It was around this time that the small and seemingly unrelated events happened, just tiny mishaps really, but they gave me realisations that I wasn’t in control, as nothing I seemed to do went as planned; this led me to start thinking that there was perhaps a power controlling things.

Looking back, it seems I just wanted to enjoy altered states of consciousness, and being able to achieve those states naturally (without substances) appealed to me. Mostly the eastern mystical processes seemed to offer the chance to coming to those states of being, and I studied Buddhism and read a lot material by various philosophers and writers including, Krishnamurti, Carlos Castenada and even Lobsang Rampa I remember.

A close friend gave me a copy of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita around 1980. I read some if it and couldn’t understand it at all. It meant nothing to me, but I liked the pictures.

At this time I was still a meat eater, although I did have a desire to become a vegetarian, (I had been uncomfortable with eating meat for some years) and in a conversation with the same friend who gave me the Gita one evening, he convinced me to stop being a Hypocrite and I have never eaten meat since. At this time I picked up the Bhagavad Gita again and it made perfect sense: I understood it as I couldn’t when I had been eating meat. It seemed that the very act of giving up this dreadful activity had wiped away the dirt from my mind in one swift stroke, that had previously had prevented me from understanding Krsna’s message.

My friend then invited me to go with him to “The most beautiful place in London”, and I found myself in the Radha Krsna Temple in Soho Street one day.  The temple room was full and everyone was listening to a class given by Jaytirtha Swami, and after this a few of us were asked upstairs for private darshan with him, and I remember being very impressed, and convinced that this was the path I wanted to follow.

From that point onwards things moved swiftly and before long we had a Namma Hatta group running and I was also working in Govinda’s restaurant full time. This was during the mid 80′s (an unsettled time for ISKCON), and events both in my spiritual and personal life made me retreat back into the material realm.

How I came back to Krsna is due to my partner Nikki who has always encouraged and reminded me of Krsna. I can’t thank her enough for bringing me back to the place I was back in the 80′s, and I can testify that what we do in Krsna conciousness is never lost and really am aware that I have picked up where I left off.

Nikki

How Krsna found me!

As a child I went to a VERY Christian school, we had 45 minutes ’praise time’ before school each day, it was supposed to be a good school but something that struck me was how judgemental everyone was, The Head mistress was having an affair with the Maths teacher and although as a child I did not really understand this, something felt very wrong..I assumed they were ‘Religious freaks’ and decided God was not for me.    At the Age of 13 I was assaulted by several men and although horrific it just left me with a numb feeling..  I was thrown out of the Religious school because I apparently caused a ‘disturbance to other pupils’.   This was as far as I was concerned the end of so-called God. I mean… what sort of God would allow this to happen to me?

In the Early 90′s I was a leather clad biker chick … with a Harley Davidson, bottle of ale constantly in my hand! I was into Rock Music and experimenting in drugs.  My husband was a biker too and the relationship suffered as a symptom of our wild lifestyle!

In 1991 I was 21 and I developed an interest in Reincarnation, I bought several books on it ..   Then someone placed a book in my hand called COMING BACK.  It was very enlightening and understanding the laws of Karma helped me understand that what had happened to me as a child was due to past actions … it was like a weight off my shoulders …

Then I met Mark. He was a devotee that had fallen away from ISKCON due to some bad experiences . We both started attending Sanga meetings and the Rathayatra in London in 1992. Our Love for Krsna made us very close… but we were both married to other people who were very UN-KRSNA CONSCIOUS.  It was an impossible situation.   I understood that my biker lifestyle was not what I wanted and although I cared for my husband dearly it was very destructive,  and I’d secretly fallen in love with Mark and the effect he had on me.    It was hard but I left my husband.   But Mark could not leave his wife so we parted company. I was heartbroken!

Over the next few years my interest in Krsna faded and I was back into bikes, booze and drugs.   I would see Mark around and always ask about Krsna.  He seemed to have lost his passion for Krsna too.   I was filled with sadness when we saw each other.  We’d lost what seemed like an eternal love and replaced it with …  well I’m not really sure what had filled the space, but it wasn’t good.

I unhappily remarried and every aspect of Krsna had it seemed disappeared from my life.  I put on lots of weight and even started to eat meat, as I was assured the Atkins Diet would shed the pounds!!!…  Then in 2008 I was drinking heavily, overeating, partying hard and my body was suffering. I had a TIA Stroke.  Everything ground to a halt.  I laid in that hospital bed alone and decided things had to change.

When I returned home I was a changed woman.  I couldn’t drink alcohol, and I saw eating meat as murder again; started Yoga again.  I dusted off my picture of Krsna and put it pride of place in my front room.  My husband was very negative and degraded Krsna and me and would not allow me to have my picture out.  What was I to do? He liked the party girl and I was no longer that girl.   I started chanting again, and purchased a copy of the Gita.  It felt like I was purifying my life, then each day my husband would return home from work and the purity would vanish.  I closed my eyes and longed for the days with Mark and the enlightenment that came with him. 

I felt depressed and decided to see a hypnotherapy physiotherapist.  She told me that all the time I had this love for Mark I would not be happy with my husband. After a few sessions I did the letter writing exercise. I wrote a letter out to Mark explaining how I felt about Krsna and him: it was supposed to help me release my emotions and was never supposed to be sent.  In a moment of what I thought was weakness I sent it!

Well… Mark got in touch and we spoke about Krsna again. It felt like we had never been apart.  We both realised it was essential that Krsna was in our lives. As a result, we both left our partners: it was a hard painful time, but my ex-husband and his ex-wife are both very happy without us now. 

We now have the freedom to embrace Krsna Consciousness and I happily support Mark in every way possible.  We are aspiring for initiation and Mark holds a Gita class every Friday. We have been truly blessed and are due to marry in the Temple soon. Sounds silly, but I feel reborn!

It has been a tough journey but now I am here I know that I would not swap this for anything on earth. I realise I am learning every day and am humbled every day that Krsna found us worthy of a second chance.

Mark and Nikki were married at Bhaktivedanta Manor on 1st July 2011! 

Happy Anniversary Mark and Nikki!!

Purity is the Force
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures

By Minakshi Devi Dasi


On Sunday June 24th, a couple of temples in the Etobicoke/Brampton area conducted a small Rathayatra.  We had the opportunity to put up a book display outside under a small tent. Even as we were setting up, people were getting attracted to Srila Prabhupada's books.  There was some rain, but people were 'hungry' and interested and within only 20 minutes 40 books were already distributed. One individual was looking at the titles and listening and suddenly noticed that all the titles were by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada - he was simply amazed! The power of ISKCON is Srila Prabhupada's books and pure philosophy, something that is usually missing when people go to 'other' temples.
 

Purity is the Force
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures

By Minakshi Devi Dasi


On Sunday June 24th, a couple of temples in the Etobicoke/Brampton area conducted a small Rathayatra.  We had the opportunity to put up a book display outside under a small tent. Even as we were setting up, people were getting attracted to Srila Prabhupada's books.  There was some rain, but people were 'hungry' and interested and within only 20 minutes 40 books were already distributed. One individual was looking at the titles and listening and suddenly noticed that all the titles were by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada - he was simply amazed! The power of ISKCON is Srila Prabhupada's books and pure philosophy, something that is usually missing when people go to 'other' temples.
 

The Material World is a Big Ball of Suck
→ A Convenient Truth



I wanted to write a blog post, because I haven't written in so long. Every time I start writing though I end up deleting it. It feels too forced, too much like I'm trying to make some profound point. In reality, I have nothing to say, because I feel so lost and disappointed with a lot of things in my life right now. They're the kind of things that writing about and talking about don't really make any better. It's kind of like my circular arguments with the process of Krishna Consciousness and trying to become selfless. I end up talking things into an endless circle with no conclusions or resolution and in the end just end up feeling more distraught and hopeless than when I first began.

Nothing in this world seems to be simple. We make it so complicated with our selfish desires and material attachments. Why did I move out of the temple and make my life so complicated? I suppose I was trying to be honest with sex desire. I didn't want to be a false renunciate, wearing the saffron robes of a celibate monk and constantly meditating on sex and surfing the internet for porn. So it could be said I made my life complicated by pursuing a life of sex desire and sexual pleasure. Seems like a fair assessment. After all, the Srimad Bhagavatam proclaims that sex desire is the root cause of our bondage here in the material world (in material consciousness). If we run after it, in whatever form, we have to be prepared for all of the shit that comes along with it.

Sometimes I wish I lived in a secluded cave out in the woods with no connection to the outside world. No, I'm serious. That's just kind of my nature. I feel like a renunciate by nature. Unfortunately I couldn't renounce sex desire and well...here I am today.

