Bal Gopal das

A New Poem

2011-11-17T07:57:00.000-08:00

The sun rises... the clouds try to hold him back
Colors splash over the room
Drowning in light, I can breathe a little easier
Minutes pass by until an hour has gone
Where have I been? What have I been doing?
There are no tears, there are no smiles
A blank face who tries to hide from you...

As the sunlight hits my face
I want to burst into a hundred meteors
And slam into your planet heart
I want to profess my love in a million poems
Yet my hand is too weak to hold a pen
My heart to weak to hold an emotion
I slip back into my sunlit ocean...

Breathe baby, breathe...
Decorate the afternoon with laughter
Sing until the tears wash away the sadness
Play and dance, for the embodiment of purity
is smiling and waiting for you...

The sun has set and I no longer want to stay awake
I stare at the stars and remember my youth
A million hands reaching out to take you away
A million books to be read
A desire to find happiness rather than be content

In the night I wish to have you by my side
At night I pray to dream about sunlight

Theophany

2011-05-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Theophany....
I pray to all of the great souls who have seen the most beautiful face of the Supreme Person.
All glories to Adam and Eve who were able to see Him strolling in the Garden...
All glories to Moses who was able to see Him three times. Each time in a form that was beyond imagination...
All glories to Arjuna who was able to see the Lord as his servant...
All glories to Muhammad who during the Isra and Mi'raj was able to go where Gabriel the angel could not and be face to face with Allah...
All glories to the wonderful son of the greatest demon Hiranyakashipu, who because of his constant remembrance of the Lord was able to have the Lord's darshan as Narasinghadeva.
All glories to Srila Madhavendra Puri who saw the most beautiful cowherd boy Krishna, but was not able to recognize Him as the Lord...
All glories to the great pprophets of Israel who were able to see the Lord in the tabernacle...
All glories to Peter, James and John who were able to see the Transfiguration of Lord Jesus Christ...

All glories to Srinivas Acarya who in his meditation saw the most beautiful form of Lord Caitanya. Srinivas garlanded the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The fragrance of that garland threw Srinivas into great ecstasy. When he broke his meditation, Srinivas was wearing the garland.

Let us constantly pray to these great souls who by their purity saw the Divine face to face. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."- Matthew 5.8.
It's sad that I'd rather watch a television screen with images that stimulate my temporary senses than struggle to see the Lord.

Saint Augustine wrote: "In the house of God there is a never ending festival: For there is not an occasion celebrated once, and then to pass away. The angelic choir makes an eternal holiday: the presence of God's face, joy that never fails."

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in his purport to Sri Brahma-samhita 5.38 writes:

"The Śyāmasundara form of Kṛṣṇa is His inconceivable simultaneous personal and impersonal self-contradictory form. True devotees see that form in their purified hearts under the influence of devotional trance. The form Śyāma is not the blue color visible in the mundane world but is the transcendental variegated color affording eternal bliss, and is not visible to the mortal eye. On a consideration of the trance of Vyāsadeva as in the śloka, bhakti-yogena manasi etc., it will be clear that the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the full Personality of Godhead and can only be visible in the heart of a true devotee, which is the only true seat in the state of trance under the influence of devotion. When Kṛṣṇa manifested Himself in Vraja, both the devotees and nondevotees saw Him with this very eye; but only the devotees cherished Him, eternally present in Vraja, as the priceless jewel of their heart. Nowadays also the devotees see Him in Vraja in their hearts, saturated with devotion although they do not see Him with their eyes. The eye of devotion is nothing but the eye of the pure unalloyed spiritual self of the jīva. The form of Kṛṣṇa is visible to that eye in proportion to its purification by the practice of devotion. When the devotion of the neophyte reaches the stage of bhāva-bhakti the pure eye of that devotee is tinged with the salve of love by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, which enables him to see Kṛṣṇa face to face. The phrase "in their hearts" means Kṛṣṇa is visible in proportion as their hearts are purified by the practice of devotion. The sum and substance of this śloka is that the form of Kṛṣṇa, who is Śyāmasundara, Naṭavara (Best Dancer), Muralīdhara (Holder of the Flute) and Tribhańga (Triple-bending), is not a mental concoction but is transcendental, and is visible with the eye of the soul of the devotee under trance."

To go even further and deeper into the topic of theophany, seeing God, let us meditate on Srila Prabhupada's words from a lecture given in Bombay May 12, 1974: "Just work in such a way that God may see you. This is the Krishna consciousness movement. Everyone is busy to see God. Of course, it is not so easy to see God. But a devotee is not busy to see God, but he wants God to see him."
Even demons saw Krishna, yet they could not understand that He was the Supreme Lord, because they were envious. We should be more concerned about giving pleasure to the Lord rather than getting pleasure from seeing the Lord.

Then we can also meditate on how some can become proud that see God, or they take the Lord's darshan for granted. So what was the mood of the Six Gosvami's of Vraja?
"I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Six Gosvamis, who chanted very loudly everywhere in Vrindavana, shouting, 'O Queen of Vrindavana, Radharani! O Lalita! O son of Nanda Maharaja! Where are you all now? Are you on the hill of Govardhana, or are you under the trees on the bank of the Yamuna? Where are you?' These were their moods in executing Krishna consciousness."

What more can a fool like me say on this subject? I pray I may tread the path of the great souls before me and by their unfathomable mercy discern what is the proper mentality in performing suddha-bhakti, pure devotional service.

