Planet ISKCON

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Kapila turned 10 today. Ten years of being a mother gone by in a flash. I am excited and a bit nervous to see what the next ten years will bring for my oldest child. My goodness, how time flies...

We started out the day with birthday pancakes for breakfast. I knew it was going to be a very busy day so we woke Kapila up a bit earlier and let him open his presents and blow out his candles before school.

I picked him up from school at 11am and took him out for lunch at Whole Foods. Then we went book shopping at the thrift shop. Turned around and picked Rasaraj up from school and picked Narada up from Radhanuga's. Got home around 3:15p. Homework and a tiny bit of down time. Headed to the temple for music practice with all the kids at 4:30p (they are practicing for a performance on Friday for my gurudev's Vyasapuja/birthday). Got home at 5:25p. Squeezed in dinner (rice, broccoli/carrot/tofu stir fry, yellow mung dal) that I cooked earlier. Left for Kapila's soccer game at 5:45p. Game at 6p. Back home at 7:15p. Cupcakes and milk then bedtime.

Reading the card from Grandpa and Grandma Presents from mom and dad-new japa bag, a movie he loves, and his very own Bhagavad Gita
An amazon.com giftcard from Auntie, Uncle, Jacob, and Timmy. Awesome!!!
An awesome Lego set from Radhanuga and family
Making a wish over his birthday pancakes ;0) I bet he was praying to win his soccer game :)

New sheets from Grandma & Grandpa-Star Wars!
Cupcakes for after soccer
Oops, caught daddy eating one before soccer
Of course Narada had to have one also
6pm soccer game (they won 4-1...undefeated so far!) He's waving to Saranam who came to watch

Kapila turned 10 today. Ten years of being a mother gone by in a flash. I am excited and a bit nervous to see what the next ten years will bring for my oldest child. My goodness, how time flies...

We started out the day with birthday pancakes for breakfast. I knew it was going to be a very busy day so we woke Kapila up a bit earlier and let him open his presents and blow out his candles before school.

I picked him up from school at 11am and took him out for lunch at Whole Foods. Then we went book shopping at the thrift shop. Turned around and picked Rasaraj up from school and picked Narada up from Radhanuga's. Got home around 3:15p. Homework and a tiny bit of down time. Headed to the temple for music practice with all the kids at 4:30p (they are practicing for a performance on Friday for my gurudev's Vyasapuja/birthday). Got home at 5:25p. Squeezed in dinner (rice, broccoli/carrot/tofu stir fry, yellow mung dal) that I cooked earlier. Left for Kapila's soccer game at 5:45p. Game at 6p. Back home at 7:15p. Cupcakes and milk then bedtime.

Reading the card from Grandpa and Grandma Presents from mom and dad-new japa bag, a movie he loves, and his very own Bhagavad Gita
An amazon.com giftcard from Auntie, Uncle, Jacob, and Timmy. Awesome!!!
An awesome Lego set from Radhanuga and family
Making a wish over his birthday pancakes ;0) I bet he was praying to win his soccer game :)

New sheets from Grandma & Grandpa-Star Wars!
Cupcakes for after soccer
Oops, caught daddy eating one before soccer
Of course Narada had to have one also
6pm soccer game (they won 4-1...undefeated so far!) He's waving to Saranam who came to watch

The picture above is the same stove we have.

The picture above is the same stove we have.

This Blog has come into being for a number of reasons. Firstly, I wanted a venue where I could share my interest in Deity Worship (some people have said it verges on an obsession). Additionally it will allow me to share tips and techniques of making deity jewelry. This second reason has been an idea I have had for quite some time but have never had the technical skill to create a decent website but thanks to this blog I'll be able to share some of the techniques I have come across when making jewelry for my beloved deities Shri Shri Radha Govindaji and their friends(Laddu Gopal, Gaura-Nitai, Jaganntha, Baladeva & Subhadra, Govinda and Sadashiva Shailgram shilas, and the newest addition Lakshmi Nrsimhadev).