At times our lives feel like a series of choices, but in reality these choices are nothing but illusions. We are simply playing out our karma, our destinies that have been written from our previous desires, thoughts and actions. Srila Prabhupada has said so many times in his lectures that we are destined to experience a certain amount of happiness and suffering. There's nothing we can do to change it. My life as it is now could not be any other way, because I was destined to experience everything that is happening right now. All of the pain and suffering I'm currently experiencing was destined to come to me. There was no way I could avoid it or side step it. All I can do now is deal with it in the most detached and Krishna Conscious way possible.

A materialist sees shitty things happening and just thinks shitty things are happening to them. And they just become morose and depressed. A spiritually minded person or devotee (or even an aspiring devotee) has the ability to see the shitty things as lessons and opportunities for spiritual realization and spiritual growth. "Why am I suffering in this way? What is Krishna or God trying to tell me through this experience? How can I use this experience to become spiritually stronger?"

Because I am in this material body and covered by a material mind, I am certain that more suffering is in my future. In fact, I will probably live out the rest of this life experiencing various degrees of suffering. It's just the nature of living in this temporary, material world. The sooner I embrace this fact, the sooner I can start focusing on the real purpose of this life and stop wasting my time trying to avoid suffering.

The Material World is a Big Ball of Suck
→ A Convenient Truth



I wanted to write a blog post, because I haven't written in so long. Every time I start writing though I end up deleting it. It feels too forced, too much like I'm trying to make some profound point. In reality, I have nothing to say, because I feel so lost and disappointed with a lot of things in my life right now. They're the kind of things that writing about and talking about don't really make any better. It's kind of like my circular arguments with the process of Krishna Consciousness and trying to become selfless. I end up talking things into an endless circle with no conclusions or resolution and in the end just end up feeling more distraught and hopeless than when I first began.

Nothing in this world seems to be simple. We make it so complicated with our selfish desires and material attachments. Why did I move out of the temple and make my life so complicated? I suppose I was trying to be honest with sex desire. I didn't want to be a false renunciate, wearing the saffron robes of a celibate monk and constantly meditating on sex and surfing the internet for porn. So it could be said I made my life complicated by pursuing a life of sex desire and sexual pleasure. Seems like a fair assessment. After all, the Srimad Bhagavatam proclaims that sex desire is the root cause of our bondage here in the material world (in material consciousness). If we run after it, in whatever form, we have to be prepared for all of the shit that comes along with it.

Sometimes I wish I lived in a secluded cave out in the woods with no connection to the outside world. No, I'm serious. That's just kind of my nature. I feel like a renunciate by nature. Unfortunately I couldn't renounce sex desire and well...here I am today.

At times our lives feel like a series of choices, but in reality these choices are nothing but illusions. We are simply playing out our karma, our destinies that have been written from our previous desires, thoughts and actions. Srila Prabhupada has said so many times in his lectures that we are destined to experience a certain amount of happiness and suffering. There's nothing we can do to change it. My life as it is now could not be any other way, because I was destined to experience everything that is happening right now. All of the pain and suffering I'm currently experiencing was destined to come to me. There was no way I could avoid it or side step it. All I can do now is deal with it in the most detached and Krishna Conscious way possible.

A materialist sees shitty things happening and just thinks shitty things are happening to them. And they just become morose and depressed. A spiritually minded person or devotee (or even an aspiring devotee) has the ability to see the shitty things as lessons and opportunities for spiritual realization and spiritual growth. "Why am I suffering in this way? What is Krishna or God trying to tell me through this experience? How can I use this experience to become spiritually stronger?"

Because I am in this material body and covered by a material mind, I am certain that more suffering is in my future. In fact, I will probably live out the rest of this life experiencing various degrees of suffering. It's just the nature of living in this temporary, material world. The sooner I embrace this fact, the sooner I can start focusing on the real purpose of this life and stop wasting my time trying to avoid suffering.

The Barking Dog of The False Ego
→ Life Comes From Life


 My latest essay at The Huffington Post Religion

Our ego is one of the most intimidating and inscrutable realities we face in our lives. Countless philosophers, spiritualists, seekers and armchair prognosticators have tried to define its parameters and its meaning to our existence. We even have wonderful teachers -- like my friends at Gita Sutras -- attempting to actualize and excavate the nature of our ego for our most positive spiritual benefit.

Some would also rather do away with the whole idea of the ego altogether, but according to the teachings of the bhakti-yoga tradition, that is not possible. The Bhagavad-gita and countless other wisdom teachings of the bhakti tradition teach us that we are eternally individual spirit souls, currently going through a materialistic bodily experience. We always have an ego, or existence as a unique, individual being, but what we have to watch out for is our "false ego."

One of my teachers has explained the concept like this: We have two dogs in our heart. One is our actual ego, our reality as spirit soul, and one is the false ego, or our false identification with our temporary material body. Both dogs are barking to get our attention, and whichever one we pay attention to the most, or feed the most, becomes dominant in our consciousness. Or, as the Cherokee proverb says:

There is a battle of two wolves inside us all.
One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies, inferiority, and ego.
The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth.
The wolf that wins? The one you feed.

Our false ego disguises itself as our best friend, when it is actually our greatest adversary in our spiritual journey. It is the voice in our consciousness which makes us think we must be the center of the universe, the repose of all prestige, and when we don't get these accolades we react with all the violence of our envious, prideful, and greedy outbursts, ruining our relationships, communities, and hopes in our own search for the Divine.
At its essence, the false ego creates for us suffering, and according to the wisdom of the bhakti tradition, that is completely antithetical to our natural sense of being. As spirit souls, our substance is made of eternality (sat), knowledge (cit), and bliss (ananda), which is also the very same substance as God. Perhaps the greatest form of ananda we can experience is our direct loving relationship with God through His grace and mercy. How we gain access to this is defined by our practical understanding of our own ego-nature.

As Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita:

If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost. (Chapter 18, Verse 58)

Vedic scholar Bhurijana Dasa also explains the concept of the false ego very clearly in Surrender Unto Me, his commentary on the Gita:
The false ego ... which is like a reflection of our true consciousness within matter, is the covering over the soul first supplied by material nature and is the juncture between our spiritual identity and our material existence. Any ego-identity in which we imagine ourselves the central figure is acceptable to our perverse consciousness.
Thus the soul, constitutionally Krsna's eternal servant -- full of bliss, knowledge, and eternity -- becomes attracted to the material atmosphere and conditioned by it. He is then strictly controlled by the modes of material nature and experiences the self as if it were made of temporary matter.
The juncture between our false ego and real ego is the juncture between how selfish and selfless we are in our everyday lives, both materially and spiritually. One way to see this is in relation to how we react to people's suffering. When someone suffers, do we feed the dog of our false ego by taking pleasure at their suffering, especially if it is relation to some competitive aspect of our lives, like our career, or do we feed the dog of our true ego by taking their suffering into our own heart, and feeling it as if we were the one suffering. Do we respond with compassion or contempt? Do we step on them further or do we do what we humbly can to uplift them?

Gaining access to our real sense of ego means doing all we can to develop our selfless spiritual character. This is actually our natural self, yet to be selfless in this dog-eat-dog world seems so unnatural, because we choose to absorb ourselves in the schemes of our false ego. This is why spiritual life is such a serious endeavor. We must have an everyday practice, whether it is the chanting of God's names, reading of holy scriptures, and service to our community and the less-fortunate, to help us excavate what is most dear and intimate to us, our real spiritual self.

Every moment of every day we are making a choice which dog to feed. Our spirituality begins and ends with our consciousness, so let us try to become more conscious of the very sense of self and identity we are developing in our lives together.
 

Follow Chris Fici on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@ChrisFici
FOLLOW RELIGION

The Barking Dog of The False Ego
→ Life Comes From Life


 My latest essay at The Huffington Post Religion

Our ego is one of the most intimidating and inscrutable realities we face in our lives. Countless philosophers, spiritualists, seekers and armchair prognosticators have tried to define its parameters and its meaning to our existence. We even have wonderful teachers -- like my friends at Gita Sutras -- attempting to actualize and excavate the nature of our ego for our most positive spiritual benefit.

Some would also rather do away with the whole idea of the ego altogether, but according to the teachings of the bhakti-yoga tradition, that is not possible. The Bhagavad-gita and countless other wisdom teachings of the bhakti tradition teach us that we are eternally individual spirit souls, currently going through a materialistic bodily experience. We always have an ego, or existence as a unique, individual being, but what we have to watch out for is our "false ego."