Characteristics of Surrender

2011-05-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

In the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, there is a famous verse that lists the six characteristics of surrender:
Anukulyasya sankalpah
pratikulyasya varjanam
raksisyatiti visvaso
goptrtve varanam tatha
atma-niksepa-karpanye
sad-vidha saranagatih

"The six divisions of surrender are the acceptance of those things favorable to devotional service, the rejection of unfavorable things, the conviction that Krishna will give protection, the acceptance of the Lord as one's guardian or master, full self-surrender and humility."

What is surrender? By definition surrender means, to give up or to yield to the possession or power of another. Human life is meant to surrender to the will of the Lord.The Lord appears in many different forms according to the love and devotion of His devotees. He also appears according to time, place, and circumstance to reestablish the religious principles. So these divisions of surrender are universal; they are not meant for just one institution.

The first part of surrender that is listed in the verse from above is anukulyasya sankalpah: accepting that which is favorable for devotional service. From the scriptures we know that devotional service means hearing, chanting, remembering, praying, worshiping, serving the lotus feet, being a servant, being a friend, and surrendering everything to the Lord. These are the activities in which one pleases the Lord. One may perfect one of these activities or perform many for the pleasure of the Lord.

So we must accept that in our life which is favorable for the execution of these activities. By becoming attached to the nine types of service we will slowly give up that which is unfavorable. Now we read in the scriptures how great demons like Kamsa and Sisupala were constantly talking and remembering the Lord. But we should know that even though it appears they were performing some of the same activities that devotees perform, they were not performing them in a favorable way. They were not giving pleasure to the Lord in a direct way. They were giving Him pleasure in an indirect way but to go into that would take a whole blog, so we will touch upon that another time.

There is a nice verse from Srila Rupa Gosvami that tells us what is favorable for devotional service: "There are six principles favorable to the execution of pure devotional service: (1) being enthusiastic, (2) endeavoring with confidence, (3) being patient, (4) acting according to regulative principles (such as śravaṇaḿ kīrtanaḿ viṣṇoḥsmaraṇam [SB 7.5.23] — hearing, chanting and remembering Kṛṣṇa), (5) abandoning the association of nondevotees, and (6) following in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas. These six principles undoubtedly assure the complete success of pure devotional service." Sri Upadesmrita 3.

The last principle is very important. By reading and meditating upon the lives of the great souls that have come before us we can learn how to properly implement the other principles in a healthy into our lives.

We are here surrender to God, and to help others surrender to God. Accepting that which is favorable for devotional service will help us fulfill this mission.

The Real Saint Patrick

2011-03-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world's most popular saints.

Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461.

Along with St. Nicholas and St. Valentine, the secular world shares our love of these saints. This is also a day when everyone's Irish.

There are many legends and stories of St. Patrick, but this is his story.

Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably Kilpatrick. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britian in charge of the colonies.

As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him.

During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote

"The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same." "I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."

Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britian, where he reunited with his family.

He had another dream in which the people of Ireland were calling out to him "We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more."

He began his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years.

Later, Patrick was ordained a bishop, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He arrived in Ireland March 25, 433, at Slane. One legend says that he met a chieftain of one of the tribes, who tried to kill Patrick. Patrick converted Dichu (the chieftain) after he was unable to move his arm until he became friendly to Patrick.

Patrick began preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland, converting many. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands and began building churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity when hearing Patrick's message.

Patrick by now had many disciples, among them Beningnus, Auxilius, Iserninus, and Fiaac, (all later canonized as well).

Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461.

He died at Saul, where he had built the first church.

Why a shamrock?

Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, and has been associated with him and the Irish since that time.

In His Footsteps:

Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. He feared nothing, not even death, so complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission.

Info on St. Patrick was taken from Catholic Online.

Glorifying Srimati Radhika

2011-03-12T16:34:00.000-08:00

"Radharani is a beautiful crescent moon of nectar born from the ocean of Vrsabhanu's family. The line of red vermilion decorating the lovely part of Radha's hai looks like a sweet river of nectar. I pray that my mind remains eternally fixed on Radhika, who becomes stunned with love for Krsna whenever She hears about His transcendental form and qualities. Kishori binds Her beautiful braids with delicate, fragrant jasmine flowers. Radha's large lotus eyes, restless with amorous desires, condemn the agile movements of khanjana birds.

"Radha's walking is more graceful than the gait of a regal mad elephant. Kishor's sweet golden limbs are more charming than the petals of a golden campaka flower. The golden creepers of Radharani's tender arms are decorated with jeweled armlets and bracelets. The astonishingly wonderful loveliness of Radha's divine form constantly enchants all the beautifulyoung girls of Vraja.

"Radharani's gently smiling face conquers the elegance of the full moon. Condensed fresh sweetness has appeared as Radha's lovely broad hips, which are bound by strings of bells. A wonderfullycolorful blouse conceals the beautiful golden waterpots of Radhika's large breasts. Radha's glossy red lips fillSyama's mind with a great longing to taste the delicious nectar therein. Radharani's shapely chin is splendidly anointed with a charming dot of musk. A large radiant pearl inlaid with gold and jewels hangs from Radha's pretty nose.

"Radhika's blissful divine form is the essence of the sweet ocean of beauty surging with waves of love for Syama. The deer of Krsna's eyes has fallen into the well of nectar known as Radha's enchanting navel. A red sari encircles Radha's divine body, which is made even made more dazzling by Her brilliant earrings, necklaces and anklets. Kishori trembles with amorous passion whenever She sees Gokulacnadra's footprints on the forest path. Those whose hearts are greedy to taste the nectar of vraja-rasa must glorify the incomparably beautiful transcendental body of Radhika as per the descriptions of the expert s in Vrndavana mellows."

-Govinda das Kaviraja
Sangita-Madhava

Psalm 141

2011-03-06T13:22:00.000-08:00

O Lord, I call to You; come quickly to me.

