Indian basmati rice’s increased production is contributing…
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Indian basmati rice’s increased production is contributing to the problems of the Yamuna river.
Recently, a high court in India declared the Yamuna river a living entity, bestowing on her the same legal rights as a person. Many shared the news on social media, excited about this seemingly major move towards cleaning up the heavily polluted river, once called “dead” by the United Nations.
But a closer look shows that the development, while a nice gesture, won’t actually achieve much.
“This status was only given by a court in the Northern state of Uttarakhand, where the Yamuna is already pristine enough to drink and there’s not much pollution,” says Krisztina Danka, Ph.D. (Krishna-lila Dasi), director of the upcoming documentary The Stolen River. “The problem is that according to Indian law every state has a right to all its natural resources, including rivers. So this ruling has absolutely no bearing on the other states further down the river – such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh – where most of the pollution is actually taking place. Thus it doesn’t solve the problem!”
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/CoKHtH

Ramanuja Swamir Upadesh – Instructions of Sri Ramanujacarya
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Hare KrishnaBy Brijbasi das

Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu Himself states the following in “Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya” (16.54): “From Ramanuja I take two essential principles – unalloyed devotion and service to the devotees of the Lord.” To provide some knowledge of the Sri-sampradaya to the residents of Bengal Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura translated some verses from the section of “Prapannamrta” where Ramanuja instructs his followers and then published them in his “Sajjana-tosani” (Vol.7, numbers 3 and 4, June-July 1895) under a title “Ramanuja Swamir Upadesh”, “Instructions of Ramanuja Swami”. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur quoted some of these verses in his book “Brahmana and Vaisnava”. We present here some of his instructions with the English translation of Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Bengali translation-cum-explanation. Continue reading "Ramanuja Swamir Upadesh – Instructions of Sri Ramanujacarya
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Sweet words
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Hare KrishnaBy Mahatma Das

“Sweet words cannot lift someone more than the best medicine whereas no weapon can destroy someone as much as harsh words” In the Srimad Bhagavatam there's a story in the Daksha yajna Lord Shiva appeared and Lord Shiva was a meditation when Daksha came and he didn't stand up and Daksha was very upset that he was disrespected and he began criticizing very heavily, criticizing Lord Shiva and of course Shiva’s wife there, Sati and she became so disturbed that the Bhagavatam explains that the words of her father Daksha were like piercing arrows in her heart and so the point is that critical words can act of pierce a person's heart can destroy one and she was so destroyed that she actually killed herself. She didn't want to be related to this person anymore who had so much hatred towards her husband's that I'm associated by birth. That was it, she said okay I'm going to kill myself. So, you can imagine those words of criticism Lord Shiva caused her to kill herself. So the point is that if we criticize someone or someone that's dear to someone those words can be extremely destructive. Continue reading "Sweet words
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Nrsimha Caturdasi, Maha Sudarshana & Harinama Yajna
→ Mayapur.com

As is our annual custom, Nrsimha Caturdasi will be observed in Sridhama Mayapur as a three day festival from May 7th – 9th. The first day will be celebrated with a huge procession throughout the ISKCON Mayapur property and on the second day we will be performing a three hour long Maha Sudarshana Homa before […]

The post Nrsimha Caturdasi, Maha Sudarshana & Harinama Yajna appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Giving Human Rights to the Yamuna Is Not Enough, New Documentary Reveals
→ ISKCON News

Recently, a high court in India declared the Yamuna river a living entity, bestowing on her the same legal rights as a person. Many shared the news on social media, excited about this seemingly major move towards cleaning up the heavily polluted river, once called “dead” by the United Nations. But a closer look shows that the development, while a nice gesture, won’t actually achieve much. “This status was only given by a court in the Northern state of Uttarakhand, where the Yamuna is already pristine enough to drink, and doesn't apply to other states that actually do pollute the river and poison every living being in its vicinity,” says Krisztina Danka, PhD., director of the upcoming documentary 'The Stolen River.'