One of my teachers has explained the concept like this: We have two dogs in our heart. One is our actual ego, our reality as spirit soul, and one is the false ego, or our false identification with our temporary material body. Both dogs are barking to get our attention, and whichever one we pay attention to the most, or feed the most, becomes dominant in our consciousness. Or, as the Cherokee proverb says:

There is a battle of two wolves inside us all.
One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies, inferiority, and ego.
The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth.
The wolf that wins? The one you feed.

Our false ego disguises itself as our best friend, when it is actually our greatest adversary in our spiritual journey. It is the voice in our consciousness which makes us think we must be the center of the universe, the repose of all prestige, and when we don't get these accolades we react with all the violence of our envious, prideful, and greedy outbursts, ruining our relationships, communities, and hopes in our own search for the Divine.
At its essence, the false ego creates for us suffering, and according to the wisdom of the bhakti tradition, that is completely antithetical to our natural sense of being. As spirit souls, our substance is made of eternality (sat), knowledge (cit), and bliss (ananda), which is also the very same substance as God. Perhaps the greatest form of ananda we can experience is our direct loving relationship with God through His grace and mercy. How we gain access to this is defined by our practical understanding of our own ego-nature.

As Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita:

If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost. (Chapter 18, Verse 58)

Vedic scholar Bhurijana Dasa also explains the concept of the false ego very clearly in Surrender Unto Me, his commentary on the Gita:
The false ego ... which is like a reflection of our true consciousness within matter, is the covering over the soul first supplied by material nature and is the juncture between our spiritual identity and our material existence. Any ego-identity in which we imagine ourselves the central figure is acceptable to our perverse consciousness.
Thus the soul, constitutionally Krsna's eternal servant -- full of bliss, knowledge, and eternity -- becomes attracted to the material atmosphere and conditioned by it. He is then strictly controlled by the modes of material nature and experiences the self as if it were made of temporary matter.
The juncture between our false ego and real ego is the juncture between how selfish and selfless we are in our everyday lives, both materially and spiritually. One way to see this is in relation to how we react to people's suffering. When someone suffers, do we feed the dog of our false ego by taking pleasure at their suffering, especially if it is relation to some competitive aspect of our lives, like our career, or do we feed the dog of our true ego by taking their suffering into our own heart, and feeling it as if we were the one suffering. Do we respond with compassion or contempt? Do we step on them further or do we do what we humbly can to uplift them?

Gaining access to our real sense of ego means doing all we can to develop our selfless spiritual character. This is actually our natural self, yet to be selfless in this dog-eat-dog world seems so unnatural, because we choose to absorb ourselves in the schemes of our false ego. This is why spiritual life is such a serious endeavor. We must have an everyday practice, whether it is the chanting of God's names, reading of holy scriptures, and service to our community and the less-fortunate, to help us excavate what is most dear and intimate to us, our real spiritual self.

Every moment of every day we are making a choice which dog to feed. Our spirituality begins and ends with our consciousness, so let us try to become more conscious of the very sense of self and identity we are developing in our lives together.
 

Follow Chris Fici on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@ChrisFici
FOLLOW RELIGION

Lollipop Fortune
→ Seed of Devotion

Christmas Eve 2011, Mexico: The Santa-shaped pinata did not stand a chance against 30 youth all eager for candy. Sure enough, as soon as we saw the slightest sign of breakage, a mad rush attacked the Santa! We piled on top of each other in a giant doggie-pile. Candy flew everywhere. 

When we at last sorted out all our limbs and had claimed victory over candy, I held some odd Mexican tamarind candies and lollipops. 

Suddenly, a girl noticed that on her hand-shaped lollipop something was written in Spanish. The girl called me over and I translated the roughly-hewn words. A fortune! These were fortune-telling lollipops. Oh, this was too awesome.  

I opened up my lollipop. 

Lo and behold, this is what my fortune said: 


Translated: You will know love.

When I read it, I yelled in delight. The girls all crowded around for a glimpse, and I boasted a triumphant smile.

"You guys!! I will know love!"

Whether that's God, a husband, children, friends, or a favorite pair of shoes, I will know love. That settles it, there is nothing to worry about in life, nothing, zero. After all, what is life without love? My lollipop fortune has revealed my destiny.

I would've saved the lollipop out of reverence and joy, but it was too tasty. 
Subscribe

Lollipop Fortune
→ Seed of Devotion

Christmas Eve 2011, Mexico: The Santa-shaped pinata did not stand a chance against 30 youth all eager for candy. Sure enough, as soon as we saw the slightest sign of breakage, a mad rush attacked the Santa! We piled on top of each other in a giant doggie-pile. Candy flew everywhere. 

When we at last sorted out all our limbs and had claimed victory over candy, I held some odd Mexican tamarind candies and lollipops. 

Suddenly, a girl noticed that on her hand-shaped lollipop something was written in Spanish. The girl called me over and I translated the roughly-hewn words. A fortune! These were fortune-telling lollipops. Oh, this was too awesome.  

I opened up my lollipop. 

Lo and behold, this is what my fortune said: 


Translated: You will know love.

When I read it, I yelled in delight. The girls all crowded around for a glimpse, and I boasted a triumphant smile.

"You guys!! I will know love!"

Whether that's God, a husband, children, friends, or a favorite pair of shoes, I will know love. That settles it, there is nothing to worry about in life, nothing, zero. After all, what is life without love? My lollipop fortune has revealed my destiny.

I would've saved the lollipop out of reverence and joy, but it was too tasty. 
Subscribe

Utilizing our talents…
→ kirtaniyah sada hari

Have you ever felt like you had certain gifts to offer the world, but something was holding you back? If so, you're in good company.

For a few years now I've been feeling that way. In many ways I feel that Krsna has blessed me with different talents, to the extent that it makes me feel confused. In fact, I often look at those who have one specific talent that they are exceptional at doing and think, "I wish I was like that." Why? Simply because it seems like they have it easier; key word of course being "seems".

For those who are exceptionally gifted in one sphere or arena and genuinely love it, their path appears, at least to me, clear. Their direction is set if they choose to follow it and so their purpose in life (in terms of sharing Krsna's blessings upon them) is clearly outlined.

However for those who maybe able to do many things, sometimes the waters may seem more murky. "What should I focus on? Kirtan, writing, speaking, photography? Some of these things? All of these things? Should it be one at a time or simultaneously?" To the extent that these questions can just leave one staying on the mental platform without doing anything. Why do I say this- because I speak from experience!

Recently I've figured out how I would like to utilize whatever little talents Krsna has given me in a meaningful way but in the process have realized enthusiasm is not enough. It'll have to be a combination of hard work, determination, discipline, a LOT of prayer, guidance and ultimately the unshakeable convocation that it's the right thing.

I think that's what separates those who succeed from those who don't. The ability to remain unaffected when criticism, thinly veiled negativity or even worse, a lack of interest/enthusiasm is exhibited by others towards your venture.

And so I am trying to actively do something and get out of my head. In speaking with a well-wishing friend, they referred to my desire to contribute as an offering. What a beautiful thought. Instead of saying, "this is what I want to give to the world," my mind-set has changed to "this is what I want to offer to the world." Just that slight change in word helps me to remember that I just want to be a worthy receptacle that Krsna can use in service. Furthermore it reminds me that an offering implies another accepting out of free will whereas giving can result in "I'm giving so you must take" attitude.

So I pray. I pray to all of you, my readers. Please bless me to have single-pointed determination, discipline, guidance and the rock-solid conviction that I am doing the right thing.

Utilizing our talents…
→ kirtaniyah sada hari

Have you ever felt like you had certain gifts to offer the world, but something was holding you back? If so, you're in good company.

For a few years now I've been feeling that way. In many ways I feel that Krsna has blessed me with different talents, to the extent that it makes me feel confused. In fact, I often look at those who have one specific talent that they are exceptional at doing and think, "I wish I was like that." Why? Simply because it seems like they have it easier; key word of course being "seems".

For those who are exceptionally gifted in one sphere or arena and genuinely love it, their path appears, at least to me, clear. Their direction is set if they choose to follow it and so their purpose in life (in terms of sharing Krsna's blessings upon them) is clearly outlined.

However for those who maybe able to do many things, sometimes the waters may seem more murky. "What should I focus on? Kirtan, writing, speaking, photography? Some of these things? All of these things? Should it be one at a time or simultaneously?" To the extent that these questions can just leave one staying on the mental platform without doing anything. Why do I say this- because I speak from experience!

Recently I've figured out how I would like to utilize whatever little talents Krsna has given me in a meaningful way but in the process have realized enthusiasm is not enough. It'll have to be a combination of hard work, determination, discipline, a LOT of prayer, guidance and ultimately the unshakeable convocation that it's the right thing.

I think that's what separates those who succeed from those who don't. The ability to remain unaffected when criticism, thinly veiled negativity or even worse, a lack of interest/enthusiasm is exhibited by others towards your venture.