Hear my voice when I call to You.
May my prayer be set before You like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.

Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies.

Let a righteous man strike me-it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me-it is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it.

Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;
their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,
and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.They will say, "As one plows and breaks up the earth,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave."

But my eyes are fixed on You, O Sovereign Lord;
in You I take refuge-do not give me over to death.
Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,
from the traps set by evildoers.
Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by in safety.

Four Qualities

2011-03-05T16:46:00.000-08:00

" Sri caitanya Mahaprabhu destroyed the pride of Kandarpa when He stayed in the house of Ramananda. He exhibited His neutrality in the house of Damodara. He taught patience during His stay at the house of Haridas, and He taught humility through Rupa and Sanatana. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught all people the four Qualities of a devotee- continence, neutrality, patience, and humility."
- From Bhakti-Ratnakara

Mountain Air

2011-02-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

Clouds in arms length
Sheds my heart of all fear
In the distance is God's breath
Inhale love... Inhale wisdom

Sunbeams warming
Snow seeks it's shelter in the shade
Chanting in the cool air

The mountain silence makes it easier to concentrate

Christ Mass

2010-12-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada

From Krishna Kathamrita Bindu issue 241 (The entire issue can be read or downloaded here: http://www.gopaljiu.org/bindu )

Question: If Jesus Christ was a jagad-guru and his instructions are capable of bringing us deliverance, why do we need a spiritual master?

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada: We accept both the universal spiritual master and the initiating spiritual master. By accepting only the jagad-guru, we may face many anarthas. If at present we want to follow Christ’s orders by accepting him as jagad-guru and we think we do not require an initiating spiritual master, we will certainly face doubt about how well we can follow Christ’s orders. The Supreme Lord or universal jagad-guru delivers his instructions about the absolute truth only through the disciplic succession. As I sit on the bank of the Ganga in Nabadwip, far from the Himalayas where the Ganga originates, and am able to touch her water here, the initiating spiritual master similarly brings the Ganga of pure devotional service, which emanates from the lord’s lotus feet, and places it in my hand and on my head. Because I am an ordinary, powerless, poor person, I am not able to climb the Himalayas to touch her water there. Similarly, if the flow of the Ganga from the Himalayas is interrupted on the way, I would have to face the danger of accepting a polluted flow instead of the pure Ganga. If the instructions Jesus Christ gave two thousand years ago do not come to us through disciplic succession, or if we have to sort them out from books, then perhaps we may create a blunder and accept a perversion of the truth taught in the name of Christianity. We may even come to accept something opposite from what he taught, thinking it his actual philosophy.

The initiating spiritual master is also jagad-guru because he is a manifestation of the original jagad-guru. Out of his causeless mercy he delivers the message of the original jagad-guru through the disciplic succession. He does not cheat or flatter the disciple, nor does he yearn for any material gain. He is simply a messenger of the absolute truth.

— Amrta Vani, p. 44. Touchstone Media. Mumbai. 2004.

Moving Water

2010-11-14T12:08:00.000-08:00

A beautiful poem by Rumi:

"When you do things from your soul, you feel a moving in you, a joy.

When actions come from another section, the feeling disappears. Don't let others lead you.

They may be blind or, worse, vultures. Reach for the rope of God.

And what is that? Putting aside self-will.
Because of willfulness people sit in jail, the trapped bird's wings are tied, fish sizzle in the skillet.

The anger of police is willfulness. You've seen a magistrate inflict visible punishment.

Now see the invisible. If you could leave your selfishness, you would see how you've been torturing your soul.

We are born and live inside black water in a well.

How could we know what an open field of sunlight is? Don't insist on going where you think you want to go.

Ask the way to the spring. Your living pieces will form a harmony.

There is a moving palace that floats in the air with balconies and clear water flowing through, infinity everywhere, yet contained under a single tent."

Revelation of Desires

2010-10-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

Srila Raghunath das Gosvami's Abhista-sucanam from the book Stavavali:

Text 1

I pray that the wild horse of my heart may become like the cintamani jewel horse Srila Rupa Gosvami, which carries as its rider the desire to serve the gopa prince's beloved.

Text 2

Because of Srila Rupa Gosvami's efforts, my heart is now peaceful, controlled, able to know the nature of spirit, fixed in yoga, and attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Now that I have attained Srila Rupa's smiling, nectarean, compassionate glance, my heart has become wild by remembering the transcendental pastimes of Lord Hari.

Text 3

O doe playing in the forest, you are all very fortunate because with your eyes you always drink the nectar of Lord Krishna's face. As for myself, I am simply an unlucky dog wandering in Vraja trying to fill my belly. I never see Lord Krishna for even a moment.

Text 4

O friend, when you serve Vraja's king and queen, who many times have met in my heart, please give the remnants of Their betel nuts to me.

Text 5

O friend, I see you serving Sri Radha who, languid from many passionate amorous pastimes, and Her cheeks wet with perspiration, rests on the couch of Lord Krishna's chest.

Text 6

May the splendid moon of Lord Krishna, which tirelessly dispels the great darkness of the demons, showers the nectar of pure love on the devotees, cools the white lotus of Sri Radha, and makes the flowers of Her breasts blossom with happiness, protect us.

Text 7

At what very auspicious time will I directly see Sri Sri Radha-Krishna enjoying the sweet rasa-lila, arguing over some yogurt at the base of a hill, and playing with Their friends in waves of joking words pushed by breezes of amorous desire?

