“Go. Go write a blog post. I’ll do the dishes,” my wife said. “When’s the last time you wrote one?”
“Late September.”
“Oh, and the last one you wrote is the one I tore apart. I remember now. What a softy you are.”
“Yup.”
So I’m out of practice. “I don’t know what to write,” I said.
“Just write something.”
There. My job is now done. The word “something” appears in that last sentence (you saw it, didn’t you?). I have a long history of attempting to duck writing assignments through wiseguy methods:
In my college days, I snootily refused to write anything my teachers wanted me to. For my college English term paper at the end of my first and only semester at NYU, instead of digesting and regurgitating three months’ worth of Herr Professor’s grievously mind-numbing rants on how every atom of reality is part of a great, spiraling dance of life exemplified by Breugel’s painting the Kermesse, I handed in a book of total doggerel and aggressively minimalistic poetry, some only one word in length. Example:
TITLE
Poem.
He wasn’t pleased, amused or impressed, and I received no credit for the class whatsoever. And this from a kid who, at age ten, once wrote with absolute conviction, in nice cursive script that this middle-aged incarnation can’t even begin to imitate today, that he would one day be a writer. I still have that book of poetry, though, along with its cartoon illustrations done by my roommate. And I still have my solemn declaration of career destiny.
A few weeks ago, my mom gave me a box containing every report card the North Syracuse Central School System ever gave me. My grades were usually pretty high, but reading some of the comments I’d received really depressed me. They were from some of my favorite teachers, too, the ones I thought I had a real rapport with. I remembered joking around with them a lot and hanging out after class. One even let me borrow her Peter, Paul and Mary albums during my hippie folkie phase. “Work often incomplete or poorly done,” read one comment. “Writing skills weak,” said another. I had let them down.
Whatever my sieve-like memory had to say about how much I entertained them, when it came down to actual performance, I was a disappointment (except maybe for one total piece of B.S. I actually got an “A+” for, Eating Habits of the Iroquois).
I know they’re probably not reading this. They might not even remember making those comments to my much younger self, who had a different name than the one I’m known by now anyway. They might not even think they’d ever find any evidence of my continued existence in the form of a single publicly written word, but if you’re there, Ruth R., Debbie W., I’m sorry. I’ll try and make it up to you. See? At least I wrote something today. Twice.
4:26 A.M. Poem for November 27 Whomever met Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became a Vaisnava, and whoever met that Vaisnava also became a Vaisnava. In this way, all the towns and villages became Vaisnava, one after the other. Just as the Lord inundated South India on His tour there, He also inundated the western part of [...]
From Living with the Scriptures “Remembering Krishna When In Trouble” “‘My dear Lord, one who constantly waits for Your causeless mercy to be bestowed upon him and who goes on suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds, offering You respectful obeisances from the core of his heart, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his [...]
Woke up at 6 chanted hare krsna as usual. Went to temple and had amazing kirtan ! seriously mind blowing. like the mind is on fire all the time burning with desire. Burning in the fire of hankering and lamenting for reciprocation or non reciprocation from matter But that kirtan was like Krishnas blowing his flute and the supremely sweet soothing sound gave a cooling effect that enables me to taste full nectar at every mOment. I noticed my mind transformed during that kirtan, before it was like a child hankering for something or lamenting for something but while chanting hare krsna it became absorbed in a different duality : hankering to hear the sweet names of the maha mantra and completely lamenting for not being pure enough to chant purely. This exalted mellow of devotional desire came simply by hearing and chanting the maha mantra in the congregation of saintly persons. But left me later on while I was anxiously trying to fulfill my own vision of happiness by making a zine. Forgetting krsna is made easy in the material world. It’s the default condition. I need to keep engaged in activity that gives that devotional desire. Any activity but always chanting is the best way iv found for keeping in touch with this devotional desire. i need to surround my self with krsna sense objects and enjoy them with direct appreciation. That will keep my mind in that state of selfless hankering. Sevonmuke hi jihvadau” by saturating ones senses in Seva or devotional sense objects especially chanting and honoring spiritual food with the tongue one realizes krsna. So if you have a tongue you can try this- eat prasadam and chant hare krsna and it will disolve your misidentification with material desire and extinguish the fire of dualistic hankering and lamenting with the overwhelming realization of your spiritual self and your need/desire to get back with krsna the most capable person to fulfill you, The only person actually.. HH Devamrta swami says in one lecture in Ukraine that when this spiritual desire come up krsna is very pleased because hes always waiting for that seed to sprout in your heart. Getting that desire or sense of needing is my main thing at the moment. I want to want to be pure. but I can’t unless I realise the futility of the illusory happiness that forgetfulness of Krishna offers. I have too much faith in matter. I think it will fulfill me. This is not my experience or any one else’s, even the ramones admit “I can’t get no satisfaction!” but by the grace of the witch called Maya this faith is ever instilled within my heart. Such is my delemor. Only by chanting in association with devotees (kirtan) will my heart be cleansed of this unwanted optimism, This sentimental faith, This miserly attachment, This persistent child, This disgusting beast of lust from my heart. It’s a fact. Then I chanted my japa. I figured if I want to do big service to Krishna I should do serious japa. Japa means Krishna please oho ease give me pure devotional service to your lotus feet. So he gives it according to how much you mean it. “I reward you according to your surrender “he says in bhagavad Gita. So I tried but got distracted. So tomorrow I will say to my mind what raghunath Das goswami wrote in his book teachings to the mind: O Mind, why do you burn us both by bathing in the urine trickling from the ass of great deviousness and hypocrisy? Instead, you should delight us by eternally bathing in the glistening nectar-ocean of pure love for Sri Sri Gandharva-Giridhari (Radha-Krsna). Then I went to meeting about the book distribution marathon the had a drink of tea then went on computer and made my zine called prema then saw izaak then he helped me finish it cos he’s the co editor. Then marveled over the end result. Then had dinner with izaak then studied with izaak then got him some food to take home then cleaned bath room then bed. Book marathon tomorrow yipee. Muchukunda the wannabe wannabe devotee.
Ramai Swami knows how to Kirtan, and the rest of us just get swept along in his wake.
Last night at Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha Mandir it was as if Ramai Swami stripped the effects of material world from our spirit souls and dragged us back into the spiritual world.
Kirtan is an incredible jewel which everyone should Harbour in their lives. It is a powerful form of meditation which is so easy to do anyone can get benefit from it and from which no one goes away unchanged. There is no audience in Kirtan, everyone participates.
If you missed Maharaj this time, make a plan to catch up with him when he appears at Govindas Lotus room on Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th in December.
I am not on a Christian kick necessarily, but since it is Christmas time, some Biblical messages seem to be coming my way. From the periodical 'Ministry' which comes happily by snail mail to our ashram mailbox, there is a quote from 1Corenthians (10:31 NIV), and it has a remarkable parallel to a verse in the Gita.
Here we go... from Corenthians
"So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
And here is the verse from the Gita where God speaks:
"Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer of give away, and whatever austerities you perform - do that, O son of Kunti, as an offering to Me."