And so I am trying to actively do something and get out of my head. In speaking with a well-wishing friend, they referred to my desire to contribute as an offering. What a beautiful thought. Instead of saying, "this is what I want to give to the world," my mind-set has changed to "this is what I want to offer to the world." Just that slight change in word helps me to remember that I just want to be a worthy receptacle that Krsna can use in service. Furthermore it reminds me that an offering implies another accepting out of free will whereas giving can result in "I'm giving so you must take" attitude.

So I pray. I pray to all of you, my readers. Please bless me to have single-pointed determination, discipline, guidance and the rock-solid conviction that I am doing the right thing.

Astaprahar Sankirtan at Tagore Centre
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures

Submitted by Minakshi Devi Dasi


On June 16th, we went to the Astaprahar being held at the Tagore Centre in Etobicoke.  It was an extremely hot day and we were already perspiring as we setup the table.  We noticed that the place was practically empty.  In fact during the course of the whole day, there were only about 30 to 40 people in the building.  However, this gave us an opportunity to approach everyone that passed. One lady decided to buy some children's books for her young daughter but would not buy the Bhagavad Gita saying that she is all about her daughter now and when she gets old maybe she will have time.  This was quite funny to hear because as Srila Prabhupada and indeed Prahlad Maharaj has taught us - the time is now - we don't know how much more time we will have on this planet.  In the end 73 books were distributed. Thank you to all the devotees involved in this service to Srila Prabhupada.

Astaprahar Sankirtan at Tagore Centre
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures

Submitted by Minakshi Devi Dasi


On June 16th, we went to the Astaprahar being held at the Tagore Centre in Etobicoke.  It was an extremely hot day and we were already perspiring as we setup the table.  We noticed that the place was practically empty.  In fact during the course of the whole day, there were only about 30 to 40 people in the building.  However, this gave us an opportunity to approach everyone that passed. One lady decided to buy some children's books for her young daughter but would not buy the Bhagavad Gita saying that she is all about her daughter now and when she gets old maybe she will have time.  This was quite funny to hear because as Srila Prabhupada and indeed Prahlad Maharaj has taught us - the time is now - we don't know how much more time we will have on this planet.  In the end 73 books were distributed. Thank you to all the devotees involved in this service to Srila Prabhupada.

Find the faults…?
→ OppositeRule

It has been suggested, assumed, that I lost faith because of having committed offenses, but I don’t buy it. I feel that I was sincere and dedicated enough and with sufficient integrity to warrant spiritual protection if Krsna was real.

I remember in or about March 2005, I was elected to the community board at Gita-Nagari, but I did not seek the position and was afraid of the unavoidable offenses that would come with it.  I went before Sri Sri Radha Damodara and prayed for Their protection and guidance, and eventually left feeling I should accept the duty and accepting that my qualifications were good. 

Then a few weeks later, I happened to see a complaint lodged from a person in Puerto Rico about a devotee whom in a few more weeks arrived in my community, although I did not immediately realize that they were the same person. 

This Vakresvara Pandit Das, I had never met him before but respected him as the fine devotee I assumed him to be, until one day I saw him with a group of kids burning all the woods undergrowth between the Gita-Nagari temple and cow pastures.  My wife and children and I cried in horror as we loved that woods and were afraid of anyone breathing poison ivy smoke.  I had thought Vakresvara had been talking about removing garbage when he said he would clean up the forest.

The CPO (I was in touch with Tamohara Das, gbc) would not provide any detail of Vakresvara’s record, but I obtained a verified copy of ISKCON’s Official Decision finding him guilty of child molestation, and confirmed that he had been and remained in contempt of the rectification plan it required for him to step foot on ISKCON property. 

I followed the best etiquette I knew and took painstaking efforts to address my concerns discretely and with no progress whatsoever until Bhakti-Tirtha Swami passed away.  That night I had an inadvertent confrontation causing me to believe Vakresvara Pandit Das was a thug wearing tilak.  Anuttama (gbc) ordered him to extinguish the huge fires he had created with his forest clearing boys, but I went out to do it since he was neglecting it, and I was afraid he would punch me then when I verbally offered my obeisances he scornfully rejected it. 

The next day I saw my guru and he agreed that I should continue to investigate and pursue a satisfactory resolution.  I soon realized that no one in the community would talk to me about it.  I was told Radhanatha Swami would only agree to meet with my wife but not me, and then left town when we said we were not comfortable with that arrangement. 

Thoroughly frustrated, I inquired on the BT Swami email group whether anyone knew what were his views on the subject, and they responded with condemnation of me in various ways.  Secret board meetings were held to devise a way to impeach me from the board, and several brahmanas lied to me to conceal them before giving me papers to sign over my conscience to them, which I did not.  My guru,Bhaktimarga Swami lied to me about his involvement with this exposed conspiracy, and broke his promise to arrange a mediator.

I could find no spiritual shelter and plunged onto severe depression gore nearly two years, hanging on just to maintain my family.

Then I cracked, and assumed fault for everything and begged forgiveness to be with devotees again.  However nobody  apologized for how they treated me.  I failed at regaining confidence in my guru and became interested in the rtvik view but found that frustrating as well. 

I prayed so much and shed so many tears begging for Krsna’s mercy, until it occurred to me that as an aspiring devotee I was perplexed, but if God were a delusion then all this would make perfect sense.  It’s been about two years since that idea set in, which makes it seem that all my bhakti practice was pointless.

Lastly, I learned last year that ISKCON Law requires the authorities (gbc tp) to notify and poll for approval from householders in the community when a past child abuser wants to stay at a temple.  So I was acting on behalf of a molested (former) child to uphold an ISKCON law that I did not know of, while the authorities were violating that law.  How could I be judged as the offender in this?

Homosexuality And Scripture
→ Life Comes From Life

Q & A with Swami B. V. Tripurari

“Times change and with new information new opinions form, and if they are spiritually reasonable, the task for devotees is to support them with scriptural logic—sastra-yukti—or the logic that supports the essential conclusions of revelation.”

Q. Is being gay a sin?

A. I don't think that any reasonable person would consider “being gay” sinful in as much as the distinction between sexual orientation and sexual behavior is understood. Sometimes people refer to biblical passages that they say condemn homosexuality but even Christian theologians have offered plausible interpretations to the contrary. For example, regarding the often-quoted verse (Romans 1:26-27) where the apostle Paul denounced homosexual behavior as unnatural, one distinguished Christian theologian comments, “No doubt Paul was unaware of the distinction between sexual orientation, over which one has apparently very little choice, and sexual behavior, over which one does. He seemed to assume that those whom he condemned were heterosexuals who were acting contrary to nature, “leaving,” “giving up,” or “exchanging” their regular sexual orientation for that which was foreign to them. 

Paul knew nothing of the modern psychosexual understanding of homosexuals as persons whose orientation is fixed early in life, or perhaps even genetically in some cases. For such persons, having heterosexual relations would be acting contrary to nature, “leaving,” “giving up,” or “exchanging” their natural sexual orientation for one that was unnatural to them.” (Rev. Dr. Walter Wink, Professor of Biblical Interpretation, Auburn Theological Seminary)

Hindu texts, on the other hand, are relatively silent on the issue, and when they do discuss homosexuality, it is in relation to heterosexual brahmanas, or priests, indulging in homosexual liaisons. The Hindu dharma sastra describes such behavior as a minor sin; however, it is hardly possible to make a determination as to the religious status of homosexuality in today's world on the basis of a few isolated statements from the dharma sastra. Nor will mere reference to Srimad Bhagavatam's statements concerning spiritually correct “celibate householder sexuality” or the Bhagavad-gita's identification of divinity with dharmic sexuality, serve conclusively in condemning homosexuality. 

Indeed, wholesale condemnation of homosexuality on the basis of Hindu scripture is quite difficult, and given the amount of information on the subject that we have today, which was not available even fifty years ago, such condemnation would not in my opinion be spiritually correct or compassionate.

Therefore, my conviction is that monogamous homosexual relationships are as viable a position from which to cultivate spiritual life as are monogamous heterosexual relationships, and I believe that despite what my guru said decades ago, he would hold the same opinion were he with us today. Since he was with us, a wealth of insight into the nature of homosexuality has come to light, so much that any devotee would do well to carefully consider it when forming his or her opinion on the subject. 

Times change and with new information new opinions form, and if they are spiritually reasonable, the task for devotees is to support them with scriptural logic—sastra-yukti—or the logic that supports the essential conclusions of revelation.

Q. What really bothers me about today's homosexuals is how they wave their gay flag and require everybody to approve of their sexuality. Why should the world appreciate their parade of wrongly directed lust?