Text 8

May Krishna, the leader of the cowherd boys who, as He walks on the path with His friends and surabhi cows, with happiness and concern offers hundreds of blessings to Rohini-devi and the other devotees, and who, as the concerned queen of Vraja tearfully glances at His friends and at the lion-like Balarama, is gazed at with love and pride by the people of Vraja and with words of praise by Radha and His other gopi beloveds, protect us.

Text 9

"Friend who is this girl We have never seen before?"

"She is a vraja-gopi."

"From where has she come? Why has she come?"

"She has come from Mathura-pura to worship You."

When She heard the playful words "Now You may enjoy with the incomparable Lord Hari" Radha understood thath the girl was Krishna in disguise and at once burst into a smile.

Text 10

O tongue tortured by thirst, please mix the delicious nectar of the name Radha with the wonderfully sweet condensed milk of the name Krishna, ass the fragrant ice of pure love and drink this charming drink at every moment.

Text 11

O moon of Lord Caitanya, please make the lotus of my heart bloom! Please make that lotus beautiful with swarms of dancing bumblebees of meditation upon You! Please shake away the dense darkness of my offenses! o kind Lord, please make sinful me drink the nectar of your lotus feet!

Text 12

I pray that I may fan the two young dancers of Vraja who have become fatigued by happily dancing in Cupid's arena in an incomparable forest grove filled with the instrumental music of the expert cuckoos and the humming songs of the bees.

Text 13

On the strength of the service I have done to the pollen of his lotus feet, I am able to always reside, even times of trouble, by the shore of Radha-kunda at the base of Govardhana Hill. Protected by his friends, I chant and hear Sri Sri Radha-Mukunda's holy names, which defeat the sweetest nectar. I pray that Srila Rupa Gosvami may always protect me.

Radha and Durga

2010-09-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

Radhastami is this Wednesday so I've been reading about and meditating on Srimati Radharani.

In Srila Jiva Gosvami's commentary on Sri Brahma-samhita, verse 3,there is an interesting section talking about Durga and Radha:

"Sometimes Goddess Durga is also described as the supreme controller. This is also correct because there is no difference between the potencies and Lord Krishna, the master of the potencies. This is confirmed by the following words of the Gautamiya Tantra:

'Krishna is Durga. Durga is Krishna. One who sees that They are different will not become liberated from the cycle of repeated birth and death.'

Durga is the personal potency of Lord Krishna, and therefore She is Lord Krishna Himself. For this reason Durga should not be considered manifested from a portion of the Lord's illusory potency, Maya. This fact is confirmed by the following statement of the Nirukti:

'Even if one continually worships Her, Durga is still difficult to understand.'

Durga is also described in Narada-pancaratra, in the following conversation of Sruti and Vidya:

' Durga is the supreme goddess. She is an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. She is the transcendental potency of the Lord. She is manifested from the form of Lord Maha-Vishnu.

' Simply by understanding Her one immediately attains the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is not otherwise.

' She is identical with Gokul's queen Sri Radha, who possesses a great treasure of love for Krishna. By Her grace, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all living entities, is easily understood.

' She is the potency of personified devotional service. She worships Her beloved Supreme Lord. Because She is understood only with great difficulty, the saintly devotees call Her Durga, (difficult to understand.) She is the personal potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and She is always filled with the nectar of love for Him.

' From Her is manifested the mah-maya potency, the controller of all conditioned souls, who covers them with illusion. By this maha-maya potency the residents of the entire world are bewildered into thinking themselves identical with their external material bodies."

In the Sammohana Tantra, Durga Herself declares:

'I am Durga. I possess all virtues. I am not different from Sri Radha, the eternal, supreme goddess of fortune.'"

Three Kinds Of Bhakti

2010-09-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

A wonderful purport from Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi Lila, Chapter 4, texts 21-22 that I was studying:

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta three kinds of devotional service are described — namely, bhakti (ordinary devotional service), śuddha-bhakti (pure devotional service) and viddha-bhakti (mixed devotional service).

When devotional service is executed with some material purpose, involving fruitive activities, mental speculations or mystic yoga, it is called mixed or adulterated devotional service. Besides bhakti-yoga, the Bhagavad-gītā also describeskarma-yoga, jñāna-yoga and dhyāna-yoga. Yoga means linking with the Supreme Lord, which is possible only through devotion. Fruitive activities ending in devotional service, philosophical speculation ending in devotional service, and the practice of mysticism ending in devotional service are known respectively as karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga and dhyāna-yoga. But such devotional service is adulterated by the three kinds of material activities.

For those grossly engaged in identifying the body as the self, pious activity, orkarma-yoga, is recommended. For those who identify the mind with the self, philosophical speculation, or jñāna-yoga, is recommended. But devotees standing on the spiritual platform have no need of such material conceptions of adulterated devotion. Adulterated devotional service does not directly aim for love of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore service performed strictly in conformity with the revealed scriptures is better than such viddha-bhakti because it is free from all kinds of material contamination. It is executed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, solely to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Those who are spontaneously devoted to the Lord and have no aims for material gain are called attracted devotees. They are spontaneously attracted to the service of the Lord, and they follow in the footsteps of self-realized souls. Their pure devotion (śuddha-bhakti), manifested from pure love of Godhead, surpasses the regulative principles of the authoritative scriptures. Sometimes loving ecstasy transcends regulative principles; such ecstasy, however, is completely on the spiritual platform and cannot be imitated. The regulative principles help ordinary devotees rise to the stage of perfect love of Godhead. Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is the perfection of pure devotion, and pure devotional service is identical with spontaneous devotional service.

Flawless execution of regulative principles is exhibited in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. By strictly executing these principles one can be elevated to the Vaikuṇṭha planets. But spontaneous pure loving service is found in Kṛṣṇaloka alone.