The Roles of Vaisnavis in ISKCON
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Hare KrishnaBy Radha dasi

Srila Prabhupäda was unapologetic and unequivocal in his statements that women need to be protected at all stages of their lives. Often, however, we make assumptions about what form that protection should take. There’s no evidence that Srila Prabhupäda intended “protection of women” to mean they could not perform Deity worship, i lead kirtans, ii speak in public, iii live in temple ashrams, iv or manage departments. v To accept that understanding we would have to accept that Srila Prabhupäda failed to protect Malati Devi Dasi, Silavati Devi Dasi, Yamuna Devi Dasi, and many others when he engaged them in such activities. Continue reading "The Roles of Vaisnavis in ISKCON
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Does pursuing knowledge reflect materialistic consciousness – will it keep us dissatisfied?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Podcast

The post Does pursuing knowledge reflect materialistic consciousness – will it keep us dissatisfied? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Romanticizing Reincarnation – The danger of divorcing knowledge from its purpose
→ The Spiritual Scientist

[Sunday feast lecture at Detroit Indian Center, Farmington Hills, USA]

Podcast

The post Romanticizing Reincarnation – The danger of divorcing knowledge from its purpose appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Sacred Sound 2017 (7 min video) Indradyumna Swami: Over Easter…
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Sacred Sound 2017 (7 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Over Easter weekend devotees from all over Australia, and beyond, came together at the New Govardhan community to chant and dance in ecstasy to the holy names of the Lord. No one, who was present, will ever forget the happiness and joy they experienced in each other’s association. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/L9h5e0

Easter Saturday London Harinama Sankirtan (Album with photos and…
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Easter Saturday London Harinama Sankirtan (Album with photos and video) Video clip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidcphotography2/33902896232/
alternative version in case the above doesn’t work for you:
http://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_62fHs0aE5XaDJmOFg5ajNXNjQ
Photo slideshow (please turn on sound):
http://davidc.zenfolio.com/easter_saturday_harinama_sankirtan_15042017/slideshow
Photo gallery:
http://davidc.zenfolio.com/easter_saturday_harinama_sankirtan_15042017
With best wishes,
Hare Krishna,
David

Announcement for The Spiritual Scientist app
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We just came to know that the spiritual scientist android app has some bugs and it gives barely 10% of the content published on the site. We are working to fix the bug. but till then to get updates from the spiritual scientist site, please subscribe for the email feed here https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/subscribe/

The post Announcement for The Spiritual Scientist app appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Questions and Answers about “Aham brahmāsmi”, Ego, Humility, Karma, Good Karma, Ātma, and Brahman, from chapter 13 and 8 of Gītā.
→ The Enquirer

QUESTION: If Prakriti is changeable then why can’t we change the situations that emerge for us?

You can change them.

Remember chapter 8, bhūta-bhavodbhava-karo visargaḥ karma-saṁjñitaḥ – “karma is the immediate cause of all manifestations.” You change your manifest reality by changing your karmas.

You can’t change the karmas you have already performed – so you can’t change the results they have already produced in the world. But you can change the future shape of the world.

QUESTION: If spirit doesn’t change with whatever happens in the matter then why does all Yoga practices have regulations as the first step?

It is not that matter has no effect on spirit. It is just that matter cannot permanently change the fundamental nature of what spirit is. The goal of yoga is to free spirit from matter. Therefore the yama and niyama are there to regulate its participation in matter.

QUESTION: Can the mind’s desirables be different for different individuals? Is that the reason pigs like stool and we despise it?

Of course.

But if all consciousness is same why in the first place this be so?

Again, remember the beginning of chapter 8: akṣaraṁ paramaṁ brahman – svabhāvo ‘dhyātmam ucyate. “Brahman is consciousness, but consciousness which has a particular individuality (svabhāva) is called ātma.”

We are ātma, that is why we all have different natures, and thus different karmas, and thus we produce different bodies with different desirable objects.

QUESTION: Even hunger is in the Prakriti, so that means the motivation for doing things is external to us. If that be so then how come the spirit becomes enjoyer or feels distress?