Eventually, in addition to the gallery of my deities on the side of the blog I plan on including a gallery of reader's deities. If you would like me to include your deities please email me your deity pictures!

This Blog has come into being for a number of reasons. Firstly, I wanted a venue where I could share my interest in Deity Worship (some people have said it verges on an obsession). Additionally it will allow me to share tips and techniques of making deity jewelry. This second reason has been an idea I have had for quite some time but have never had the technical skill to create a decent website but thanks to this blog I'll be able to share some of the techniques I have come across when making jewelry for my beloved deities Shri Shri Radha Govindaji and their friends(Laddu Gopal, Gaura-Nitai, Jaganntha, Baladeva & Subhadra, Govinda and Sadashiva Shailgram shilas, and the newest addition Lakshmi Nrsimhadev).

Eventually, in addition to the gallery of my deities on the side of the blog I plan on including a gallery of reader's deities. If you would like me to include your deities please email me your deity pictures!

Here's my only picture of him. I'm not one to collect pictures and all of the ones my mom has are not digital. This was around four years ago when he was eight.

Here's my only picture of him. I'm not one to collect pictures and all of the ones my mom has are not digital. This was around four years ago when he was eight.

Today would have been my baby brother's twelfth birthday. He passed away a little over two months ago in a car accident. Here is something I wrote about him based on some notes my mother gave me, which I also read at the funeral:

Oluwaninse Abhay Charan Adeyemi was born on September 23, 1996 in Santa Monica, CA to Gayatri (Adrienne) Liberman and Ayo Adeyemi. His father named him Oluwaninse, a Nigerian name meaning “God has made it happen” due to the unexpected nature of his birth to parents at such advanced ages. His mother named him Abhay Charan, meaning “One who is fearless at the feet of the Lord” after her spiritual master A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. From the beginning he showed how fitting these names were.

Olu was part of this world, but at the same time far beyond it. He had trouble fitting in to the stringent rules and regulations of the system. He always wanted to run free and be outside. His favorite part of school was on the playground and he got in trouble many a time for riding his bike around his town-home complex, or for letting his dogs run without a leash. He had great love for animals and went to great lengths in making sure they were well fed, walked and groomed, even going himself on a regular basis to the nearby pet store to buy the needful and look at the other many pets he hoped to one day have. He wouldn’t go to sleep until both dogs and the cat were in his bed with him (oftentimes against their will).

Olu was old in his years, not like normal children his age, an old soul, if you will. When you talked with him he spoke in complete sentences and was always very sensitive and empathetic to the needs of those around him. One time his sister Manjari was upset and left the room at a family dinner. Olu immediately got up and went after her to find out what was wrong and proceeded to spend an hour talking with her and helping her to feel better. He was only six years old at the time. One of his best friends father, his neighbor Roger thanks Olu for treating him with dignity and respect when he was going through difficult times and no one else would. This, he said, helped him to turn around his life.

Olu was fiercely independent and fearless. He rode his scooter or bike everywhere around the neighborhood and beyond, especially to the pet store (as before mentioned) and to the 99 cents store to buy mostly candy and toys. He had so many friends from all walks of life and was comfortable in all different settings. He loved to cook and bake and would make cookies, brownies and cakes and his favorite macaroni and cheese. In fact, practically these were the only things he would eat.

Although he sometimes struggled in academics, he was gifted in math and his teacher commented how he would figure out the answers before even her. He loved to take things apart and put them back together and his grandmother Babalee felt for sure he would one day become an engineer or architect. At a certain point he was placed in special-ed but became the natural leader of the kids there, acting as a bridge connecting them to those in the rest of the school. He had much help from many teachers and after-school caregivers who fought for him to get into the special day classroom where they were finally able to see how bright he really was.