Mode Of Worship

2010-09-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur's Sri Caitanya-siksamrta:

"People in various countries on various continents have a wide variety of natures. Although their principal nature is only one, their secondary characteristics are many- you will not find any two people in the world who have identical secondary qualities. Since even twins born of the same womb have some difference in form and quality, can one expect that people born in different countries can ever have exactly the same qualities?

Different countries have different water, air, mountains, forests, and different eatables and clothing. Because of this, the people of these places have naturally developed different physiques, complexions, customs, clothing and food. Similarly, people's mentalities differ.

Thus, various people's ideas of God though basically similar, will differ in secondary details...

Considered objectively, there is no harm in secondary differences. If there is agreement concerning the essential nature of God and His worship, there should be no obstacle in attaining the same result. Thus Mahaprabhu has taught that we should instruct everyone to worship the pure form of the Lord, but at the same time we should not criticize others' mode of worship."

Soul Poems by Rumi

2010-08-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

TWO POEMS BY RUMI

One Song

What is praised is one, so the praise is one too,
many jugs being poured
into a huge basin.
All religions, all this singing, one song.

The differences are just illusion and vanity. Sunlight looks slightly different on this wall
than it does on that wall and a lot different on this other one, but
it is still one light. We have borrowed these clothes, these time-and-space personalities,
from a light, and when we praise, we pour them back in.

-------------------------------------------------------

Four Interrupted Prayers

Four Indians enter a mosque and begin the prostrations.
Deep, sincere praying.

But a priest walks by, and one of the Indians, without thinking says, "Oh, are you going to give the call to prayer now? Is it time?"

The second Indian, under his breath, "You spoke. Now your prayers are invalid."

The third, "Uncle, don't scold him! You did the same thing. Correct yourself."

The fourth, "Praise to God, I have not made the mistake of these three."

So all four prayers are interrupted, with the three faultfinders being more at fault than the original speaker.
Blessed is one who his weakness, and blessed is one who, when he sees a flaw in someone else , takes responsibility for it.
Because, half of any person is wrong and weak and off the path.
Half!
The other half is dancing and swimming and flying in the invisible joy.
You have ten open sores on your head. Put what salve you have on yourself. And point out to everyone the disease you are.

That's part of getting well! When you lance yourself that way, you become more merciful and wiser. Even if you don't have a particular fault at the moment, you may soon be the one who makes some act notorious.

Don't feel self-satisfied. Lucifer lived eons as a noble angel. Think what his name means now.
Don't try to be famous until your face is completely washed of any fear. If your beard hasn't grown out, don't joke about someone's smooth chin.

Consider how Satan swallowed soul poison, and be grateful that you taste only the sweetness of being warned.

Srila Vamsidas Babaji Maharaja

2010-08-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the tirobhava of Srila Vamsidas Babaji Maharaja, a great saint the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition. Tirobhava, is translated as disappearance, because saints do not die like ordinary mortals. They wrap up their lila, or pastimes on the mundane plane. "He reasons ill who say vaisnavas die, while still living in sound. Vaisnavas die to live and living try to spread the holy name around."

Vamsidas Babaji was born in 1859 in a small village located in what is now known as Bangladesh. He grew up in family of fishermen. Nothing more was expected of him in life than to become a fisherman. Life at that time was very rough due to intense poverty.
He was initiated by the family guru who was from the line of Narottama das Thakura. He began to disassociate himself from this material world. He started spending more time at his guru's ashram. He then took initiation from Narottam das Babaji.

Vamsidas Babaji, like most paramahamsa babajis in Gaudiya Vaisnavism, did not follow certain rules and regulations meant for sadhakas. Rather his love of God flowed naturally that materialistic people cannot understand.
Vamsidas stood six feet tall, never cut his beard or hair, which was disheveled and matted, he never took a bath, and was prone to go on fasts for many days. His eyes looked wild and he only wore kaupins, or loincloths.
Even though he appeared dirty, he was always healthy and very strong.
He always spoke of Krishna and devotional service, but due to his intense devotion he could rarely be understood. He spoke in an unintelligible manner with little apparent connection between one sentence and the next. Sometimes he would start shouting the names of Krishna over and over again in ecstatic love.
Vamsidas always thought of Radha's and Krishna's pastimes or Mahaprabhu's and Nityananda's pastimes. He always sang songs about Them and always served Them with great love.
He mostly stayed in Navadvip where he lived in a small bhajan-kutir. There he had deities of Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, Radha-Krishna and Bal Gopal. He would often carry Bal Gopal around in his right hand. He would spend hours talking to the deities. Srila Prabhupada gave a lecture in Los Angeles stating: "If you think this deity is a brass-made idol, then it will remain a brass-made idol to you forever. But if you elevate yourself to higher platform of Krishna consciousness, then Krishna, this Krishna, will talk with you. There is a Vamsidas Babaji Maharaja, he was talking with his Deity."

There are many beautiful pastimes of Babaji Maharaja. I'm very sorry that I cannot properly describe all of them now.
One time during his stay in Jagannath Puri, during Ratha-yatra, Lord Jagannnath's cart stopped where Babaji Maharaja was staying. Whatever they tried to do they could not move the cart. After Babaji Maharaja had some intimate conversations with the Lord the chariot started moving again.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura revered Vamsidas as a great saint and were very eager to serve him and receive his association. They first met him in 1903. In later years Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati sometimes crossed the river from Mayapur to visit Babaji Maharaja in Kuliya. Seeing him coming Vamsidas would claim, "Oh, a manjari has come, so won't Radha also come? She will come! She will come!" Bhaktisiddhanta always had three brahmacaris stay with Babaji Maharaja just to get his food remnants. They would then send the remnants to Mayapur and Vrindavan. The Goswamis in charge of Radha-Raman would eagerly take the foodstuffs.

