If because of physical pain we can’t come for the morning program, are we listening to our mind?
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Answer Podcast

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Gita 14.11 Inner illumination helps us to separate observation from evaluation
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Answer Podcast

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Seminar By Bhakti Charu Swami – 10 Aspects Of Srimad Bhagavatam
Bhakti Charu Swami

Recently Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj gave seminar on the “Ten aspects of Srimad Bhagavatam” in New Vrindavan last weekend for the Festival of Inspiration. Maharaj gave a wonderful and very systematic presentation on the ten aspects of Bhagavatam and through the seminar established Srimad Bhagavatam...

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Dealing with addiction
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Hare KrishnaBy Dina Krishna Das

We all have attachments in this material world. The secret of success is to dovetail these attachments to Krishna. This is easy said, than done. However, if you have access to a mature devotee, then the doors of detachment will start to open into the garden of Bhakti. We have five senses which are controlled by the mind, anyone of these senses can be captured by the illusory nature we live in. When one goes through a phase of addiction, it is a way to escape from the realities of life. We can see in the UK that binge drinking is a major problem for the local councils to handle. Thousands upon thousands of young men and women are heavily intoxicating their bodies during the evening within the pubs. Why? Because it is a source of pleasure, it is a way to relax; it is a way to forget the problems of life. This material world is full of miseries as Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita. Even if you are rich, famous, intelligent, etc, there will always be suffering. Continue reading "Dealing with addiction
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“Tiger or President – Full of Anxiety”
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Hare KrishnaBy His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Just like here in this planet we have got presidents in each country. So now there are so many presidents. Formerly even on this planet there was one president. They are trying to be united. The United Nation organization, they want to unite. For the last twenty years the United Nations are trying to unite, but the result is we are disunited. Continue reading "“Tiger or President – Full of Anxiety”
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Jaipur Yatra ~ City of Victory
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Hare KrishnaBy Chandan Yatra Das

One time, Jiva Gosvami heard a flute playing, and then Damodar called out and said, “Jiva! Come; I am playing the flute for you.” And Jiva Gosvami came to the altar and there he saw Damodar dancing! The Deity of Damodar was dancing - His three fold bending form playing upon His flute beautiful, sweet music for the pleasure of His devotee. Jiva Gosvami saw the beautiful form of Damodar, whose eyes were like lotus flowers. His head was decorated with a peacock feather, a garland of beautiful forest flowers was around His neck, and lovely ornaments decorated His body. He was dancing and singing, playing sweet, sweet melodies on His flute for His devotee. Jiva Gosvami fell unconscious in ecstasy, and when he came back to consciousness, he could only cry in ecstatic love. These were some of the pastimes that Sri Jiva Gosvami performed with Sri Damodar, who is worshiped here. Continue reading "Jaipur Yatra ~ City of Victory
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To be satisfied
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 19 May 2017, Radhadesh, Belgium, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.1.8)

The Bhagavad-gita says that there is austerity of the body, austerity of speech and austerity of the mind. One of the austerities of the mind is to be satisfied. This is interesting. How is it an austerity to be satisfied?

It means that when everything is proper, when all the proper arrangements are made and when things are favourable in spiritual life, then one has to stop his mind from still finding fault. One just has to be satisfied! This is the austerity of the mind – to be satisfied. This is a big thing, this is our biggest austerity.

Srila Prabhupada already made the Hare Krsna movement and that makes everything right. Now our problem is that we just have to be satisfied while we are in it. This is the biggest austerity, bigger than standing on one leg in the forest!

For the love of wisdom
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Philosophy – from the Greek words:

philo – love of, affinity for;

sophos – wisdom.

Philosophy – the love of wisdom

Wisdom – from the Old Norse visdomr – the ability to think and act utilising knowledge, experience, understanding, discernment, insight and common sense – coupled with just judgment as to action.

Philosophy means the love of wisdom, the ability to separate truth from error, reality from illusion, and the subsequent discernment as to correct action. Professional philosophers use the word in specific ways according to which type of reality and illusion they are talking about.

A philosophical discussion on values in human behaviour such as what is right and wrong, or what actions are blameworthy or praiseworthy is known as Ethics.

When philosophy deals with the question of value in arts, such as whether something is beautiful or tasteless, it is known as Aesthetics.  The philosophy of art is concerned with judgements of sense, taste, the emotions that art generates within the beholder, and standards of beauty. Both of these examinations of truth pertaining to values come under the umbrella term Axiology.

An attempt by the philosopher to codify the rules of rational thought is known as Logic. Logicians explore the structure of arguments that preserve truth or allow the optimal extraction of knowledge from evidence. Logic is one of the primary tools philosophers use in their inquiries; the precision of logic helps them to cope with the subtlety of philosophical problems and the often misleading nature of conversational language.

To be a logical philosopher means to not be swayed by emotionally appealing arguments to the detriment of the actual truth. For anything to be accepted as truth, the philosopher first has to ask the question: “Is it logical for me to accept this proposition?”

The study of methods to establish the truth separate from human error and to therefore understand how to verify evidence is known as Epistemology. This type of philosopher studies knowledge itself, the origin and structure of knowledge, and the limits of human knowledge. The main enquiry is to ask how we really know what we say we know, or “What kind of evidence do I need to accept this as true?”

When we have fully examined how we get to know reality, and turn our attention to the nature of existence itself, we will be in the territory of Metaphysics. Metaphysics is the study of the nature of things. Metaphysicians ask what kinds of things exist, and what they are like. They reason about such things as whether or not people have free will, in what sense abstract objects can be said to exist, what is the brain/mind/self and the nature of consciousness, and whether or not there is an ultimate reality or God.