A. You might think differently if you were born gay and had to undergo the kind of discrimination that homosexuals have been experiencing for centuries, what to speak of the psychological trauma of “coming out” in our largely homophobic society. The fact is that homosexuality would still be a criminal offence in the United States if it were not for the courage of gay activists. Their flag waving is a cry to be allowed to be what they are without being attacked, jailed, or discriminated against, which was the norm here in America for so long. What's more, in some countries people are still being executed for homosexuality. Sexuality is a huge part of a person's life. To be forced to live in a society where one is routinely mistreated because of his or her natural occurring sexuality is something I would not would wish on anyone.

Q. I am a Hindu and I believe that homosexuals should seek reformation because scripture (the Bible) states that God is not pleased with homosexual relations. The Kama sutra states that the goal of kama, or lust, is procreation. Heterosexual relations serve this purpose but homosexual relations serve only personal sense gratification. Dharma means to accept one's duty in relation to society and God, so how could homosexuality, which has nothing to do with procreation, be considered in any way dharmic?

A. In the Hindu canon there is no condemnation of homosexuality that I am aware of. You profess to be Hindu but are unable to cite any of our scriptures to support your position, not one. Kama sutra is not scripture but it does address homosexuality without condemning it as you have done.

Ultimately everyone agrees that the sexual urge should be harnessed, and different acaryas have tried to help their students do so in different ways. In the mission of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, sexual activity was supposed to be restricted to married life, but our Srila Prabhupada tried to establish a stricter standard, one that permitted sex only for the purpose of procreation. However, the vast majority of his disciples could not follow this standard. Thus in some individual cases he sanctioned sex outside of procreation for married couples. The point is that establishing a standard that students can follow and that helps them to progressively harness this desire constitutes sex that is dharmic and is thus arguably blessed—kamo 'smi. Realistically, whether one is gay or straight this would be limiting sexual activity to within a committed long-term relationship, doing so for the purpose of making advancement in spiritual life.

Furthermore, we are not concerned with trying to please God by following the complex rules of dharma because Krsna is not concerned with this. He says, sarva-dharman parityajya: “Forgo all concerns of dharma and take exclusive refuge in me. I will protect you from all reactions. Do not fear.” Spontaneous love brought about by devotion (bhakti) is the way to please Krsna, and homosexuality being a naturally occurring minority phenomenon is no more an obstacle to bhakti than is heterosexuality. Therefore, I encourage everyone regardless of their sexual orientation to become devotees of Krsna and follow in the footsteps of the residents of Vrindavana. This is the highest dharma—prema dharma.

Regarding your proposal that homosexuals seek reformation. As far back as 1948 sex researcher Alfred Kinsey attempted to document patients who had been converted from homosexuality to heterosexuality during therapy and could not find one whose sexual orientation had been changed. Later, in 1973 the American Psychiatric Association officially ceased classifying homosexuality as a disease, and today's psychiatrists and psychologists almost never attempt to change a person's sexual orientation. All this means that your notion of converting homosexuals into heterosexuals will certainly be a failure.

Finally, just try to imagine growing up and finding that when your young friends began to develop an attraction to the opposite sex you found yourself developing a sexual attraction to the same sex and had learned that you were a queer who could be justifiably beaten up and that there would be no shoulder to cry on at home. Employers (if you could get hired) would fire you if they detected your sexual attraction, which is not something that one can easily hide or that heterosexuals hide (indeed they are encouraged to celebrate it!). Then imagine that you had to pursue your sexuality in the back alley or at an illegal bar and thus ended up being the shady person that society accused you of being and gave you little opportunity of avoiding. The world is still just understanding that they did this to millions of children. Think about it.

Q. Swami, from your writing on the issue of homosexuality it appears that you want to encourage gay people to become devotees. I think that sounds broadminded but I think that the way you are doing it flies in the face of the words of your guru Srila Prabhupada, who was a great and wise man. I like to quote Prabhupada's words on the topic verbatim, and I don't think doing so is narrow-minded. What can possibly be wrong with just repeating what he said? And what he said does not jive with your approach. 

A. The difference between you and Srila Prabhupada is very great. You may repeat what he said (kind of) but you have no ability to change when new information is presented; information that is much more readily available to you than it was to him. What new information? That one born with a homosexual orientation has no choice in the matter, a fact that has come to light only in recent decades. Srila Prabhupada's views on this subject were informed by the prevailing misinformation of his time. He similarly wrote that women were less intelligent because their brain size was almost half that of men which is another piece of misinformation that he attributed to Dr. Urquhart, a professor at the institution he attended in Calcutta. However, unlike you, Srila Prabhupada was able to significantly change his position when new information was presented to him. Being incorrect at times is normal, but what's egregiously incorrect is when a person simply ignores new information and holds fast to outdated ideas despite of it.

Abraham Lincoln was also a great and wise man. He brought about the abolition of slavery in America but he also felt that black people should not be allowed to hold public office. Although once nationally accepted, this idea has in our time been internationally rejected. Still, history does not condemn Lincoln for his latter position but rather lauds him for the former—freeing the slaves. By our standards Srila Prabhupada was an even greater person; not because he held some dated views on various social issues but because he was an empowered pure devotee who was able to free sincere souls from the bondage of material existence. This is what he should and ultimately will be remembered and appreciated for, not for the few dated statements he made about homosexuality.

Q. You say that you know of no passages in the Hindu scriptures that condemn homosexuality, but in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam verse 3.20.26 Srila Prabhupada writes: “It appears here that the homosexual appetite of males for each other is created in this episode of the creation of the demons by Brahma. In other words, the homosexual appetite of a man for another man is demoniac and is not for any sane male in the ordinary course of life.” How do you explain this?

A. The verse says that when Lord Brahma created the demons they approached him for sex but were ultimately lured away by the twilight, which appeared to them as a beautiful young woman. The text goes on to elaborate on the alluring qualities of youthful women and how attraction to them clouds the mind of the unintelligent. In that section of the Bhagavatam, only one verse mentions the demons' sexual attraction to a male, while the ten following verses elaborate on their sexual attraction to a female. Overall, the demons being discussed were obviously more sexually attracted to a woman than they were to a man (Brahma) which indicates that they were not “gay” as we understand the term today.

It is also worth mentioning that Prabhupada never backed up his stance on homosexuality with any references from scripture. Even in the purport cited, he does not say that the verse he is commenting on says that homosexuality is demoniac. Instead, using the word “appears,” which indicates a degree of uncertainty, he merely offers his own opinion. Elsewhere when discussing the subject he also only cites reasoning that demonstrates that his opinion was based on misinformation. For example, in one place he says that homosexuality is not even found in the animal world; a notion that we now know is incorrect. In this case Srila Prabhupada made an inaccurate statement in support of his position, one that he must have learned from someone else. If we are to take his words as absolute in all respects, as some devotees claim that we must, then we are forced to deny the proven fact that homosexuality is found in the animal species. If not, we must face the fact that the example given by Srila Prabhupada was mistaken. 

If the example used in support of one's reasoning is proven wrong, then one's position on the issue itself is brought into question, especially if that position is not clearly supported by scripture. So to disagree with Srila Prabhupada's opinion on homosexuality is not to pick and choose whimsically, but to do so in the very way that he taught us to do, which is to consider the issue according to sastra. In one discussion of the subject Srila Prabhupada even said, “One should take as it is enjoined in the sastras.” This is what I have done, and as I have already stated, Hindu texts are relatively silent on the issue, so it is very difficult to condemn homosexuality on the basis of sastra.

In conclusion, you have made it clear that you feel homosexual relationships established with a view to progress in spiritual life are not to be accepted in the same way that similar heterosexual relationships are. Your arguments on the subject are basically Bible-based religious fundamentalism, as you could not present any verses from Hindu scripture in support of them. As for Srila Prabhupada, if it were possible I would welcome a discussion with him on this topic and I feel confidant that in light of present times and information available he would be willing to alter his position in agreement with mine. After all, in regards to his gay disciple Upendra he did exactly that: he sanctioned a committed homosexual relationship with a view to help his disciple progress in spiritual life.

See also:
The Essence of Varnasrama Dharma

Homosexuality And Scripture
→ Life Comes From Life

Q & A with Swami B. V. Tripurari

“Times change and with new information new opinions form, and if they are spiritually reasonable, the task for devotees is to support them with scriptural logic—sastra-yukti—or the logic that supports the essential conclusions of revelation.”