Olu was involved with sports like soccer and baseball where he was one of the fastest runners. His first soccer time was fittingly called the Cheetahs. He sometimes had trouble with the organized aspects of sports and would rather be playing on his own chasing the cat or something, but eventually he began to adjust and excel. One of his favorite forms of physical exercise was dance. He would learn popular dances and do them so smoothly and expertly, his favorite being Soulja Boy’s Tell’em. He learned from his father African drumming at a young age and had a great sense of rhythm. He loved video games and had many friends on one online game called Ruinscape, and of course loved cartoons. He was also a Boy Scout for five years.

He had so much energy and determination. He could play for hours and hours and never get tired. His mother can attest how hard it was to get Olu to bed. He was just so full of life. And his smile. Who can forget his beautiful smile? How like the sun it would light up the room.

This past year he was able to visit many different places like Hawaii, meet relatives in St. Louis, and spend five weeks in Africa attending his grandfather’s funeral and discovering his African roots by meeting all of his family from his father’s side including his three older sisters. There he was anointed crown prince of his father’s Yoruba tribe.

Although Olu is physically no more, he continues in our hearts always, and his soul is eternally continuing on his path. God made it happen and now God has taken him away. Wherever he is now, we know that he shall always remain fearless at the feet of the Lord.

Today would have been my baby brother's twelfth birthday. He passed away a little over two months ago in a car accident. Here is something I wrote about him based on some notes my mother gave me, which I also read at the funeral:

Oluwaninse Abhay Charan Adeyemi was born on September 23, 1996 in Santa Monica, CA to Gayatri (Adrienne) Liberman and Ayo Adeyemi. His father named him Oluwaninse, a Nigerian name meaning “God has made it happen” due to the unexpected nature of his birth to parents at such advanced ages. His mother named him Abhay Charan, meaning “One who is fearless at the feet of the Lord” after her spiritual master A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. From the beginning he showed how fitting these names were.

Olu was part of this world, but at the same time far beyond it. He had trouble fitting in to the stringent rules and regulations of the system. He always wanted to run free and be outside. His favorite part of school was on the playground and he got in trouble many a time for riding his bike around his town-home complex, or for letting his dogs run without a leash. He had great love for animals and went to great lengths in making sure they were well fed, walked and groomed, even going himself on a regular basis to the nearby pet store to buy the needful and look at the other many pets he hoped to one day have. He wouldn’t go to sleep until both dogs and the cat were in his bed with him (oftentimes against their will).

Olu was old in his years, not like normal children his age, an old soul, if you will. When you talked with him he spoke in complete sentences and was always very sensitive and empathetic to the needs of those around him. One time his sister Manjari was upset and left the room at a family dinner. Olu immediately got up and went after her to find out what was wrong and proceeded to spend an hour talking with her and helping her to feel better. He was only six years old at the time. One of his best friends father, his neighbor Roger thanks Olu for treating him with dignity and respect when he was going through difficult times and no one else would. This, he said, helped him to turn around his life.

Olu was fiercely independent and fearless. He rode his scooter or bike everywhere around the neighborhood and beyond, especially to the pet store (as before mentioned) and to the 99 cents store to buy mostly candy and toys. He had so many friends from all walks of life and was comfortable in all different settings. He loved to cook and bake and would make cookies, brownies and cakes and his favorite macaroni and cheese. In fact, practically these were the only things he would eat.

Although he sometimes struggled in academics, he was gifted in math and his teacher commented how he would figure out the answers before even her. He loved to take things apart and put them back together and his grandmother Babalee felt for sure he would one day become an engineer or architect. At a certain point he was placed in special-ed but became the natural leader of the kids there, acting as a bridge connecting them to those in the rest of the school. He had much help from many teachers and after-school caregivers who fought for him to get into the special day classroom where they were finally able to see how bright he really was.