Strikingly similar in message, wouldn't you say? And what if Christmas was actually like that - a time to give to God instead of it being a shopping racket? What was it that Jesus had received when he was born? Some gold, frankincense and myrrh. How did we get to the stats we are in now with such a heavy dose of commercialism? What happened to loving the Lord with all thy heart, soul and mind?
That's another Biblical teaching about loving. I look to a parallel verse from the Gita. From chapters 9 and 18 where God (Krishna) says, "Always think of me, become devoted to Me, worship Me, and you will come to Me."
Christ Consciousness and Krishna Consciousness. Not much difference!
It's like we knew each other in a former life. This tall fellow, in his 60s, walking his German Sheppard, is someone I've bumped into for at least twenty years. He's an artist, does pencil portraits, is well read and is as regulated with walking that dog of his that it puts my regularity to shame. Every time we see each other its a chat. Funny thing is we never bother to ask each other our names. It's as if no intro is needed. It's always good to keep in touch and 'to love thy neighbour.'
I was informed that Surya (the sun) was being eclipsed around the time of interacting with the artist friend. The sky was overcast and carried a spooky aspect.
In any event, down the ravine I go near Chorley Park, down Milkman's Lane. Maintenance on this trail has not been much to be desired but recently funds were raised to address erosion problems and I can see now that this favourite route for Rosedale folks has a chance.
My chanting was persistant along with the trekking and intermittently between the words Hare Krishna or Rama I would leak out a "Hello!" or "Good evening!" or "Hi!" to the brave mud treaders in the ravine as skies became increasingly darker at this new moon timing. Again "love thy neighbour." The trek was at a retarded speed because of pinching sensations in the lower back. The cause? Too much air travel, I believe. But I walk to survive. Working those lower back muscles (and even sweat) will sustain me until it's time to stop all together. These bodies, this machinery, is not permanent, you know.
Finally, before I enter the temple ashram, I pass by the Prabhupada tree, a gorgeous and hopeful sprawling maple, designated in honour of our guru. All but few leaves have bit the dust, or at least have fallen to the wet grass below. This special tree planted about fourteen months ago, will see its second winter. I guess you could say that it's our new kid on the block. It's now our neighbour. We love thy neighbour. " Human or not.
[The Won-Durr Boiz diary series is based on four ex-gurukuli brothers (surname: Durr) coming together for the first time to share Krsna consciousness with the outside world. Madhavendra Puri (the author and middle elder) has been waiting in Radhadesh (Belgium) for his brothers to arrive. Nitai Canda (the eldest) and Rupa Gosvami (the youngest) arrive first, and Bhisma Deva (the middle younger) is scheduled to come half way through. Their adventure takes them through Belgium, Germany and Poland, for rathayatras, festival tours and kirtana events. These diaries aim to bring inspiration and joy to the readers, and hopefully encourage others to entangle themselves in Lord Caitanya’s Sankirtana movement – whether for the spiritual benefits or simply for the fun.]
[The Durr boiz were jumping in joy for Janmastami.]
Hare Krsna dear devotees, here are two very nice quotes about initiation and the importance of sraddha (faith) in chanting.
Srila Haridasa Thakur said, "O Lord Caitanya, in Your instructions to those You have ordained to propagate the holy name, You specifically give warning about this. Preachers may instruct the glories of the holy name only to the sraddhavan (persons with sraddha)." Harinama Cintanami
"This the way by which the whole world will be inundated with the chanting of the holy name: with loud congregational chanting, the holy name is to be propagated widely among the masses. Those who are faithful will come forward and choose a bona fide spiritual master, receiving instructions and initiation in the name from him. By sincere chanting they will surely obtain love of Godhead, Krsnaprema." Harinama Cintanami
I have successfully taken cuttings of strawberry plants in my garden. I transplanted them into pots and also into various places in the garden, and wherever they were replanted they have all grown successfully.
From one shop-bought seedling I now have a dozen strawberry plants in various locations, some of which are fruiting right now. The challenge is to pick the berries before the birds and lizards devour them.
This is one of my very healthy red gauntlet strawberry plants. That's chocolate mint and marjoram in the background. The recent deluge of Sydney rain with hot interludes have done wonders in the garden. I haven't seen strawberry plants stand quite so erect like this before. A handsome and generous fellow, methinks.
THE FOLLOWING LECTURE ON SRIMAD-BHAGAVATAM, CANTO 5, CHAPTER 13, THE CREATIVE IMPULSE, TEXT 19, WAS GIVEN BY HIS HOLINESS BHAKTI CARU SWAMI IN ISKCON UJJAIN, INDIA ON 11 JUNE 2011. Transcription : Her Grace Archana Dasi Editing : Ramananda Raya Dasa Audio-reference: click here Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 5:The Creative Impetus-Chapter13 : Further Talks Between King [...]
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 7, No. 18 By Krishna-kripa das (September 2011, part two) United Kingdom, Philadelphia, New York (Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on November 25, 2011)
[Note: Manorama Prabhu (formerly Manu) invited me to come on the 12 festival Youth Bus Tour to Mexico (December 15, 2011–January 8, 2012) as he likes to have a few older devotees to accompany the youth. For me to go, I need some sponsors. If you would like to help out, click on this link, http://www.krishna.com/bustour/donate.html, and click on “Donate” and fill out the form. When you see “Add special instructions to the seller”, click on it and type “for Krishna-kripa das”. Thank you so much.]
Where I Went and What I Did
After leaving the Ukraine festival in mid-September, I did a nama-hatta program in Crawley, England, attended the Ratha-yatra in Cardiff, Wales, and celebrated the end of World Holy Name Week doing harinama in London. Then I went to Philadelphia for the Ratha-yatra. The next day, I went to Queens for a twelve-hour kirtana, and the following day, we went chanting at Adi Purusa Prabhu's Food for Life in the morning, at Union Square during the day, and at Occupy Wall Street in the evening, returning to Philadelphia the next day for five days of harinama there.
I have some insights from Srila Prabhupada, Maha-Vishnu Swami, Kripa Moya Prabhu, as well as others, and some great quotes from Gopiparanadhana Prabhu’s soon-to-be-printed Tattva-sandarbha.
Cardiff Ratha-yatra
I came back from Ukraine a week earlier than usual in hopes of attending the Prabhupada festival in Boston, but I could not find a cheap flight. Thus I took advantage of my unexpected stay in the UK to attend a nama-hatta in Crawley and the Cardiff Ratha-yatra. I had never heard of Crawley until this year when a devotee who liked my Bhakti Sastri class at Soho told me he was from there. Later, the week after the London Ratha-yatra, I went to the Crawley Ratha-yatra. Jai Nitai Prabhu also invited me to help out with the nama-hattas southeast of London like Crawley. Furthermore I heard Gatwick Airport, the destination of my Ukraine flight, was nearby so the devotees could pick me up. So it all worked out very well. Thirty or forty people came for the event, and there was good participation during the kirtana.