Consciousness has the nature of projecting itself into vehicles and tools of experience. Even when watching a drama, a play, or a movie, we can feel that sometimes, when the drama is very good, our own consciousness has projected itself into the character and we are crying or trembling as they would be. And we are wanting the things they would want.

QUESTION: Where does the first will come from that generates Ahamkara?

The svabhāva of ātma is the real basis of ahaṁkāra. In other words, the intrinsic individuality (svabhāva) of a conscious individual (ātma) is the real basis upon which selfish ego (ahaṁkāra) is built.

QUESTION: You explained that consciousness by its very nature is either bahirmukha or antarmukha. Bit can it also, at the very beginning, be Brahaman oriented, neither oriented towards Bhagavān [antarmukha] nor towards Maya [bahirmukha]?

Then it would not be ātma, it would be brahman. The ātma has subjective individuality as part of its inherent nature (svabhāva). There is no subjective individuality in brahman. So, consciousness that intrinsically does not identify with any subject or object is not ātma but brahman. It is not an individual entity.

QUESTION: Can you explain “nirgunatvat” a little more? You had said it means, “beyond limiting qualifiers.” But then even beyond limiting qualifiers it remains “I”, so how can being “I”  be beyond limiting?

If we explore it, we will see that a sense of “I” which is pṛthaktva (disintegrated from the whole) produces a reduction and limitation on the ātma. Conversely we can see that a sense of “I” which is integrated with the whole produces infinite expansion and non-limitation of the ātma.

QUESTION: Where does “Aham brahasmi” fit, in relation to Ahamkara and Aham-Artha ?

Ahaṁ brahmāsmi is a statement from Bṛhadāranyaka Upaniṣad, which Śankarācārya declared a “mahāvākya” (super-important statement).

It means “I am brahman.” In other words, “I am pure consciousness.”

It is an encouragement from the Upaniṣad’s for the ātma to seek something better than what can be produced in matter by its karma.

Advaita-vāda misinterprets it to mean that there is no ātma, only brahman. But this requires that they downplay the presence of two individualizing components of the sentence: the pronoun “I” (ahaṁ) and the individualised verb “I am” (asmi). Our understanding of the statement is that the ātmā will feel more at home in the antarmukha/brahman realm (“spirit”) more than it will in the bahirmukha/prakṛti realm (“matter”).

QUESTION: If humility is the first step in education, then a person in Knowledge should also be humble. Can we use this criterion to judge if someone is truly knowledgeable or is just puffed up with his education?

Certainly.

But be careful with your evaluations of others, for you may not be fit to judge. If you yourself are not humble, you may not be able to recognize true humility from counterfeit humility or might even mistake it for non-humility.

QUESTION: What could be the starting point to even comprehend the amazingly diametrically opposite qualities of root consciousness, paramatma? Can we say that his qualities are not like ours or should we comprehend them to be much beyond that of ours?

“tat-tvaṁ-asi.”
“ahaṁ brahmāsmi.”

In the face of such śruti why would you say that you are not like him? That would be a contradiction of śruti. You are like him, except that he does not have the flaws you have. He has your essential qualities, but not their flaws, because he has no ignorance.

QUESTION: Should we understand that Bhagavan has no material qualities or should we understand that He possesses trans-logical qualities?

There is no difference.

If something has “no material qualities” it means that its definition is beyond common perception. This, in turn, means that it is “trans-logical.”

Bhagavan’s qualities cannot be fully put into words, but it doesn’t mean they cannot be partially described. By partially describing them, the heart goes to him, and then, by direct experience granted by his loving connection to us, we comprehend the full Bhagavān directly, in prema.

QUESTION: If I am experiencing happiness most of the time, then how do I understand that my egoism is FLAWED? 

If you are experiencing happiness from your karma, then you must be doing good, non-egoistic things. Keep doing them. That is how good karma helps us progress.

But if you are wise, you will not find the results of karma to be very enjoyable because even when they produce their best possible results they generate fatigue and worry about protecting and maintaining the result, and require some work to create.

Vraja Kishor

www.vrajakishor.com

 


Tagged: aham brahmasmi, Atma, Bhagavad Gita, Brahman, ego, Gita, humility, karma