‘Indian Philosophy’

If philosophy is the pure human spirit of enquiry into what is real, true, good or beautiful, then it cannot be divided up by geography or history. And yet in ordinary conversation we do speak of Greek philosophy or 20th century philosophers. We also speak of Catholic or Jewish philosophy, as if it was an entirely separate category of search for truth, involving only those of a particular faith group.

In reality, all attempts to discern reality as separate from illusion are one, whoever is making the effort and wherever they are situated in the world or whatever point in history. Conventional speech alone presses us to define a philosophy in a particular way.

The philosophical rigour of great thinkers in India was already well established centuries before the likes of Aristotle and Socrates. They did not refer to themselves as Hindu philosophers, merely deep thinkers who grappled with the main questions of existence. Their capability for abstract thought was immense. They may not be well known to the West, but their conclusions are every bit as logical, although expressed in the ancient language of Sanskrit rather than Greek, German or English.

One great mediaeval philosopher by the name of Madhva was a logician. When he wrote his philosophical commentary to the Vedanta Sutra, there were already twenty-one other historical commentaries on the same text. In developing his logic, Madhva reasoned that since knowledge meant both an object and a subject, a knower and a known, there must be an individual reality and a universal reality, not merely a unitary reality. He put forward the concept that the universe was real and that the individual self within the universe was real. That there are a multiplicity of selves and a singular universe inferred some relation between the selves, and the selves and the universe. He reasoned that there must be an independent principle, a super-consciousness, to which all the individual expressions of consciousness must be connected:

“The fact of knowledge is indisputable. As there can be no knowledge without a knower, a known or knowable object, the reality of the knower and the objects of knowledge must be accepted. Even though we make mistakes, the possibility of knowledge has still to be admitted.”

sri-jayatirtha

The great logical philosopher Jayatirtha

His student, Jayatirtha, wrote in his book of logic, the Tattvasankhyana Tika:

“The independent principle is that which does not depend on any other for its own nature and existence, self-awareness or for becoming an object of knowledge to the selves and for the free and unfettered exercise of its own powers”

The philosophical enquiries of the Indian philosophers led them into an area of knowledge which today we would term Theology, the study of theos or God. Although theology is considered today to be a separate discipline from philosophy, one more interested in sectarian religious dogma than scientific examination of the truth, the ancient Indian philosophers saw no such hard distinction. They simply saw that their line of enquiry into the ultimate reality led them to the very reasonable conclusion that there existed an independent reality that had unlimited awareness and volition, and the infinitesimal consciousness of the limitless number of individuals was somehow connected and given sustenance by this one entity.

But if this was true, and to understand that truth was to be situated in wisdom, the next step would be to act in the light of that Truth. And a modern thinker would say that this is the point at which philosophy ends and something called religion begins.

 

 

 

 


Can thinking positively create a brighter future?
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Answer Podcast

Transcribed by: Keshavagopal Das

Question: Can thinking positively create a brighter future?

Answer: There are two extremes. One is to think that our thoughts alone determine the future. There are books which almost make our mind as the controller of our destiny. For example, if I desire to have a car then I will have that car. Now basically, this is thinking that we are God. Certainly, by our thoughts alone, we cannot get whatever we want. That is not true. The other extreme is that our thoughts do not matter at all. That is also not true. Just as an archer has to properly use the resources (eyes, hands) with him to shoot the target, similarly mind is also a resource which needs to be used properly. If the mind is thinking always that we are not going to hit, then such negativity can sabotage us. Krishna talks about such habitual negativity as a characteristic of the mode of ignorance. In Gita, Krishna said that such determination is in the mode of ignorance where one is day dreaming, one is lamenting, one is habitually morose, one is gloomy. Such thinking is unhealthy.

Our negative thoughts can shape results negatively. This is something we all observe. Even in devotional circles, we observe this. When Srila Prabhupada went to the west, his godbrothers did not think that the prophecy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu can be fulfilled. However, Srila Prabhupada did not think like that. He was confident, he attempted and became successful. However, at the same time we also need to understand that thoughts alone are not the only factor.

Gita 18.16 talks about five factors of actions. adhishṭhanam tatha karta karaṇam ca pṛthag-vidham vividhash cha pṛithak cheshṭa daivam chaivatra panchamam. One of the factors is cheshta i.e. endeavor. Our thoughts will determine how much we endeavor. If I think that I am not going to succeed, why should I waste my time in endeavoring. So, our attitude does matter. However, many self-help books guide us thinking that attitude alone does matter. Attitude does not change realities. Attitude can shape realities. However, if I think that I will never grow old, I will never die, I will never have disease, such realities are not going to change.

End of transcription.

Gita 16.11 Use developed human consciousness to decrease material fears, not increase them
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Indian culture festival in Prague (Album with photos) Srila…
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Indian culture festival in Prague (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s transcendental mission is to distribute love of Godhead to everyone. Anyone who accepts God as the Supreme can take to the process of chanting Hare Krishna and become a lover of God. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 4.41 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/i1wFlo

Iskcon Wellington Celebrates H.H. Subhag Swami’s Visit After Many Years
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Hare KrishnaBy ISKCON Wellington

A lot has changed since H.H. Subhag Swami’s last visited the Wellington ISKCON temple many years ago. But the one thing that remains unchanged is the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and his disciples, H.H. Subhag Swami Maharaj being one of them. Initiated by Srila Prabhupada himself in 1971, H.H. Subhag Swami has since served Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission and vision from Sridham Mayapur for the last 40 years out of his 46 years in ISKCON. Continue reading "Iskcon Wellington Celebrates H.H. Subhag Swami’s Visit After Many Years
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