The next day was Ratha-yatra in Cardiff, as I learned from the UK Ratha-yatra web site, and I took the train there. It was a bit pricey but the Crawley devotees donations covered it. I was excited because Wales is a new country for me. Having arrived at the train station halfway through the Ratha-yatra, I was worried I would not find it, but I passed a man who had just seen it, and he directed me. I was so happy to be with my UK festival friends, like Maha-Vishnu Swami, Parasurama Prabhu and Giridhari Prabhus who I had chanted with at places like Stonehenge and at the Crawley and Scandinavian Ratha-yatras. I also saw several friends from the Polish tour. Gaura Hari, who led kirtana, and Gopal Kumar Prabhus were there from England, and Gundica Prabhu, who is now living in Wales, with his wife, Ganga Seva dd, who got a lot of people dancing at the stage show after the Ratha-yatra. Both Ratha-yatra and stage show were very lively as you can see from the video. I recall one couple I invited to the festival came and stayed till almost the end, dancing in the kirtana as well. One friend of the devotees got ready to leave twice during the kirtana, but then got back into singing and dancing again, not being able to pull herself away from the ecstasy!
World Holy Name Week
I always spend part of World Holy Name Week at the Ukraine festival, where we do three hours of kirtana each night. The challenge is to have good congregational chanting programs for the other days. World Holy Name Week is not really a week, but eleven days, this year September 10–20. The Ukraine festival covered September 10–14, and Cardiff Ratha-yatra was on September 17. That left September 18, 19, and 20. By Krishna’s grace I was in London, where I can almost always find devotees to chant with. Not only that, but Maha-Vishnu Swami, who is enthusiasm personified when it comes to harinamawas visiting London. Because of such good fortune, we had eight harinamas in those three days: Sunday after breakfast and after the Sunday feast, and Monday and Tuesday after breakfast, at 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon, and 6:00 p.m. in the evening. The following video depicts some of the transcendental happiness of it all:
While in London, I got to hear some very lively Guru Puja kirtanas by Maha-Vishnu Swami at our Soho Street temple, as you can see in the following video. Among the women singing and dancing is singer songwriter Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, who is friends with some London devotees and chants Hare Krishna and visits the temple.
Philadelphia Ratha-yatra
Hare Krishna devotees observed Ratha-yatra on September 24, 2011, in Philadelphia. This year the Panca-Tattva deities who live above Govinda's Vegetarian Restaurant on South Street rode in their own chariot. Janananda Goswami, seen dancing blissfully, visited from the UK. Philly Ratha-yatra has some uncommon features like the bag pipe band, the drummers, the devotees dressed as incarnations of the Lord, demigods, and famous devotees. Also may kids pulled small carts in the parade.
At the festival in the park in front of the art musuem after the parade, there are lots of activities. There is a stage show, akirtana tent, face painting, instruction in chanting Hare Krishna on beads, and hatha-yoga. I see my younger devotee friends playing different important and useful roles. Navina Shyama Prabhu was the stage show MC, and one of my gurukula science students, Purusharta Prabhu’s son, Devananda, was in charge of the sound booth. Ganga Varuni taught yoga, and Jaya Sita dd did face painting. The prasadam is always tasty and well organized, with lots of help from the mostly Indian congregation. The Philly art museums happened to give students free admission on that day, so extra students were nearby to participant in our festival. I talked to several young people happily eating prasadam and willing to hear about our vegetarian restaurant and temple programs in Philadelphia. That is my second year in a row at the Philly Ratha-yatra, and I hope I can keep coming.
Philadelphia Harinamas
Three afternoons I chanted at Rittenhouse Square with a Hare Krishna friend. On Tuesday, September 27, Steven James came out with me. One sweet young lady photographer called Gaby who has a blog called “The Square People,” talked with us and included pictures she took in her blog: http://thesquarepeople.blogspot.com/2011/09/krishna-kripa-das-steven-september-27.html
She wrote of her experience, “As I entered the square from the Walnut and 18th Street entrance, I was greeted by the soothing sounds of music and chanting. After catching up with some square regulars, I returned to meet Krishna-kripa Das (right) and Steven (left). They are Hare Krishnas and follow a spiritual practice based on traditional Hindu scriptures. As I develop an understanding of my own spirituality, I have found practices of the Hare Krishna, such as meditation and yoga, extremely worthwhile. While it’s not for everyone, I think the emphasis on connectivity, recognition of personal and worldly beauty, and peace is universally important.”
On Wednesday, September 28, Bhagavatananda Prabhu, who is very friendly and outgoing, came out with me. He encouraged one man, Gabe, to try chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, reading it from the Philly temple invitation, and he encouraged Bret, who likes kirtana, to play the karatalas with us. Bret surprised us by supplying his own karatalas. Bret’s friend took this video:
Every second Friday evening, Ganga Varuni and a friend arrange a harinama at Rittenhouse Square. Gandharvika dd made a sweet for distribution, and we had temple invitations and books, about twenty books being distributed.
One Saturday, we had harinama at U. Penn. The devotees liked the experience and became eager to do more harinamas.Later on, they decided to chant at Occupy Philly. Near the beginning of the occupation devotees chanted for seven hours. In the month of October, going out twice a week, and distributing spiritual books and food, the devotees distributed about five hundred books and one thousand plates of spiritual food.
Insights from Lectures
Srila Prabhupada:
Because I was sponsored by a private individual and not an organization the officials did not want to approve my going to America. I took it to a superior, and when I entered his office, he immediately said, “Don't worry, Swamiji, I have approved you.”
When I entered America, the immigration wanted to know how long I would stay. I had a one-month sponsorship, and figured under the circumstances I could stay at most at two months. Each time I extended my visa, I paid ten dollars. After a year, they would not extend it any more, so I engaged a lawyer, who helped get me permanent residency.
In July 1967, I was feeling very bad due to heart stroke, I thought, “Let me return to Vrindavana and die there.” But I returned to America in December 1967.
Q: Why did Srila Prabhupada book his return ticket for a two-month stay?
A [by Maha-Vishnu Swami]: Srila Prabhupada did not come thinking he would definitely be successful in starting a worldwide movement. Srila Prabhupada wasn't thinking, “I am an empowered incarnation.” He was humbly thinking that by Krishna's grace something could happen.
Maha-Vishnu Swami [London]:
The Vedic conception of God is He is that from whom everything has emanated, or in other words, the cause of all causes.
We give the scientists credit. They are intelligent because that are looking for the ultimate cause, up to a point, up to the Big Bang. Sometimes there is a big bang and many people are killed. The police are not satisfied simply to say there was a big bang and to leave it at that. They investigate the cause of the bang. Who or what was behind it?
We have an asuric [demonic] mentality—to enjoy at another's expense. Because we all have come here with this mentality, there can never really be peace in the material world.
Q: Krishna as Bhagavan, He who possesses all opulence, has done things like lift Govardhan Hill, marry 16,000 wives and possess 16,000 places. How can we help people to understand how this is possible?