Olu was involved with sports like soccer and baseball where he was one of the fastest runners. His first soccer time was fittingly called the Cheetahs. He sometimes had trouble with the organized aspects of sports and would rather be playing on his own chasing the cat or something, but eventually he began to adjust and excel. One of his favorite forms of physical exercise was dance. He would learn popular dances and do them so smoothly and expertly, his favorite being Soulja Boy’s Tell’em. He learned from his father African drumming at a young age and had a great sense of rhythm. He loved video games and had many friends on one online game called Ruinscape, and of course loved cartoons. He was also a Boy Scout for five years.

He had so much energy and determination. He could play for hours and hours and never get tired. His mother can attest how hard it was to get Olu to bed. He was just so full of life. And his smile. Who can forget his beautiful smile? How like the sun it would light up the room.

This past year he was able to visit many different places like Hawaii, meet relatives in St. Louis, and spend five weeks in Africa attending his grandfather’s funeral and discovering his African roots by meeting all of his family from his father’s side including his three older sisters. There he was anointed crown prince of his father’s Yoruba tribe.

Although Olu is physically no more, he continues in our hearts always, and his soul is eternally continuing on his path. God made it happen and now God has taken him away. Wherever he is now, we know that he shall always remain fearless at the feet of the Lord.

New Goloka after school program. These pictures are from last Friday which was the second week into the new program. They meet three Fridays every month during the school year. They begin with group sadhana led by Mother Kamalini: chanting mantras and japa together and hearing a story about Krishna. Then they move onto various activities.

The first week the girls went into the kitchen with Gaurangi Priya to cook sweets for the deities. The boys had a tour of the pujari rooms and learned how to assemble an arati tray. They also had an arati and kirtan in the temple room.

Last week after the group sadhana both the boys and girls went into the kitchen to make sweets for Sri Sri Radha-Golokananda. The boys made fancy laddus (toasted chickpea flour fudge) with the help of Gaurangi Priya and I helped the girls make cardamom sugar cookies. Kapila and Vrndavan also helped my husband out with making burfi (milk fudge) for the Lord. It was so much fun and I'm looking forward to helping again in the future.

My sincere thanks to Kalindi and Gaurangi Priya for nurturing and developing this idea into a reality for our children. Thank you!!!

New Goloka after school program. These pictures are from last Friday which was the second week into the new program. They meet three Fridays every month during the school year. They begin with group sadhana led by Mother Kamalini: chanting mantras and japa together and hearing a story about Krishna. Then they move onto various activities.

The first week the girls went into the kitchen with Gaurangi Priya to cook sweets for the deities. The boys had a tour of the pujari rooms and learned how to assemble an arati tray. They also had an arati and kirtan in the temple room.

Last week after the group sadhana both the boys and girls went into the kitchen to make sweets for Sri Sri Radha-Golokananda. The boys made fancy laddus (toasted chickpea flour fudge) with the help of Gaurangi Priya and I helped the girls make cardamom sugar cookies. Kapila and Vrndavan also helped my husband out with making burfi (milk fudge) for the Lord. It was so much fun and I'm looking forward to helping again in the future.

My sincere thanks to Kalindi and Gaurangi Priya for nurturing and developing this idea into a reality for our children. Thank you!!!

Here is my new web site.

www.bchandra.com

It is still “in the works” but it is usable for now. Please tell me what you think.

-bcd

This past Saturday we finally made it to the beach. My husband had been suffering all summer, desperately wanting to get to the ocean. We finally decided the night before to pack up and head to the beach for one day. It was wonderful!

This past Saturday we finally made it to the beach. My husband had been suffering all summer, desperately wanting to get to the ocean. We finally decided the night before to pack up and head to the beach for one day. It was wonderful!

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

In this talk at Gaura Yoga I give some practical advice on how to give an interesting and inspirational Krishna conscious presentation.

How to give a presentation

Download the talk as an enhanced podcast (slides synced to audio) in AAC/M4A format (35 minutes). This file is playable in iTunes or on iPods.

Or, if you can't play or don't like Apple's media formats, here is the audio of the talk in MP3 format.

You can also download the slides I used as a PDF.