It is very difficult to try and understand the great souls from an intellectual and mundane point of view. Attempting to glorify them is great purification. I sincerely seek Babaji Maharaja's blessings.

Mercy

2010-08-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

Where is the mercy I was promised?

Hear I cry and laugh
Laugh at my stupidity
How could it be , that I let my mind flee?
Still I'll tread steadily
Will you wait for me?
You are miles ahead
I'm struggling to get out of bed
Remember what Gurudev said?

The snow is deep
inhalations burn but now it's my turn
My turn to hold Vasuki and churn
Churn out my desires and impurity
Are you still trying to get through to me?

Shiva don't throw the trident down
In this ocean of milk I'll drown
Unless you save me...........

Is this the mercy I was promised?

I fall and cry out loud
No, I've been way too proud
Count myself out of the crowd
Read out loud and now I wear the shroud

Forgot the route back to the sky
that blissful sky where you'll go when you die
I let out a heavy sigh and you ask why

Why? Am I alive
or am I dead body decorated with jewels?
I'm only alive to those gross fools

Here I stand proud only to be brought down on my knees
Begging please, please, please

Show me some mercy..........

My Thought From Yesterday

2010-07-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had an epiphany that hit me like a wrecking ball. We cannot understand non-sectarianism if we are on the bodily concept of life. Do you agree? Allow me to make my point.

We are eternal spirit souls. That is the very beginning of real knowledge according to all religious and philosophical schools. This body is temporary and full of suffering. It dies, the spirit goes on. This is the first thing to be realized, not just known, but actualized. And this is also something I could go on for pages about, but will not here.

When we are in illusion, we believe we are the body. When we believe we are the body, we think, "I am American, Chinese, Mexican, or what have you." Then, "I am Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, male, female, and so on and so on."

We connect with other people that have similar "body types." The mentality of a person is then very much shaped by the constrictions placed upon the idea of your body.

Non-sectarianism is first understanding that the body has very little value and the soul is the most important thing. In the Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 18, texts 19-21 it is stated, "According to the three different modes of material nature, there are three kinds of knowledge, action and performer of action. Now hear of them from Me. That knowledge by which one undivided spiritual nature is seen in all living entities, though they are divided into innumerable forms, you should understand to be in the mode of goodness. That knowledge by which one sees that in every different body there is a different type of living entity you should understand to be in the mode of passion."

We are divided in our thinking. By freeing ourselves from the bodily consciousness, we will understand the truth: everyone is an eternal servant of God. Everyone no matter what color your skin, no matter what political view you hold, and no matter what religious practice you are a part of.

How do we place the truth in our heart? The holy name of the Lord is that which will illuminate our heart clearing away all darkness. He will clean everything, so that we can understand properly. Then we can have real peace.

Remembering Aindra Prabhu

2010-07-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

AN OFFERING OF THE HEART by Radhanath Swami

As the effulgent sun of Sri Aindra Prabhu’s divine personality has risen in the spiritual world of Goloka Vrindaban, the sun of his physical presence has set in Gokula, the Vrindaban of this world. And we cry in separation.

The glorious life of Aindra Prabhu personifies determination and devotion, all aimed exclusively for the pleasure of Sri Sri Radha Shyamasundara. His heart floods like the Yamuna while being inundated by the monsoon of Srila Prabhupada’s Divine Grace. His love for Vrindaban is the life of his soul.

Aindra Prabhu was infinitely beyond being a musician. He passionately renounced all of the charms of the material world to exclusively dedicate his heart and soul to chanting the Holy Names of God. Day and night his entire being was engrossed in the names of Radha Shyamasundara. He breathed for kirtan. His heart beat for kirtan. Lord Chaitanya empowered his kirtan with an inconceivable sweetness, power and musical skill that attracted our hearts like no other. While singing kirtan Aindra Prabhu’s emotions would erupt like a volcano of devotion that inundated and mesmerized our hearts.

I believe every stone, brick and pillar of Krishna Balaram Temple and every tree and particle of sacred dust in Raman Reti is permeated with the sound vibration of Aindra Prabhu’s devotion. If we open our hearts we will hear. Aindra Prabhu exported the sweetness of Vrindaban’s love throughout the world and we are forever grateful.
As thousands of devotees cry upon the realization of his physical loss, I feel at a loss for words. Aindra Prabhu was so dear a friend and Godbrother to me. The kindness, love and encouragement that he always showered upon me are a treasure that I pray to remember forever.

Aindra Prabhu, your beloved Lordships, Sri Sri Radha Shyamasundara have now brought you into Their eternal pastimes. We celebrate your life with tears of gratitude.

Parents Of Spirit

2010-07-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

This material world has so many promises. I remember growing up and feeling like I could be anything I wanted. Teachers and parents encourage you to strengthen your abilities so that one day you can use them in a profession to make lots of money. Will I do this with my daughter? Will I focus on her material assets more than her spiritual growth?

Parents who are following spiritual traditions want their children to also take part in their tradition. If the children decide to go somewhere else to receive spiritual knowledge than the parents become frustrated and sometimes even reject them. Often the children leave the tradition because it is not relevant to them or the parents want the children to be more serious than themselves.

I realize that I have to strengthen my daughter's talents and at the same time give her spiritual knowledge that will be relevant to her life. To do that I myself must have a strong practice and deep knowledge of the culture in which I am receiving spiritual knowledge. Isn't that kids have many questions that adults cannot answer and then that creates disappointment in learning from the adults?