Q. Is being gay a sin?

A. I don't think that any reasonable person would consider “being gay” sinful in as much as the distinction between sexual orientation and sexual behavior is understood. Sometimes people refer to biblical passages that they say condemn homosexuality but even Christian theologians have offered plausible interpretations to the contrary. For example, regarding the often-quoted verse (Romans 1:26-27) where the apostle Paul denounced homosexual behavior as unnatural, one distinguished Christian theologian comments, “No doubt Paul was unaware of the distinction between sexual orientation, over which one has apparently very little choice, and sexual behavior, over which one does. He seemed to assume that those whom he condemned were heterosexuals who were acting contrary to nature, “leaving,” “giving up,” or “exchanging” their regular sexual orientation for that which was foreign to them. 

Paul knew nothing of the modern psychosexual understanding of homosexuals as persons whose orientation is fixed early in life, or perhaps even genetically in some cases. For such persons, having heterosexual relations would be acting contrary to nature, “leaving,” “giving up,” or “exchanging” their natural sexual orientation for one that was unnatural to them.” (Rev. Dr. Walter Wink, Professor of Biblical Interpretation, Auburn Theological Seminary)

Hindu texts, on the other hand, are relatively silent on the issue, and when they do discuss homosexuality, it is in relation to heterosexual brahmanas, or priests, indulging in homosexual liaisons. The Hindu dharma sastra describes such behavior as a minor sin; however, it is hardly possible to make a determination as to the religious status of homosexuality in today's world on the basis of a few isolated statements from the dharma sastra. Nor will mere reference to Srimad Bhagavatam's statements concerning spiritually correct “celibate householder sexuality” or the Bhagavad-gita's identification of divinity with dharmic sexuality, serve conclusively in condemning homosexuality. 

Indeed, wholesale condemnation of homosexuality on the basis of Hindu scripture is quite difficult, and given the amount of information on the subject that we have today, which was not available even fifty years ago, such condemnation would not in my opinion be spiritually correct or compassionate.

Therefore, my conviction is that monogamous homosexual relationships are as viable a position from which to cultivate spiritual life as are monogamous heterosexual relationships, and I believe that despite what my guru said decades ago, he would hold the same opinion were he with us today. Since he was with us, a wealth of insight into the nature of homosexuality has come to light, so much that any devotee would do well to carefully consider it when forming his or her opinion on the subject. 

Times change and with new information new opinions form, and if they are spiritually reasonable, the task for devotees is to support them with scriptural logic—sastra-yukti—or the logic that supports the essential conclusions of revelation.

Q. What really bothers me about today's homosexuals is how they wave their gay flag and require everybody to approve of their sexuality. Why should the world appreciate their parade of wrongly directed lust?

A. You might think differently if you were born gay and had to undergo the kind of discrimination that homosexuals have been experiencing for centuries, what to speak of the psychological trauma of “coming out” in our largely homophobic society. The fact is that homosexuality would still be a criminal offence in the United States if it were not for the courage of gay activists. Their flag waving is a cry to be allowed to be what they are without being attacked, jailed, or discriminated against, which was the norm here in America for so long. What's more, in some countries people are still being executed for homosexuality. Sexuality is a huge part of a person's life. To be forced to live in a society where one is routinely mistreated because of his or her natural occurring sexuality is something I would not would wish on anyone.

Q. I am a Hindu and I believe that homosexuals should seek reformation because scripture (the Bible) states that God is not pleased with homosexual relations. The Kama sutra states that the goal of kama, or lust, is procreation. Heterosexual relations serve this purpose but homosexual relations serve only personal sense gratification. Dharma means to accept one's duty in relation to society and God, so how could homosexuality, which has nothing to do with procreation, be considered in any way dharmic?

A. In the Hindu canon there is no condemnation of homosexuality that I am aware of. You profess to be Hindu but are unable to cite any of our scriptures to support your position, not one. Kama sutra is not scripture but it does address homosexuality without condemning it as you have done.

Ultimately everyone agrees that the sexual urge should be harnessed, and different acaryas have tried to help their students do so in different ways. In the mission of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, sexual activity was supposed to be restricted to married life, but our Srila Prabhupada tried to establish a stricter standard, one that permitted sex only for the purpose of procreation. However, the vast majority of his disciples could not follow this standard. Thus in some individual cases he sanctioned sex outside of procreation for married couples. The point is that establishing a standard that students can follow and that helps them to progressively harness this desire constitutes sex that is dharmic and is thus arguably blessed—kamo 'smi. Realistically, whether one is gay or straight this would be limiting sexual activity to within a committed long-term relationship, doing so for the purpose of making advancement in spiritual life.

Furthermore, we are not concerned with trying to please God by following the complex rules of dharma because Krsna is not concerned with this. He says, sarva-dharman parityajya: “Forgo all concerns of dharma and take exclusive refuge in me. I will protect you from all reactions. Do not fear.” Spontaneous love brought about by devotion (bhakti) is the way to please Krsna, and homosexuality being a naturally occurring minority phenomenon is no more an obstacle to bhakti than is heterosexuality. Therefore, I encourage everyone regardless of their sexual orientation to become devotees of Krsna and follow in the footsteps of the residents of Vrindavana. This is the highest dharma—prema dharma.

Regarding your proposal that homosexuals seek reformation. As far back as 1948 sex researcher Alfred Kinsey attempted to document patients who had been converted from homosexuality to heterosexuality during therapy and could not find one whose sexual orientation had been changed. Later, in 1973 the American Psychiatric Association officially ceased classifying homosexuality as a disease, and today's psychiatrists and psychologists almost never attempt to change a person's sexual orientation. All this means that your notion of converting homosexuals into heterosexuals will certainly be a failure.

Finally, just try to imagine growing up and finding that when your young friends began to develop an attraction to the opposite sex you found yourself developing a sexual attraction to the same sex and had learned that you were a queer who could be justifiably beaten up and that there would be no shoulder to cry on at home. Employers (if you could get hired) would fire you if they detected your sexual attraction, which is not something that one can easily hide or that heterosexuals hide (indeed they are encouraged to celebrate it!). Then imagine that you had to pursue your sexuality in the back alley or at an illegal bar and thus ended up being the shady person that society accused you of being and gave you little opportunity of avoiding. The world is still just understanding that they did this to millions of children. Think about it.

Q. Swami, from your writing on the issue of homosexuality it appears that you want to encourage gay people to become devotees. I think that sounds broadminded but I think that the way you are doing it flies in the face of the words of your guru Srila Prabhupada, who was a great and wise man. I like to quote Prabhupada's words on the topic verbatim, and I don't think doing so is narrow-minded. What can possibly be wrong with just repeating what he said? And what he said does not jive with your approach. 

A. The difference between you and Srila Prabhupada is very great. You may repeat what he said (kind of) but you have no ability to change when new information is presented; information that is much more readily available to you than it was to him. What new information? That one born with a homosexual orientation has no choice in the matter, a fact that has come to light only in recent decades. Srila Prabhupada's views on this subject were informed by the prevailing misinformation of his time. He similarly wrote that women were less intelligent because their brain size was almost half that of men which is another piece of misinformation that he attributed to Dr. Urquhart, a professor at the institution he attended in Calcutta. However, unlike you, Srila Prabhupada was able to significantly change his position when new information was presented to him. Being incorrect at times is normal, but what's egregiously incorrect is when a person simply ignores new information and holds fast to outdated ideas despite of it.

Abraham Lincoln was also a great and wise man. He brought about the abolition of slavery in America but he also felt that black people should not be allowed to hold public office. Although once nationally accepted, this idea has in our time been internationally rejected. Still, history does not condemn Lincoln for his latter position but rather lauds him for the former—freeing the slaves. By our standards Srila Prabhupada was an even greater person; not because he held some dated views on various social issues but because he was an empowered pure devotee who was able to free sincere souls from the bondage of material existence. This is what he should and ultimately will be remembered and appreciated for, not for the few dated statements he made about homosexuality.

Q. You say that you know of no passages in the Hindu scriptures that condemn homosexuality, but in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam verse 3.20.26 Srila Prabhupada writes: “It appears here that the homosexual appetite of males for each other is created in this episode of the creation of the demons by Brahma. In other words, the homosexual appetite of a man for another man is demoniac and is not for any sane male in the ordinary course of life.” How do you explain this?

A. The verse says that when Lord Brahma created the demons they approached him for sex but were ultimately lured away by the twilight, which appeared to them as a beautiful young woman. The text goes on to elaborate on the alluring qualities of youthful women and how attraction to them clouds the mind of the unintelligent. In that section of the Bhagavatam, only one verse mentions the demons' sexual attraction to a male, while the ten following verses elaborate on their sexual attraction to a female. Overall, the demons being discussed were obviously more sexually attracted to a woman than they were to a man (Brahma) which indicates that they were not “gay” as we understand the term today.