In this talk at Gaura Yoga I give some practical advice on how to give an interesting and inspirational Krishna conscious presentation.

How to give a presentation

Download the talk as an enhanced podcast (slides synced to audio) in AAC/M4A format (35 minutes). This file is playable in iTunes or on iPods.

Or, if you can't play or don't like Apple's media formats, here is the audio of the talk in MP3 format.

You can also download the slides I used as a PDF.

Today is Radhastami, the appearance day of Srimati Radharani who is the eternal consort of Sri Krishna. There was a wonderful program at the temple. Arati, an excellent class given by Mother Krishna Priya, abhishek, beautiful bhajans, and a delicious feast of Krishna prasadam. Radhe Radhe!

Today is Radhastami, the appearance day of Srimati Radharani who is the eternal consort of Sri Krishna. There was a wonderful program at the temple. Arati, an excellent class given by Mother Krishna Priya, abhishek, beautiful bhajans, and a delicious feast of Krishna prasadam. Radhe Radhe!

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

These are some videos recorded by my husband and Madan Gopal prabhu on Janmastami. You can see more videos on Youtube posted under the username "bvdasa". If you view the videos directly on the Youtube site then you have the option of viewing them in high quality. Just click on the link under the view counter which is just under the video to the right.

New Goloka Bhajan Band. Gaurangi-vocals, Govinda-bass guitar, Jagannath-keyboard,
Mahamantra-guitar/vocals

These are some videos recorded by my husband and Madan Gopal prabhu on Janmastami. You can see more videos on Youtube posted under the username "bvdasa". If you view the videos directly on the Youtube site then you have the option of viewing them in high quality. Just click on the link under the view counter which is just under the video to the right.

New Goloka Bhajan Band. Gaurangi-vocals, Govinda-bass guitar, Jagannath-keyboard,
Mahamantra-guitar/vocals

New Goloka kid's play


Prema Natya Vidyalaya dance school








This was an awesome Odissi dance performance of the Dasavatar/ten avatars of Vishnu~

New Goloka kid's play


Prema Natya Vidyalaya dance school








This was an awesome Odissi dance performance of the Dasavatar/ten avatars of Vishnu~

It took over 4 years, but it has finally happened. I have completed my PhD in Computer Science at the University of Manchester, UK. That's right: I'm now officially Doctor Julian M. Seidenberg / Candidasa dasa.

You can download and read my PhD thesis, if you like.

It took over 4 years, but it has finally happened. I have completed my PhD in Computer Science at the University of Manchester, UK. That's right: I'm now officially Doctor Julian M. Seidenberg / Candidasa dasa.

You can download and read my PhD thesis, if you like.

This PhD degree has been the greatest austerity I've ever undertaken. It was often frustrating, demotivating, felt like it would never end, caused my body to frequently fall ill and resulted in a huge amount of worry and pain.

However, the austerity of this PhD have been child's play compared with what a sage named Markandeya Rsi went through. (His story is told in the 12th Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam. I'm recalling it in my own words here):

Markandeya was meditating on the Supreme Personality of Godhead in his small heritage for many years. He was very strictly and sincerely meditating. So much so, in fact, that Indra, the King of Heaven (aka Zeus), became worried that this Markandeya might become eligible to take over his position soon. Indra therefore sent a team of people to break Markandeya's meditation.

He sent Cupid along with the best of the heavenly singers (Gandharvas), the most beautiful of the heavenly exotic dancers (Apsaras), the season of spring, a gentle cool breeze, intoxication personified and greed personified (the mode of passion and the false ego of thinking in terms of "I" and "mine"). A celebrate monk's worst nightmare. All these together were to create a situation where Markandeya would be tempted to stop his meditation and enjoy materially.

However, faced with these allurements, Markandeya wasn't even slightly shaken. He remained completely steady and fixed in his worship.

Markandeya Rsi's austerities were so powerful, in fact, that the members of Indra's assault team began to burn-up within (similar to what happen when Kapila Muni was attacked by the sons of Sagara who thought he had stolen a sacrificial horse).