A: Even ordinary people can do amazing things. There is one tower in Dubai 1,200 feet high, and there is one French man who climbed up the tower by his finger nails. How is it hard to understand that the person who is maintaining all the planets in orbit can lift up an insignificant hill 13 miles across?
Kripamoya Prabhu [London at the Soho Sunday Feast]:
As a new devotee in the 1970s, periodically we would be stopped by the police for chanting and dancing on the streets of London. Sometimes we were even locked up until we promised we would never, ever chant and dance on the streets of London again. This year I was impressed that all the policemen at the Cardiff Ratha-yatra were wearing garlands of flowers and smiling as they guided us through the streets. Times are changing.
During the Ratha-yatra, a lady came up to me, and said, “I am a yoga teacher, and I saw your chariot, and everyone singing and dancing, so happily. I wanted what you had, so I started to sing your song. I felt if I did not have a care in the world. And I started to cry. And I am not a sentimental person. I never cry, but cried for ten minutes. I just thought I should tell you.”
Whenever there is a revolution for change, there is often a song that goes along with it. We would like to think our that song, the Hare Krishna mantra, will be a song for change.
The words of the Hare Krishna mantra will give you a taste of eternity. We can taste eternity because we are eternal. As a Christian I learn that if I believed in Christ, I would attain eternality, but as a Hare Krishna I learned that I was already eternal. We just have to become qualified to experience our eternality.
The word “eternal” comes from a Greek word that means forever existing in the future, and also forever existing in the past.
Spiritual life means I will make a determined effort to never push the snooze button and return to the sleeping condition of material life.
When you see a car, if you like cars you will notice the car, otherwise you notice the person. The needs of car and the driver are different. If you give the driver petrol to drink, he will not like it. Similar if you put creamy doughnuts in the gas tank, the car will not like it. Unfortunately, we do not know the food for the soul, so we simply look for food for the mind and body. The sound of kirtana, devotional chanting,is food for the soul.
Decades ago I went into a temple and they told me to experiment with chanting the mantra. I did, and I am still experimenting. If it stops working tomorrow, I am out the door. No temple president can convince me to stay. But so far I like it.
One devotee prays to the Lord, I see you dragging me back to you by a rope you have attached to my toe, but I am foolishly flapping my arms to get away. Please excuse my flapping, for I really do want to come back to you.
It is said Lord Nrsimha is looking with love from one eye at Prahlada Maharaja and looking with anger from the other eye at Hiranyakasipu. Sridhara Swami in his 13th century commentary on Srimad-Bhagavatam says that Lord Nrsimha is like a lioness who feds her cubs with affection at one moment and then fights an intruder to protect them at another, and then returns to feeding her cubs with affection.
Struggle is there to give up something for something greater, but by doing that we become peaceful.
Whenever there is seeking after God, there is song. When there are new realizations, they are expressed in song. And saints use songs to share spiritual truths with the general public.
To an extent when we give up the temporary, we can taste the eternal.
Mantra is a protective sound formula, protecting us from being materially absorbed.
We must know God as real, as friendly, as within and without, as the controller, as the ultimate destination, and as the greatest friend.
Lord Caitanya encouraged, “Come out of your places of worship and come into the streets and sing.”
Sometimes Bhaktivinoda Thakura would write songs of pure devotion to God and sign them, the anonymous Sufi, so people would sing them.
According to Bhaktivinoda Thakura, “You are standing on the threshold of bhakti if you can just do the six items of surrender.”
In all problems, we must open our umbrella and take shelter of Krishna's mercy.
Akrura Prabhu [London]:
Krishna is the supreme enjoyer but He noticed Radha was enjoying serving Him more than He was enjoying being served. Thus he descended as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to taste the feelings of Srimati Radharani.
I can see at Gitanagari, Bhakti Tirtha Swami trained his disciples to be very caring.
Attaining unconditional love for Krishna and all living entities seems to be the more difficult thing.
My mother never asked anything of me. She never asked me to finish high school, which I did not do, nor to do time in the army, which I was obliged to do, but did not, nor to get just get a job, which I did not do.
One lady was cheated by her husband in such a bad way she spent 7 years in jail. When she got out, she got cancer. Finding no hope for cure, she saw a karma diagnostic man who said, “You have cancer because you did not forgive your husband.” So she seriously forgave her husband, and she is still alive.
I have found many devotees who are stuck because they have not forgiven someone.
Instead of blaming people, if we take responsibility, we will become free.
Commenting on the tat te 'nukampam verse, Srila Prabhupada says we get much less than we deserve. How much less? Once he says if you are to be fined millions of dollars, the judge will fine you ten cents.
In one sense it is arrogant to forgive, because we should not have blamed them in the first place. It is just our karma we were getting.
One lady lamented, “My husband left me!” I explained that it could have been your karma that he killed you, but it was reduced. Then she was relieved.
Q: What about people who they are not on that level to forgive as your recommended?
A: They still have to do it. It is the truth. You have to encourage them to try. They will be feel better.
Q: How can remember to forgive?
A: Sometimes we are doing everything right, but we are not happy. It could be you have not forgiven someone. I will remind you every month to make sure you have forgiven everyone.
If you do not forgive, you will have to be born again in the material world.
Comment by Jai Nitai Prabhu: Another point is that one who harms us has done us a favor, because we had it coming due to our karma.
One of our duties as preachers is to set people free by telling the people truth about their situation, regardless of their religion because ultimately it is the same truth.
Bhutabhavana Prabhu [London]:
We may have lust, greed, and anger in our heart, but that does not have to be the motive for our devotional service. We can still execute devotional service simply to please guru and Krishna.
A trick of maya is to make us too conscious of our anarthas [impurities], and thus become discouraged by them.
The more we feel we are OK, the more we are not.
Too much money and too many followers are not the cause of falldown but too little Krishna consciousness.
Tattva-Sandarbha and commentary by Gopiparanadhana Prabhu:
[With the permission of the BBT editors, I include quotes from the yet-to-be-printed, Tattva-sandarbha.]
“And elsewhere it is said, “The name Purana comes from the word ‘completion’ [purana].”
“Vedic literature appears to consist of many separate books with numerous categories of texts, which seem to have been written at different times, for different purposes, in different styles of language, and by authors with different convictions and different levels of knowledge. But the Vedas explain themselves in another way, and if we are willing to look at the entire Vedic literature from its own point of view rather than from a foreign, critical viewpoint, then with some scrutiny we can see the true picture: The apparent diversity of the texts is due not to their being written by different authors but to their being intended for several different audiences.”
The Supreme Lord says in the Matsya Purana, “O best of brahmanas, foreseeing that in the course of time the Puranas will be neglected, I appear as Vyasa in each age to condense them. In every Dvapara-yuga I divide the Purana into eighteen books, totaling 400,000 verses, and that is how they are spread on earth. But even today on the planets of the demigods thePurana contains one billion verses. The 400,000-verse edition concisely embodies the purport of that original Purana.”