It is also worth mentioning that Prabhupada never backed up his stance on homosexuality with any references from scripture. Even in the purport cited, he does not say that the verse he is commenting on says that homosexuality is demoniac. Instead, using the word “appears,” which indicates a degree of uncertainty, he merely offers his own opinion. Elsewhere when discussing the subject he also only cites reasoning that demonstrates that his opinion was based on misinformation. For example, in one place he says that homosexuality is not even found in the animal world; a notion that we now know is incorrect. In this case Srila Prabhupada made an inaccurate statement in support of his position, one that he must have learned from someone else. If we are to take his words as absolute in all respects, as some devotees claim that we must, then we are forced to deny the proven fact that homosexuality is found in the animal species. If not, we must face the fact that the example given by Srila Prabhupada was mistaken. 

If the example used in support of one's reasoning is proven wrong, then one's position on the issue itself is brought into question, especially if that position is not clearly supported by scripture. So to disagree with Srila Prabhupada's opinion on homosexuality is not to pick and choose whimsically, but to do so in the very way that he taught us to do, which is to consider the issue according to sastra. In one discussion of the subject Srila Prabhupada even said, “One should take as it is enjoined in the sastras.” This is what I have done, and as I have already stated, Hindu texts are relatively silent on the issue, so it is very difficult to condemn homosexuality on the basis of sastra.

In conclusion, you have made it clear that you feel homosexual relationships established with a view to progress in spiritual life are not to be accepted in the same way that similar heterosexual relationships are. Your arguments on the subject are basically Bible-based religious fundamentalism, as you could not present any verses from Hindu scripture in support of them. As for Srila Prabhupada, if it were possible I would welcome a discussion with him on this topic and I feel confidant that in light of present times and information available he would be willing to alter his position in agreement with mine. After all, in regards to his gay disciple Upendra he did exactly that: he sanctioned a committed homosexual relationship with a view to help his disciple progress in spiritual life.

See also:
The Essence of Varnasrama Dharma

Lord Caitanya’s Troops at Yoga Palooza
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures

Submitted by:- Keeshori


With the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha, this weekend was packed with Sankirtan. This Saturday we went to a Yoga festival in a West end park to distribute Srila Prabhupada's books at  Yoga palooza festival. Anshul, Anjan and Indresh prabhus along with myself set up the tables and the tent.

I greeted a black bodied gentleman and asked  him to look at the books we got. Keeping the theme of the festival in mind, I offered him 'The Perfection of Yoga ' book and explained to him what it means to be a perfect Yogi and how to practice Bhakti Yoga. I think it made him curious to inquire more.  He flipped few pages and wanted to know who is God and how we relate ourselves to God. Without being very preachy, I simply offered him the Bhagvad Gita, showed him a few verses and told him this can answer all his questions.
He read the contents page and introduction to the chapters . He seemed interested even more  and looked at the nicely displayed vegetarian cook books. He asked why we were promoting vegetarianism.
I said without going into scientific and environmental details, just think why some animals like cows and rabbits are vegetarian and a tiger doesn't even think twice before killing and eating it's prey. Because they simply follow their instinct. Humans don't like to kill , see blood and eat animals like a tiger does. They are not naturally carnivorous. They cheat their own instinct to eat meat, so we are promoting what comes naturally to human beings.  He seemed satisfied with the answer and shared an incident where his friend was freaked at the sight of blood in his plate at a restaurant. I showed him the Higher Taste and told him that first half of the book will explain why we should be vegetarian and second half will give him recipes of vegetarian dishes.
He wanted the books but did not have enough cash. That is where the sankirtan innovation of the mobile credit card machine came in handy. He bought all three books and paid very generously.

Anshul and Anjan Prabhus did an amazing job distributing books as well and with krishna's mercy we distributed 46 books and had an amazing experience of sharing Srila Prabhupada's books!

Jaya Gaura Nitai!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada! 

Lord Caitanya’s Troops at Yoga Palooza
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures

Submitted by:- Keeshori


With the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha, this weekend was packed with Sankirtan. This Saturday we went to a Yoga festival in a West end park to distribute Srila Prabhupada's books at  Yoga palooza festival. Anshul, Anjan and Indresh prabhus along with myself set up the tables and the tent.

I greeted a black bodied gentleman and asked  him to look at the books we got. Keeping the theme of the festival in mind, I offered him 'The Perfection of Yoga ' book and explained to him what it means to be a perfect Yogi and how to practice Bhakti Yoga. I think it made him curious to inquire more.  He flipped few pages and wanted to know who is God and how we relate ourselves to God. Without being very preachy, I simply offered him the Bhagvad Gita, showed him a few verses and told him this can answer all his questions.
He read the contents page and introduction to the chapters . He seemed interested even more  and looked at the nicely displayed vegetarian cook books. He asked why we were promoting vegetarianism.
I said without going into scientific and environmental details, just think why some animals like cows and rabbits are vegetarian and a tiger doesn't even think twice before killing and eating it's prey. Because they simply follow their instinct. Humans don't like to kill , see blood and eat animals like a tiger does. They are not naturally carnivorous. They cheat their own instinct to eat meat, so we are promoting what comes naturally to human beings.  He seemed satisfied with the answer and shared an incident where his friend was freaked at the sight of blood in his plate at a restaurant. I showed him the Higher Taste and told him that first half of the book will explain why we should be vegetarian and second half will give him recipes of vegetarian dishes.
He wanted the books but did not have enough cash. That is where the sankirtan innovation of the mobile credit card machine came in handy. He bought all three books and paid very generously.

Anshul and Anjan Prabhus did an amazing job distributing books as well and with krishna's mercy we distributed 46 books and had an amazing experience of sharing Srila Prabhupada's books!

Jaya Gaura Nitai!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada! 

Italian Food Festival
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures


Submitted by Anshul

With Italy qualifying for Euro Cup, the Italian Food Festival, at little Italy, was packed with people and 8 young devotees went out loaded with books, prasad and kirtan to spread some of Lord Chaitanya's love to the pizza-makers!

Devotees had a great time distributing over 23 books (including a few italian ones!), lots dum dums and singing kirtan Italiano style.  

The event was a success and showed huge promise for large scale sankirtan in the coming years. 

Looking to have a few italian phrases mastered for next year's festival!

Italian Food Festival
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures


Submitted by Anshul

With Italy qualifying for Euro Cup, the Italian Food Festival, at little Italy, was packed with people and 8 young devotees went out loaded with books, prasad and kirtan to spread some of Lord Chaitanya's love to the pizza-makers!

Devotees had a great time distributing over 23 books (including a few italian ones!), lots dum dums and singing kirtan Italiano style.  

The event was a success and showed huge promise for large scale sankirtan in the coming years. 

Looking to have a few italian phrases mastered for next year's festival!

An unexpected fruit
→ OppositeRule

I never suspected I would feel this way, now after fifteen years of doing my best and trying really hard to live for pleasing Srila Prabhupada by participating in and promoting his movement.  I was greatly inspired by a vision of Krsna that originally caused me to seek out devotees as purported to exist in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is that I bought used from a new-age bookstore I happened into while getting ready to go hide in a forest to mediate to the end. 

I accepted this vision with enough faith to keep a clean shaved head with conspicuous sikha and tilak for several years, chanting about 55,000 rounds, growing and worshipping Tulasi at my home for ten years, but after so much effort I have given, the apparent nonexistence of Krsna frustrates my urge to rapidly and forcefully punch His lotus face.  I could gripe and cite a seemingly endless narration of corruption and abuse, but my perspective is just one of many already out there.  I suspect that it could be fun to do some choice search engine counts, but not right now.  Right now the kindest thing I can think of to day is that He probably doesn’t exist except as formed in each mind infected with this painful thought-virus.  Either that or I cannot understand Krsna’s cruelty that has me finding the opposite of the love I exhaustively tried to grow for Him.

Q&A with Srila Hridayananda das Goswami on Gay Couples Having Children
→ Giridhari's Blog

Question by a lesbian devotee in a monogamous relationship who wants to have her own child: I want to raise my own child and not adopt. The only literature I have read on the topic of gay parenting is academic psychology articles and journals. I am a masters level student in clinical mental health counseling, and have done research and learned in my classes that when two parents of the same sex raise a child together there are no correlated sexual dysfunction issues or psychiatric issues. Oddly enough, in fact, a few studies that followed children of lesbian parents actually found that the children fared better than those that had straight parents. What is your opinion?

 

Answer by Srila Hridayananda das Goswami:

 

Here are a few thoughts:

The desire to bear one’s own child is natural. As far as possible, we try to transcend our human desires, but there are some human needs so deeply rooted in our hearts that ignoring them may cause more harm than good to our spiritual life. Prabhupada always taught us that Krishna consciousness is a gradual process and we often gradually transcend our human needs by engaging them in Krishna consciousness. So if you are dedicated to raising a Krishna conscious child, then you are spiritualizing your human need to raise a child.