In the Srimad Bhagavatam it is stated, "One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod." 5.12.12
Today it seems that parents want somebody else to impart upon their children values and spiritual teachings.

A spiritual culture starts with spiritual parents. I have to look at myself when I get up and ask myself am I being a spiritual parent.

God Is Love

2010-02-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

I've been reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dosteovsky for the last week. It is a beautiful book that is making me think deeply on many subject matters. I wanted to share an excerpt with all of you that I found very moving.

The setting is a monastery where the hero Alyosha is meeting with his family to discuss things with the elder Zossima. Father Zossima is excused from the family to attend to some guests that are waiting for him. The visitors are peasant women from various places. He meets a few and they tell him their stories and sins. The excerpt is from their meeting:

But the elder had already noticed in the crowd two glowing eyes fixed upon him. An exhausted, consumptive- looking, though young peasant woman was gazing at him in silence. Her eyes besought him, but she seemed afraid to approach.
“What is it, my child?”

“Absolve my soul, Father,” she articulated softly and slowly, sank on her knees and bowed down at his feet. “I have sinned, Father. I am afraid of my sin.”
The elder sat down on the lower step. The woman crept closer to him, still on her knees.
“I am a widow these three years,” she began in a half-whisper, with a sort of shudder. “I had a hard life with my husband. He was an old man. He used to beat me cruelly. He lay ill; I thought looking at him, if he were to get well, if he were to get up again, what then? And then the thought came to me—”

“Stay!” said the elder, and he put his ear close to her lips.
The woman went on in a low whisper, so that it was almost impossible to catch anything. She had soon done.

“Three years ago?” asked the elder.

“Three years. At first I didn’t think about it, but now I’ve begun to be ill, and the thought never leaves me.”

“Have you come from far?”

“Over three hundred miles away.”

“Have you told it in confession?”

“I have confessed it. Twice I have confessed it.”

“Have you been admitted to Communion?”

“Yes. I am afraid. I am afraid to die.”

“Fear nothing and never be afraid; and don’t fret. If only your penitence fail not, God will forgive all. There is no sin, and there can be no sin on all the earth, which the Lord will not forgive to the truly repentant! Man cannot commit a sin so great as to exhaust the infinite love of God. Can there be a sin which could exceed the love of God? Think only of repentance, continual repentance, but dismiss fear altogether. Believe that God loves you as you cannot conceive; that He loves you with your sin, in your sin. It has been said of old that over one repentant sinner there is more joy in heaven than over ten righteous men. Go, and fear not. Be not bitter against men. Be not angry if you are wronged. Forgive the dead man in your heart what wrong he did you. Be reconciled with him in truth. If you are penitent, you love. And if you love you are of God. All things are atoned for, all things are saved by love. If I, a sinner, even as you are, am tender with you and have pity on you, how much more will God. Love is such a priceless treasure that you can redeem the whole world by it, and expiate not only your own sins but the sins of others.”

He signed her three times with the cross, took from his own neck a little ikon and put it upon her. She bowed down to the earth without speaking.

Against The Grain

2010-02-21T09:11:00.000-08:00

In this world, the norm is to be self centered. I'm sure someone will disagree with me and start an argument, but allow me to present my case.

We are born. Everybody shows us affection and kindness. People buy us many different things so that we can be comfortable. From blankets to toys we are given the necessities and more. As we grow, our individuality develops and our likes and dislikes are more clear. Relatives and friends then struggle to meet the demands of your likes and keep you from your dislikes.

We continue to grow up. The rest of the adult life is spent focusing your career and marriage. Within the realm of that life you are again struggling to make things as comfortable for yourself as possible. All this time we are meditating on ourselves. True there are spurts of charity and renunciation in between but that is mostly out duty or trying to prove to yourself and others that you're a good person.

What I am trying to get at is that people deep down truly want to be selfless. The problem is that the world is pushing us towards selfishness. The great souls who have struggled on the path of enlightenment have shown us that we must go against this world. Lord Jesus, Lord Buddha, Lord Chaitanya, and many others have told us that we must go against the world. Jesus has spoken, "My kingdom is not of this world." John 18:36. He also told us to be in the world but not of the world.

We should understand that anybody who is sincerely seeking love of God, is not in this world. They are jiva-mukta, or liberated even in this life. They are not on the material plain. Therefore they are not affected by the propaganda of selfishness. Because they have love, real love, not lust, they have compassion and empathy.

Something that came to mind is that people want to be compassionate and loving but want to leave God out of the equation. They want Jesus without the Father, or Buddha without Nirvana. If you think of the people who are the kindest and most gentle in the world what automatically comes to mind? Those who are religious or spiritual. Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama, or Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.; all these great souls are God Loving.

The sneaky propaganda now is that we can be atheistic and yet have the qualities of saints. Rather, if we do not realize that everything is meant for Krishna's service, then we will exploit whatever resources we have. Even renunciation cannot fully purify the heart, please read Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Chapter 5, Text 2 purport. If we think we can renounce anything that is illusion because everything is actually God's property.

So by surrendering unto the Lord and His servants we are able to cleanse the heart from selfishness. But to do so we must go against the grain.

Holy Names

2010-01-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

By chanting the Holy Names of the Lord we are able to purify our hearts. By purifying our hearts we are able to understand who we actually are. Some people are prone to visiting psychiatrists to learn more about themselves. I am not against this because in some cases people need someone to really guide them and listen. But if we want to know our true selves, then we must cleanse the mirror of the heart.