The universe passes through varying cycles, “days of Brahma,” during which the lower material modes, the modes of passion (rajas) and ignorance (tamas), are at times prominent. During those periods the Supreme Lord gracefully allows such servants of His as Lord Shiva to defeat Him in competition and otherwise seem superior. Puranas that describe the events of these rajasic and tamasic kalpas thus superficially seem to elevate demigods to the position of God. It is no wonder that imperfectly informed students of the Puranas cannot discern the unity of the underlying Puranic message: that the powerful controllers and wonderful opulences of this universe are all energies of the supreme energetic, the Personality of Godhead.
Each of the collected Puranas is especially suitable for a particular class of people, so each Purana has a right to advertise its own superexcellence.
The Garuda Purana states, “This is the most complete [of the Puranas]. It is the purport of the Vedanta-sutras, it establishes the meaning of the Mahabharata, it is a commentary on Gayatri, and it completes the message of the Vedas.Spoken directly by the Personality of Godhead, it is the Sama Veda among the Puranas. With twelve cantos, hundreds of chapters, and eighteen thousand verses, this work is called Srimad-Bhagavatam.”
Srila Jiva Gosvami throughout his life was famous for being completely honest. He was a lifelong celibate, and even as a child he was renounced in his habits. It is said that he never spoke anything, even in his dreams, that could not be verified to be true. (28.2, commentary)
To explain the difference between the internal and external energies of the Supreme, Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana offers an analogy: the internal energy is like an emperor’s favorite queen, the external energy like a menial maidservant who always stays outside his quarters. (31.3, commentary)
“One female goat gives birth to many offspring like herself, with bodies colored red, white, and black. One male goat lies with her and enjoys her, while another shows no interest in enjoying her, for he feels satiated.” (Svetasvatara Upanishad 4.5) This Upanisadic text involves a play on the word aja (female, aja, with the last ‘a’ having a bar above it), which means both “goat” and “eternal being.” The eternal female (material nature) replicates her three modes—goodness (white), passion (red), and ignorance (black)—in the bodies of all life forms. One eternal male, the fallen jiva, tries to enjoy nature, while the other eternal male, the self-satisfied Supreme Lord, shows no interest in her. (34, commentary).
It is unreasonable to propose that the one pure spiritual entity, Brahman, has the power to maintain maya and is full of perfect knowledge and yet becomes an object of the influence of maya and is overcome by ignorance. Therefore we can understand that the jiva and God are different. And from the fact that the jiva and God display different identities and capabilities, we can deduce that they are in fact two separate entities. (35)
The contrary idea—that the Supreme is one without qualities and that all names and forms are unreal—has always been popular among those who want the kingdom of God without God. But one can hold to such an idea only by denying the clear dictates of logic, experience, and common sense. (35, commentary)
The delusion of the jiva only increases when He presumes himself identical with the Supreme. We can hardly expect a poor beggar in prison to free himself simply by imagining “I am the king.” (38, commentary)
As long as a single person is faithfully practicing and working to spread the sublime instructions of Srimad-Bhagavatam, hope still exists for peace and happiness. (47.2, commentary)
It is said that once, as Vyasadeva was dictating various verses to his disciple Jaimini, when Vyasadeva came to one verse from the Ninth Canto of the Bhagavatam (9.9.17) Jaimini hesitated to write it down.
matra svasra duhitra va
naviviktasano bhavet
balavan indriya-gramo
vidvamsam api karsati
“One should not allow oneself to sit on the same seat even with one’s own mother, sister, or daughter, for the senses are so strong that even though one is very advanced in knowledge he may be attracted by sex.” Jaimini apologized, but he could not agree that a self-realized sage might become agitated by the mere physical presence of a woman. Srila Vyasa simply smiled and by his mystic power suddenly turned himself into a young woman. Jaimini, attracted against his will, found himself trying to embrace the woman, who just as suddenly turned herself back into the not-very-attractive old sage Vyasadeva. (48)
“Seekers of truth disagree among one another only until they acquire a taste for hearing about and discussing the all-attractive qualities of Lord Hari. Scholars who dispute the nature of the Absolute Truth do so because they are not self-satisfied. Dissatisfied and confused, they can hardly enlighten anyone else. As long as adherents of various religions are ready to condemn and even kill one another, they have obviously not yet attained the stage of self-satisfaction.” (49, commentary)
“Vaishnava acaryas, in their commentaries to Srimad-Bhagavatam, explain that no material body is produced until some conditioned soul wants to possess it. Even the subtle aggregates of the material elements are not created by maya until particular demigods are each willing to accept one of them as his own body.” (57.3, commentary)
And scripture is commonly known as sastra because it is seen, in particular cases, to engage in overruling. Elsewhere [than in Vacaspati’s statement] we see that both inference and scriptural evidence refute the sensory perception that the sun globe or some other celestial body is very small, because from observation one has learned that far-away things appear like that and also because this understanding is established from the scriptures. (Sarva-samvadini [Jiva Goswami’s commentary on his own Tattva-sandarbha] 30)
According to Srila Kavi-karnapura, one of the great poets among the associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and author of the textbook Alankara-kaustubha, rasa is the soul of poetry, dhvani (vyanjana) [suggestion] its life air, words and their meaning its body, and the ornaments of sound and meaning (sabdalankaras and arthalankaras) the decorations of the body. (Sarva-samvadini 50)
Revealed scripture is always independent of the dictates of speculative reasoning. If speculation were ever allowed to overrule the sabda-pramana of scripture, the authority of scripture would be undermined. Logic must yield the right of way to sastra, not the other way around. (Sarva-samvadini 53, commentary)
Yajna Purusa Prabhu [New York City]:
Niranjana Swami said, “Bada Hari Prabhu is my bhajana guru.”
Devamrita Swami told me that I should go the Ukraine festival because it is my guru’s festival and because it is the best festival in ISKCON.
Niranjana Swami was visiting a close friend of his who had opened up many centers in Europe. The two of them were visiting a married couple and the man asked Niranjana Swami's friend to tell a Prabhupada story. The story he told goes like this: “The devotees used to bring many people to see Srila Prabhupada because he would visit the centers with the more preaching opportunities. One devotee brought one important man to see Prabhupada. Prabhupada asked if the man had any questions. The man said no. The devotee was heartbroken. Prabhupada repeated, “You have no questions?” The man again replied, “No.” So Prabhupada got the harmonium and chanted 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 minutes. The man was drawn in by the sweetness of the kirtana and was obviously moved. Prabhupada said, “This is what we do,” and asked the devotees to give the man some sweets.”
Adi Purusa Prabhu [New York City]:
In the past teachers received money by the inspiration of those who heard from them, but now they charge money.
Without dedicating our activities to the service of the Lord, we will be degraded.
There is not need to fear failure in devotional service because it is not an external thing. If we can simply please Krishna we are successful.
We see in our prasadam distribution, people passing by see what we are doing and they help, by setting up tables, giving donations, etc.