ISKCON is a large, global society, and inevitably we find liberals, conservatives, moderates and everything in between. I sometimes say that ISKCON is simply “the world with Krishna.” So whatever our position may be on worldly issues, we must humbly accept that some devotees will disagree, and others will support us.

Your specific issue, raising a child within a lesbian household, is definitely not a fundamental Vedic issue and therefore the scriptures do not specifically address it. Precisely because it is an issue of detail, not basic principle, there will inevitably be different opinions about it. However the basic principle that guides us in such ambiguous or ambivalent areas is that we should do what is best for our own Krishna consciousness and for the Krishna consciousness of the world. So if you are confident that you will be a Krishna conscious mother and help an innocent soul on the path to Krishna, then I would personally support you on this.

With best wishes,

Hridayananda das Goswami

 


A Case For Celibacy, Sobriety & Sanity.
→ Life Comes From Life


Read the full version of my new article at Elephant Journal

I choose not to have sex unless my intention would be to produce a child with my wife. In all other circumstances, I strive for a complete and healthy celibacy. I choose not to take any intoxicants, not alcohol or marijuana, or even tobacco or caffeine. I choose not to gamble, to speculate whatever finances or assets I may have. I choose not to eat any meat, fish, or eggs. I’ve been a committed vegetarian for over seven years now, and I’ve even flirted with veganism on occasion as well.

You may think I’m crazy, fanatical and hopelessly out-of-touch with the natural pleasures of the body and mind that seem to be our birthrights. As a practitioner of the bhakti-yoga tradition, my community, my teachers, and my calling ask of me a commitment beyond the normal, expected and comfortable.

It certainly isn’t easy to follow these regulative principles, but by doing so, I can understand what it means to be a human being and spiritual being and all that combination entails in today’s over-driven and over-stimulated world.

A Case For Celibacy, Sobriety & Sanity.
→ Life Comes From Life


Read the full version of my new article at Elephant Journal

I choose not to have sex unless my intention would be to produce a child with my wife. In all other circumstances, I strive for a complete and healthy celibacy. I choose not to take any intoxicants, not alcohol or marijuana, or even tobacco or caffeine. I choose not to gamble, to speculate whatever finances or assets I may have. I choose not to eat any meat, fish, or eggs. I’ve been a committed vegetarian for over seven years now, and I’ve even flirted with veganism on occasion as well.

You may think I’m crazy, fanatical and hopelessly out-of-touch with the natural pleasures of the body and mind that seem to be our birthrights. As a practitioner of the bhakti-yoga tradition, my community, my teachers, and my calling ask of me a commitment beyond the normal, expected and comfortable.

It certainly isn’t easy to follow these regulative principles, but by doing so, I can understand what it means to be a human being and spiritual being and all that combination entails in today’s over-driven and over-stimulated world.

Transcendental Sales At Guelph Multi-cultural Festival
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures

Submitted by Mahabhagavat Das
A team of over forty enthusiastic volunteers joined together in a well-coordinated effort to take this sublime spiritual knowledge of Krishna consciousness and blissful process of Bhakti Yoga to Guelph on the weekend of 9-10 June 2012. The event was the Guelph Multicultural festival, where we went for the second year in a row. We met old friends from last year, we made new connections, and distributed 171 transcendental literatures, hundreds of pieces of Prasadam and many chanted, danced, and clapped enthusiastically. We had several wonderful conversations centered around Krishna. We are grateful to all who contributed so freely of their time, attention, energy, and personal resources to make this event such a smashing success!


Transcendental Sales At Guelph Multi-cultural Festival
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures

Submitted by Mahabhagavat Das
A team of over forty enthusiastic volunteers joined together in a well-coordinated effort to take this sublime spiritual knowledge of Krishna consciousness and blissful process of Bhakti Yoga to Guelph on the weekend of 9-10 June 2012. The event was the Guelph Multicultural festival, where we went for the second year in a row. We met old friends from last year, we made new connections, and distributed 171 transcendental literatures, hundreds of pieces of Prasadam and many chanted, danced, and clapped enthusiastically. We had several wonderful conversations centered around Krishna. We are grateful to all who contributed so freely of their time, attention, energy, and personal resources to make this event such a smashing success!


Drunk On Noise
→ The Little Conch

I crack my face from the computer screen;
endless numbers and colours
and impressions of others’ lives.
Noise,
I am drunk on noise.
I have drunk so much noise that it flows from my ears and eyes.
Now change the view:
fields at 7pm.
I don’t care if it’s a cliche to admire this
golden hour,
somewhere between night and day.
Today it has rained so much that even the soft light is washed clean,
piercing shadow.
My eyes ache, refocus on distant points,
sheafs of cloud, brilliant white and thunder blue.
The grass shivers as the sun slips lower,
flowers close.
There is so much movement even in this stillness -
striped snails navigate the paths with cautious grace,
one magpie dives like a playing card tossed through the air,
I can feel again,
I can drink this forever -
the wet pavements covered in spatters of orange
and pink, from the flowering trees,
the sound of your name spoken softly all the while.

‘As Kindred Spirits’ by Asher Durand Cole (1849)


A road less travelled
→ kirtaniyah sada hari

Almost everyday I take myself out on a walk in my neighbourhood. Beads in hand and Krsna's name on my lips, I wander about the various streets, paths and parks that make up the area I live in.

One afternoon last summer I was pondering a saying that I had heard (and I paraphrase): The same thoughts running around the hamster wheel of our mind, results in the inability to change. That thought fresh in my head, I made a promise to myself that sunny afternoon. Whenever I go out for a walk, I will find a new route to take. Challenge in mind I started my walks.

It was about a week and a half later that I started to get a bit worried. "There are only so many ways that you can walk around your neighbourhood, it's just not possible to come up with new and unique routes," said my mind. I started to think that it was true and that this exercise was nice but not very practical. Upon commencing my walk that day I suddenly realized something - I always walked in the same direction. I was so habituated that my feet would just lead me in the same direction! It was only now, when I was consciously trying to seek out new walking paths that I realized this.

It's been a simple yet valuable lesson. I've come to notice that I get habituated to a certain way of thinking or feeling. It's just become my default setting, so to speak and I don't really realize it. Similarly, as numerous thoughts flow through our mind, it's not often that we consciously choose to think of certain things and so the same recycled ideas keep floating around. And then I wonder why I can't change certain habits! It seems silly when I think about it now.

It's been over a year since I took up this challenge and would you believe that I still unconsciously follow this challenge? Everyday when I go for my walk I now naturally pick different routes, change directions and even walk off the beaten path and wander into the grass just to prove to myself that there are indeed innumerable walking paths that I can create even within a limited environment. Truthfully speaking, that's the real lesson I've learned- it's only as limited as I make it and as I venture beyond my "usual" boundaries that I impose on myself, my eyes become open to the numerous possibilities.

A road less travelled
→ kirtaniyah sada hari

Almost everyday I take myself out on a walk in my neighbourhood. Beads in hand and Krsna's name on my lips, I wander about the various streets, paths and parks that make up the area I live in.

One afternoon last summer I was pondering a saying that I had heard (and I paraphrase): The same thoughts running around the hamster wheel of our mind, results in the inability to change. That thought fresh in my head, I made a promise to myself that sunny afternoon. Whenever I go out for a walk, I will find a new route to take. Challenge in mind I started my walks.

It was about a week and a half later that I started to get a bit worried. "There are only so many ways that you can walk around your neighbourhood, it's just not possible to come up with new and unique routes," said my mind. I started to think that it was true and that this exercise was nice but not very practical. Upon commencing my walk that day I suddenly realized something - I always walked in the same direction. I was so habituated that my feet would just lead me in the same direction! It was only now, when I was consciously trying to seek out new walking paths that I realized this.

It's been a simple yet valuable lesson. I've come to notice that I get habituated to a certain way of thinking or feeling. It's just become my default setting, so to speak and I don't really realize it. Similarly, as numerous thoughts flow through our mind, it's not often that we consciously choose to think of certain things and so the same recycled ideas keep floating around. And then I wonder why I can't change certain habits! It seems silly when I think about it now.

It's been over a year since I took up this challenge and would you believe that I still unconsciously follow this challenge? Everyday when I go for my walk I now naturally pick different routes, change directions and even walk off the beaten path and wander into the grass just to prove to myself that there are indeed innumerable walking paths that I can create even within a limited environment. Truthfully speaking, that's the real lesson I've learned- it's only as limited as I make it and as I venture beyond my "usual" boundaries that I impose on myself, my eyes become open to the numerous possibilities.