Eventually, while Markandeya was meditating in this way, the Nara-Narayana avatar came and visited him. Markandeya immediately recognized the Supreme Lord and worshiped him with expert poetry.

The sage explained: Krishna is like a spider, He creates everything within the universe like a spider creates his web, and then He retracts it all back within Himself. Through Krishna one can conquer material misery, death and even time itself. Time is so powerful that even Lord Brahma (the oldest and most intelligent person in the universe) fears it, but Krishna's devotee need not fear time. The devotee knows that his self is not the body. The modes of nature generally bind us to the material world, but the devotee knows how to use the mode of goodness as a launch pad to blast himself off on a trajectory back to Godhead. Because of their perverted and sinful activities, materialists cannot understand Krishna. So material philosophers therefore come up with so many different theories, doctrines and religions. These are created to match their particular mix of the modes of nature (satva-, raja- and tama-guna), but have no real substance.

After hearing this nice prayer by Markandeya, Nara-Narayana offered him any benediction he might desire. The sage answered that just seeing his worshipable Lord was all he desired. He could imagine no greater gift. However, he was curious about the illusory energy (maya). He asked to understand how it could bewilder so many people into thinking material life was the one true reality.

The Lord ruefully promised to fulfill his wish and then disappeared.

Markandeya went on meditating for a few years when suddenly strong wind started to blow. Soon after, it started raining very heavily. The intense rains caused severe flooding. This hurricane went on continuously for many years. The intense weather eventually caused the entire surface of the earth to become flooded. Practically all species died off in this intense atmosphere. Gigantic sharks roamed the wild waters. The flooding even spread to the higher-dimensional space of the heavenly planets. It was the devastation at the end of the day of Brahma.

Markandeya was swimming and drifting throughout all of this. He lost all sense of orientation, he felt intense hunger and thirst, he got attacked by sharks, he felt extreme pain from various injuries, he was completely exhausted continuously fighting for his life, he frequently fell ill, he felt lamentation, happiness (when he temporarily escaped some danger), fear and misery. This went on for many, many years, all throughout the night of Brahma (4.32 billion years).

After an extremely long time drifting in the waters of devastation, Markandeya spotted a small island with a banyan tree growing on it. In one corner of the tree he saw a young child. As he swam closer to the island he noticed the wonderful beauty of the child. He noted his blackish-blue skin, wonderful jewelry, shark-shaped earrings, auspicious bodily markings and nice cosmetic decorations.

Then, suddenly, the child inhaled and began to suck everything surrounding him into his mouth. Markandeya also got sucked into the mouth of this wondrous child. Within the mouth he saw his old hermitage, the waters of devastation, the heavenly planets, the creation and destruction of the universe, everything, the entire universal manifestation; he even saw time itself, past, present and future, all at once. The child then exhaled and Markandeya found himself spat out back into the waters of devastation.

As he once again began to struggle to keep his head above the waters, he suddenly found himself transported back to his old heritage, as if nothing had happened. He then realized: "oh ... so this is the power of the illusory energy!".

And I realize: a PhD is nothing compared to that.

This PhD degree has been the greatest austerity I've ever undertaken. It was often frustrating, demotivating, felt like it would never end, caused my body to frequently fall ill and resulted in a huge amount of worry and pain.

However, the austerity of this PhD have been child's play compared with what a sage named Markandeya Rsi went through. (His story is told in the 12th Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam. I'm recalling it in my own words here):

Markandeya was meditating on the Supreme Personality of Godhead in his small heritage for many years. He was very strictly and sincerely meditating. So much so, in fact, that Indra, the King of Heaven (aka Zeus), became worried that this Markandeya might become eligible to take over his position soon. Indra therefore sent a team of people to break Markandeya's meditation.