My experience is speaking to hundreds of people a day for decades is that most people are willing to give in charity.
In the course of distributing books, we would talk to everyone without discrimination. We would not consider these people are too rowdy, these people are too well dressed, these people are too much clustered together, etc.
Gadadhara Pandit Prabhu [New York City]:
Because the poison of Kaliya was so severe the birds flying over poisoned water would fall down dead. Not only that but the trees on the banks of the river had died. Because the water, air, and land were all poisoned you could say it was the greatest ecological disaster of its time.
Before jumping in the water, Krishna adjusted his clothing. This is practical as you know if you have ever gone swimming and had your swimming trunks come off in the water.
Balarama was just enjoying the Kaliya pastime because He knew Krishna was in no danger.
The residents of Vrindavan were almost on the point of death seeing Krishna entangled in the coils of Kaliya. One might ask, “Why did Krishna let it come to that point?” Krishna wanted to bring the attention of His devotees completely on Himself.
Kaliya according to Bhaktivinoda Thakura represents envy and anger.
Not only does envy mean that we want what someone else has, but we also do not want them to have it.
Kaliya is not ordinary because he was allowed to embrace Krishna for two hours in his coils.
If you encounter someone that you envy, you should thank Krishna because that brings out the envy which would not otherwise not be brought out.
Because of the prayers of his wives, Kaliya was saved by Krishna.
The body is the greatest impediment to realize we are not our body. But at the time of death, it is easier to see the futility of bodily enjoyment.
I was talking to an administrator at Columbia University who asked if I was a Hare Krishna. She said she was too, or at least she was involved in the movement years ago, during Srila Prabhupada's time. She was telling me that for the last four hours of her mother's life she read Bhagavad-gita to her. When she had to take a break from reading to use the bathroom, her mother would moan, indicating she wanted her to continue reading.
Q [by Rama Raya]: Kapila talks about not viewing death with horror. How can we practically do this?
A: We are so conditioned by considering the body the cause of our pleasure for so long it maybe not be possible not to view death with horror. But we can count on Krishna and His devotees to make it easier for us to remember the Lord at the time of death and attain perfection.
Haryasva Prabhu [Philadelphia]:
Grace is to situate yourself where you can receive the causeless mercy of the Lord.
Bhurijana Prabhu says knowing Krishna’s opulences increases our devotion because we we feel fortunate to have an intimate relationship with such an amazingly qualified person. Knowing Krishna’s opulence helps our devotional service by increasing our faith.
I think of Bhagavad-gita as illustrating, through the examples of Krishna and Arjuna, the ideal spiritual-disciple relationship.
Spiritual life looks to some like a cop out for people who are materially unsuccessful when in reality is an awakening of knowledge that there is a more important goal of life.
It is refreshing to note the change from material to spiritual life is mostly merely a change in consciousness.
Everyone talks about the kingdom of God, but nobody is ready to die to go.
Religion is to bring you to point of genuine spirituality.
The lower self goes down when we pump up the higher self.
I had a lot of spiritual aspirations in my youth, but when puberty set in, religiosity went out the back door. I was so bad I could not describe to my brother how bad I was. He took me to the temple. The kirtana was so lively I took off my coat and tie and got into the dancing. My realization was that, “This is better than the club, and I didn't take anything [any intoxication].”
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punah punah piyaiya haya mahamatta
nace, kande, hase, gaya, yaiche mada-matta
“Sri Panca-tattva themselves danced again and again and thus made it easier to drink nectarean love of Godhead. They danced, cried, laughed and chanted like madmen, and in this way they distributed love of Godhead” (Cc. Adi 7.22).
Since I joined the Hare Krishna Movement, in 1973, I had cultivated the desire to offer a few songs in praise of my Spiritual Master A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
50 000 books were distributed during the Parikrama. There was a team of 6 international devotees: Arjun Das, Krishna Mayi Dasi, Madhu Pandit Das, Loka Suranga Das, Vaikunta Krishna Das and myself (Parasuram Das). This was our 25th time we have gone around the villages, on a 1 month long adventure, we were getting up to one and a half thousand villagers at our evening programs. Hope you all enjoy the slide show see you there next time
"Somehow or other everyone can manage to perform such a *yajna* (sankirtan) and distribute *prasadam* to the people in general. That is quite sufficient for this age of Kali. The Hare Krishna Movement is based on the principle: chant Hare Krishna mantra at every moment, both inside and outside of the temples, and, as far as possible, distribute *prasadam*
If you really want to see iskcon a lot stronger than it is at present, and if you are ready to take part in a grassroots revolution, here is a program for you. It is non-political and non-controversial, easy to implement, and with negligible cost, yet it will benefit the whole society of devotees worldwide
Today is the first day of silver jubilee festivals; more than three thousands devotees from 25 different countries took part this year. Free transportations arranged for the devotees of Vrindavan to attend the festivals
Parvati devi dasi: Attached, please find photos of two huge wonderful paintings measuring 8' X 6' (without frames) in the back of Srila Prabhupada's divine Samadhi, which will be replaced in a couple months at Kartik Festival with the new bronze bas reliefs depicting Prabhupada's multifarious activities and mission
Tucked away in Punjab, the city of Chandigarh was set ablaze with two back to back Ratha Yatra’s this weekend. Kadamaba Kanana Swami arrived from Mayapur on the eve of the first Ratha Yatra. He walked straight into an evening program at the home of our gracious host for this leg of the tour, Madan Mohan Prabhu. After a warm reception Maharaja launched into an animated hindi class and vibrant kirtan.
On the morning of the initial Ratha Yatra we got first darshan of Sri Sri Radha Madhava, presiding Deities of Chandigarh at the local temple – They definitely have a distinct Vrndavana flavour reminding us of Krsna’s sacred dham, now geographically much closer. Maharaja gave the morning class. He spoke on the humility of Vidura as the essential mood of the devotee expressed in the Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu and dainya baudika. He emphasised how by serving the devotees we can come closer to Krsna just in the way King Pratraparudra was able to gain the association of Lord Caitanya by serving Ramananda Roy even though initially the Lord bluntly refused to see him.
Just after midday Chandigarh came alive as the Lord of the universe mounted His chariot. An impressive array of guest speakers included Gopal Krsna Maharaja, Vedavyasa Priya Swami, Navayogendra Maharja, Prabodananda Maharaja and others. A unique feature of this Ratha Yatra is that every few kilometres the chariot stops allowing people to climb up the chariot and make offerings to Jagannatha and thus getting an eye level darshan of the Deities. Thus the chariot procession went on till late night flooding the streets with the mercy of Lord Jaggantha. The next day was but a nectar replay, this time in a nearby city of Panchakula.
For the past several week, I have experienced a sort of stillness in writing - like a book that has been sitting on the shelf and has gathered dust. So much is going on in my life, but I haven't been in the mood to formulate my thoughts into words to share with the world.
Last night, though, in the thrumming whorl of Gaura Vani's and Madhava's kirtans here at the Festival of the Holy Name, I felt the murmurings of a desire to write. I was surrounded by a beauty that begged for expression.
Undulating waves of the holy name washed all around me and through me. I felt like a rough stone in the midst of great waterfalls of the holy name, and by the constant flow the rough edges of my heart became smoother and smoother.
At one point in Gaura Vani's kirtan, I experienced every single molecule in my body rest at peace. I tilted my head upwards gently into the light, and my eyes were closed. I lifted my palms skyward. And I experienced: this is the perfection. This is the perfection.
The holy name filled something deep inside of me, a yearning that I realize I am searching for in my life; I've been searching for this for lifetimes.
I observed a sign on the wall (which I shall paraphrase):
Chant the holy name in bliss. This is liberation. - Srila Prabhupad
I felt as though for those indescribably beautiful moments, I had experienced that liberation Srila Prabhupad spoke of, even if for only a moment. I pray for those moments to become my lifetime.
Sent from New Orleans, Louisiana, US by His Grace Rohini Nandana Dasa Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Please view the pictures in the link below of Their Holinesses Bhakti Charu Swami and Bhakti Marg Swami visiting Ratha Yatra Festival New Orleans,ISKCON NEW ORLEANS TEMPLE click here, and ISKCON NEW TALAVAN [...]
A crippled economy and a polluted environment plague our social body. Both largely stem from the same core disease -- pollution of hearts. Blinded by distractions one can forget how to invest in what awards a meaningful, fulfilling life.
Parallel to our vast strides in technology, there is a dangerous rise in unemployment, foreclosures and degrading education. Millions of people are stricken with hopelessness and strife. Sadly, in the name of progress we have polluted the air, water, soil and the food we eat. What can we do? The following is a story about an encounter I had with someone who cared.
It was winter in New Delhi when the days are mild and the nights are biting cold. New Delhi's wide roads are lined with massive government buildings, the older ones built by the British perhaps a century back with stone pillars, ornate statues and vast lawns. Others built after independence in 1947 are adorned with Indian style arches and domes. I rode toward the airport. Monkeys appeared everywhere, scampering along the boundary walls.
At the crossroads on the way to the airport we passed circular islands of grass and trees surrounding memorials for the country's freedom fighters. The streets were congested with cars, trucks and motorcycle rickshaws spewing out trails of exhaust fumes. Overhead a murky cloud of smog hung in the sky and reduced the sun to a gray lifeless ball. The fumes were thick, the smells toxic, and they sat on our tongues like sour lozenges. On the roadside an elderly man squatted cross-legged with back erect performing pranayama, a yogic breathing exercise. He vigorously inhaled and exhaled. I wondered if it did him more harm than good.
We crossed a bridge over the Yamuna River. I looked down and remembered 30 years before, when I had first come to India, that under the same bridge the Yamuna flowed in her full glory. Now, she looked plundered and crippled. What was once a pristine river had now become a thick blackish liquid, foaming bubbles, and a current so lame she barely flowed.
When I reached the airport and was waiting at the gate for my flight, a lady informed me that sitting close by was the Union Minister for Environment and Forests. She wanted to talk to me. I obliged.
The minister stood up and greeted me, "Namaste Swamiji." After a pleasant exchange she suddenly challenged me with a passion.
"What are you spiritual leaders doing about the ecology?" She was very serious.
"Every second the air is being saturated with cancerous smog," she said. "Tons of raw sewage and toxic waste are dumped hourly into rivers where millions of people bathe and drink. The earth is being stripped of its forest and has become a dumping ground for deadly waste. The world is on the brink of ecological disaster while all of you spiritualists are praying, meditating or chanting. What is all your devotion doing to save the ecology?"
Her concern was real and impassioned. It was exciting to see that depth of concern from a powerful leader over an issue that affects us all.
"Yes, the environment is everyone's responsibility," I responded, "and I sincerely admire your tireless commitment. The spiritual leaders I know believe that along with passing laws and doing the cleaning work we need to address the root cause of the problem. If a person is covered with boils, the symptoms must be treated, but unless the cause of the problem is addressed, the boils will recur. In the case of boils, the cause may be a disease in the blood. The root of cause of pollution in the world is pollution in the heart.
"Toxic greed has contaminated the minds of human society. The environment is simply an external manifestation of the ecology of the mind. Greed is an obsession, an addiction. It can never be quenched. The more it gets, the more it needs. Greed hardens the heart and fools us into rationalizing cruelty and justifying crime. Greed induces envy, divides families, provokes wars and blinds us to our real self-interest. Greed for money, power, fame, sex -- the world is ravaged by greed. It is practically an exercise in futility to attempt to clean the environment when politicians are corrupted by bribes, industrialists pollute rivers to maximize profits and scientists put aside their ethics for funding.
"The Bhagavad Gita states that greed is a symptom of avidya or ignorance that covers the natural virtues of the true self within us. I'm sure you would agree with me that most people are not bad spirited, but due to a lack of awareness they may be destroying the environment, not understanding that what may seem convenient, like dumping industrial waste into a river, is actually killing fish, animals and people. So along with the pollution of our rivers, we must give attention to the pollution in our hearts. If you successfully clean the air, the sky, every river and every ocean, it is for certain that people will pollute them again unless they reform the ecology of their hearts.
"Spiritual life is the science of cleansing the heart and tasting the joy of living in harmony with God, each other and nature. It begins with cultivating good character, the willingness to make personal sacrifices for a higher cause, to make the right choices even in the face of temptation and fear, and put concern for the well being of others as a priority.
"How to do that? All of these virtues can spring from Bhakti or spiritual love. The Bible teaches that 'the first and great commandment is to love God with all one's heart, mind and soul.' And the natural result of that is, 'to love your neighbor as yourself.' Nature is also our neighbor, she is alive with rights like everyone else, but too many people don't see nature that way. The Vedic scriptures tell that the most simple and powerful method of cleansing the ecology of the heart and awakening this dormant love within us is to chant God's names. In my tradition we chant the names of Krishna."
"God has empowered all of us in different ways and if we agree on what the real problem is, then we can all contribute our part of the solution. The well being of Mother Earth is everyone's problem. It is crucial for leaders in all fields to serve cooperatively."
At that point the minister was called to board her flight. She thought for a moment, then stood up and smiled saying, "Yes Swamiji, What you say is true. We all need to work together."
She was right to take me to task. Religious and spiritual leaders should be held accountable for environmental activism, not only because they have access to large communities and can influence votes but because service is integral to religious and spiritual life. Reducing carbon emissions is important, but it is shortsighted if not coupled with reducing the toxic emissions from our heart; and that is something spiritual leaders are supposed to teach and something all thinking people, regardless of their beliefs, should practice.
We should honor Mother Earth with gratitude; otherwise our spirituality may become hypocritical.
The earth nourishes us with every necessity for a prosperous life. When, on a massive worldwide scale we plunder her oil, destroy her forests, pollute her resources, torture and kill her animals, soak her with the blood of her children, exploit one another and trample her with immorality, there will naturally be devastating consequences.