He sent Cupid along with the best of the heavenly singers (Gandharvas), the most beautiful of the heavenly exotic dancers (Apsaras), the season of spring, a gentle cool breeze, intoxication personified and greed personified (the mode of passion and the false ego of thinking in terms of "I" and "mine"). A celebrate monk's worst nightmare. All these together were to create a situation where Markandeya would be tempted to stop his meditation and enjoy materially.

However, faced with these allurements, Markandeya wasn't even slightly shaken. He remained completely steady and fixed in his worship.

Markandeya Rsi's austerities were so powerful, in fact, that the members of Indra's assault team began to burn-up within (similar to what happen when Kapila Muni was attacked by the sons of Sagara who thought he had stolen a sacrificial horse).

Eventually, while Markandeya was meditating in this way, the Nara-Narayana avatar came and visited him. Markandeya immediately recognized the Supreme Lord and worshiped him with expert poetry.

The sage explained: Krishna is like a spider, He creates everything within the universe like a spider creates his web, and then He retracts it all back within Himself. Through Krishna one can conquer material misery, death and even time itself. Time is so powerful that even Lord Brahma (the oldest and most intelligent person in the universe) fears it, but Krishna's devotee need not fear time. The devotee knows that his self is not the body. The modes of nature generally bind us to the material world, but the devotee knows how to use the mode of goodness as a launch pad to blast himself off on a trajectory back to Godhead. Because of their perverted and sinful activities, materialists cannot understand Krishna. So material philosophers therefore come up with so many different theories, doctrines and religions. These are created to match their particular mix of the modes of nature (satva-, raja- and tama-guna), but have no real substance.

After hearing this nice prayer by Markandeya, Nara-Narayana offered him any benediction he might desire. The sage answered that just seeing his worshipable Lord was all he desired. He could imagine no greater gift. However, he was curious about the illusory energy (maya). He asked to understand how it could bewilder so many people into thinking material life was the one true reality.

The Lord ruefully promised to fulfill his wish and then disappeared.

Markandeya went on meditating for a few years when suddenly strong wind started to blow. Soon after, it started raining very heavily. The intense rains caused severe flooding. This hurricane went on continuously for many years. The intense weather eventually caused the entire surface of the earth to become flooded. Practically all species died off in this intense atmosphere. Gigantic sharks roamed the wild waters. The flooding even spread to the higher-dimensional space of the heavenly planets. It was the devastation at the end of the day of Brahma.

Markandeya was swimming and drifting throughout all of this. He lost all sense of orientation, he felt intense hunger and thirst, he got attacked by sharks, he felt extreme pain from various injuries, he was completely exhausted continuously fighting for his life, he frequently fell ill, he felt lamentation, happiness (when he temporarily escaped some danger), fear and misery. This went on for many, many years, all throughout the night of Brahma (4.32 billion years).

After an extremely long time drifting in the waters of devastation, Markandeya spotted a small island with a banyan tree growing on it. In one corner of the tree he saw a young child. As he swam closer to the island he noticed the wonderful beauty of the child. He noted his blackish-blue skin, wonderful jewelry, shark-shaped earrings, auspicious bodily markings and nice cosmetic decorations.

Then, suddenly, the child inhaled and began to suck everything surrounding him into his mouth. Markandeya also got sucked into the mouth of this wondrous child. Within the mouth he saw his old hermitage, the waters of devastation, the heavenly planets, the creation and destruction of the universe, everything, the entire universal manifestation; he even saw time itself, past, present and future, all at once. The child then exhaled and Markandeya found himself spat out back into the waters of devastation.

As he once again began to struggle to keep his head above the waters, he suddenly found himself transported back to his old heritage, as if nothing had happened. He then realized: "oh ... so this is the power of the illusory energy!".

And I realize: a PhD is nothing compared to that.

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

There are so many different religions and spiritual systems out there. Which should you choose and why?

In this talk at the Gaura Yoga centre in Wellington, New Zealand I give some criteria by which one can judge how bona fide a spiritual system is. I conclude by explaining how well Krishna consciousness does when judged by these criteria.

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