We should honor our mother and respect all of her children as our brothers and sisters. Otherwise, we may force her to react. Humanity has reached a critical crossroads. We have made monumental progress in technology, medicine, science, academics and globalization but if we do not use them with compassion what will be our fate? The dire need is at hand to take responsibility as caretakers of the helpless and live as dedicated instruments of God's love.
“i dream of a world where i can love you, where i can feel you and where i can know you without having to own you, without having to hate you or without having to f*#k you.”
Here is an interesting slide show depicting the tour of Jayadvaita Swami and Kadamba Kanana Swami through the new temple project in Sri Mayapur Dhama. Enjoy the pictures!
If you cannot view the slideshow below, just visit flickr!
A few days ago Radha-Kanta Das went into the crane above the temple construction and took some fantastic photos! These really show the magnificence of the project and how Mayapur Dham is embracing the transcendental structure. Please take a look at the shots and witness the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu!
Tonight I cooked chickpeas with a homemade fresh tomato glaze. They tasted as superb as they looked. The secret is five hours long slow cooking with hardly any attention.
The ingredients: large chickpeas that were soaked yesterday then drained and boiled in fresh water today until very soft, and then partially drained; boiled further with fresh rainbow chard from the garden and homemade tomato puree cooked very long and slow with shredded fresh turmeric and shredded fresh ginger.
After a couple hours more on the lowest heat I added a tempering of olive oil plus black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, a tiny shard of cassia and asafetida. When the spices were golden and aromatic I quickly sprinkled in little cayenne pepper, and a tiny sprinkle of ras-el-hanout (middle-eastern 20-spice mix). I cooked it some more, unattended.
Finally, I added some chopped fresh parsley from the garden, a teaspoon raw sugar, a good squirt of fresh lemon juice, a blob of butter, and a couple teaspoons Himalayan salt. All served with super hot, fluffy plain Thai rice.
Verdict: My son Nitai, who does not like chickpeas, ate with relish. The perfect balance of hot, sour, sweet, salty and spicy. Heaven!!
A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course Sunday 27 November 2011 The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, and His eternal consort, Srimati Radharani are enjoying transcendental pastimes in the topmost planet of the spiritual world, Sri Goloka Vrindavan. They are beckoning us to rejoin them. (Click on photo to see a larger image.) Our Mission: To help everyone awaken their original Krishna consciousness, which is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss. Such a global awakening will, in one stroke, solve all the problems of the world society bringing in a new era of unprecedented peace and prosperity for all. May that day, which the world so desperately needs, come very soon. We request you to participate in this mission by reviving your dormant Krishna consciousness and assisting us in spreading this science all over the world. Dedicated with love to ISKCON Founder-Acharya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, our beloved spiritual master, and to you, our dear readers. For Transcendental Association Connect With Other Members of this Course. Join this Conference: http://groups.google.com/group/sda_students Help Popularize Our Message By Liking Today's Thought on Facebook: Today's Thought: Always Be Devoted to Krishna's Devotees uploaded from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA Krishna says to Arjuna in the Adi Purana that unless we are the devotees of His devotees that cannot be His devotees. Therefore to please Him we must always be devoted to His devotees. We should never disrespect or be offensive to any of His devotees. To do so is known as Vaisnava-aparadha. Even if there is some disagreement with a devotee, this must always remains a respectful disagreement. If we are offensive to Krishna's devotees, this Vaisnava aparadha is called hati mata, a mad elephant, because this will completely destroy our devotional creepers, just as an elephant will destroy a small plant if he steps on it. Therefore we must always carefully guard ourselves from this offense by always being devoted to Krishna's devotees in all circumstances. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: If an Advanced Devotee Heavily Suffers? My questions is: If an advanced devotee suffers heavily in his life, can it be said that he has not truly and fully surrendered to Krishna? Thank You. With Regards, Mukesh D. Answer: He Becomes More Glorious There is no question of being an advanced devotee if one has not truly and fully surrendered to Krishna. Such advanced devotees sometimes appear to suffer very heavily. One example is Namacharya Haridas Thakur, who was severely beaten in twenty-two market places by the order of the Muslim Kazi. The advanced devotee accepts such suffering as a blessing from Krishna to help him to become even more surrendered to Krishna. Just as a soldier becomes more decorated when he is wounded in battle, the Lord's devotees become more decorated and glorious by undergoing all varieties of sufferings in the Lord's service. In this connection Srila Prabhupada explains in his Srimad Bhagavatam purport as follows: When something is arranged by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one should not be disturbed by it, even if it appears to be a reverse according to one's calculations. For example, sometimes we see that a powerful preacher is killed, or sometimes he is put into difficulty, just as Haridas Thakur was. He was a great devotee who came into this material world to execute the will of the Lord by preaching the Lord's glories. But Haridas was punished at the hands of the Kazi by being beaten in twenty-two marketplaces. Similarly, Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, and Prahlada Maharaja was put through so many tribulations. The Pandavas, who were direct friends of Krishna, lost their kingdom, their wife was insulted, and they had to undergo many severe tribulations. Seeing all these reverses affect devotees, one should not be disturbed; one should simply understand that in these matters there must be some plan of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Bhagavatam's conclusion is that a devotee is never disturbed by such reverses. He accepts even reverse conditions as the grace of the Lord. One who continues to serve the Lord even in reverse conditions is assured that he will go back to Godhead, back to the Vaikuntha planets. Lord Brahma assured the demigods that there was no use in talking about how the disturbing situation of darkness was taking place, since the actual fact was that it was ordered by the Supreme Lord. Brahma knew this because he was a great devotee; it was possible for him to understand the plan of the Lord. --from purport to SB 3.16.37 I hope that this fully clarifies your understanding. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Transcendental Resources: Receive the Special Blessings of Krishna Now you too can render the greatest service to the suffering humanity and attract the all-auspicious blessings of Lord Sri Krishna upon yourself and your family by assisting our mission. Lectures and Kirtans in Audio and Video: Link to High Definition Videos Link to Over 1,000 Lecture Audios Lecture-Travel Schedule for 2011 http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/schedule Have Questions or Need Further Guidance? Check out the resources at: http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com or write Sankarshan Das Adhikari at: sda@backtohome.com Get your copy today of the world's greatest self-realization guide book, Bhagavad-gita As It Is available at:http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/store Know someone who could benefit from this? Forward it to them. Searchable archives of all of course material: http://www.sda-archives.com Receive Thought for the Day as an RSS feed: http://www.backtohome.com/rss.htm Unsubscribe or change your email address Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Daily_Thought Thought for the Day on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Ultimate.Self.Realization Copyright 2005-2011 by Ultimate Self Realization.Com Distribution of this material is encouraged. 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1968 November 27: "We should concern ourselves only with giving everything to Krishna. When we keep our association with Krishna only every activity is proper and liberating and should we dissociate ourselves from the Lord's Mercy then like a hand severed from the body, we become ugly and useless." Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
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