By karma we have been given a certain body with traits that reflect our desires carried over from our past lives. We identify with this material body. When we wake up and look in the mirror most of us say I'm looking at myself. But in truth we are only looking at the vehicle that the soul is riding in. Yantrarudhani mayaya- or the machine in which the soul is seated. This is the false ego.

The chanting of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare is the sacrifice for this age. What is sacrifice? The main sacrifice in this day and age is time. People are busy either in sense gratification or gaining money. Time is seen as valuable if you're engaged in these two activities. So, the chanting is sacrificing your time for the Lord. Instead of using your time for your own selfish agendas, you take the Holy Names.

To those who see sacrifice as a burnt offering or throwing grains into the mouth of Lord Vishnu, the sacrifice of the Holy Names is offering our minds and hearts unto the Lord by concentrating on His Names which are non-different than Him.

So by chanting the Holy Names we sacrifice our time to be with the Lord and by associating with the Lord we are able to establish our true ego- the eternal servant of God. The example given is the iron rod. If you place an iron rod in fire it will become like fire. Anything you touch it to will be burnt. If you place it in the cold, that rod will be cold. So by associating with the Lord we will be placed in our spiritual nature.

How do we receive inspiration for chanting? By associating with the Lord's devotees who are the representatives of Lord Krishna. So really everything depends on association. If we are truly introspective, we will use our intelligence in knowing what is good association and bad association. And we will know when to give our association to help others.

To really surrender to the Holy Names we must cultivate the six symptoms of surrender, which are: accepting that which is favorable for our Krishna consciousness, rejecting that which is unfavorable, knowing that the Lord will give protection, knowing the Lord is your guardian, full self surrender, and humility. And by surrendering to the Holy Names, Krishna will reveal everything to us.

Darshan

2010-01-17T11:41:00.000-08:00

Here is an excerpt from a lecture by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura that I read and thought I should spread it to others. It is dated November 10, 1936:

"I see the statue"- this kind of thinking is in the spirit of enjoyment, whereas "THe deity sees me, my uncovered pure self" is deity darshan. I f in the same way that I see a movie, drama, or gymnastic display or hear a song I think, "I can see the deity with my eyes and fathom Him by my intelligence," such an attempt will be on the material platform. One will derive no benefit from such inclinations not meant for satisfying the Lord's senses. Faith in the Lord entails not having faith in mundane enjoyment or renunciation. If one has faith in this world, then that is bhoga (enjoyment): "The objects of the world are for my enjoyment." Such a mentality is due to not having initiation and spiritual knowledge.

Worldly people are completely different from devotees. Difficulties occur when one thinks that He who is to be served should serve oneself: "O Lord, take notice of me. I am coming to collect dues from You in the form of dharma-artha-kama-moksha for sense gratification." Hiding this inner intention, a person says, jagannatha svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me and other such delerious karma-kandiya words. This is not bhakti. "I went and saw the holy place. I went and saw the tree. I went and saw Jagannath. I went and saw the sadhu. Bestowing upon them a degree, I have dismissed them and come here"- all of this is a matter of enjoyment and cannot at all be called service. If the consideration of "Who am I?" has not entered the heart, and if sambandha-jnana concerning my eternal object of worship never arises, then how will sraddha and saranagati develop?

Witout faith one cannot have darshan of the Lord or His devotee. Instead, malice and envy will appear. Why envy? One will become envious when another person rises higher than himself. In the opening of Bhagavatam, bhagavata-dharma is called the dharma of those sadhus who are without envy. All humanity is careering around only with the concept of dharma-artha-kama-moksha.

The Essence of Religion

2010-01-06T22:15:00.000-08:00

Today I was meditating on how violence and racism is being spread by so called religious people. Rather than coming together and helping one another we are working against each other. Because of this atheism is actually spreading. I thought to write a blog about this and then I saw this video by my spiritual master. Please watch it and then pass it on to others so that we can all be inspired to spread love, compassion and tolerance.

Matisyahu With Trevor Hall, "My Beating Heart"

2009-12-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

Matisyahu with Trevor Hall - - - - - - - - - - My Beating Heart>Rastaman Chant from Coloartist on Vimeo.

A Nice Poem by Rumi

2009-12-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

There are those who accept the law of Moses and not the grace and love of Jesus,
like the Jewish king who killed Christians. This is not seeing right. Moses is,
inside the soul of Jesus and Jesus is in the soul of Moses.
One era belonged to one;
then it was the other's turn, but they are one being. A teacher said to a slightly
cross-eyed student, "Hand me the glass bottle there."
"Which one?"
"There are not two."
"Don't scold me, teacher, but I see two."
"Smash one of them."
Of course, both were broken. This is how it is when we see through the
double vision of lust, anger, or some religious self-interest.
A bribed judge cannot distinguish the one who's been cruel from the victim.
A good prayer is, Lord, help us see both worlds as one.

Complacent War

2009-11-30T20:55:00.001-08:00

The feeling of beginning something new. The freshness the atmosphere has while starting the journey. Whatever it may be there's something exciting about beginning something, everything is new. On the spiritual journey, no matter what religion you might be a part of, the beginnings are always great. You receive a lot of mercy and grace and you learn so many new things about yourself and of philosophy.

But, as we tread on we start noticing stones and pebbles. Difficulties arise, we seek protection and we overcome fears. The battle dies down and then there's a secret war. A war that you don't even know you're a part of. THe war of complacency. What you've learned becomes basic knowledge and we carry out our rituals lazily just to get them over with. We become distracted by things we once had no attraction for because we were so enthusiastic in our spiritual practices.

Today I read some quotes by Thomas Merton that started me thinking about what I wrote above. Here they are:

"One cannot begin to face the real difficulties of the life of prayer and meditation unless one is first perfectly content to be a beginner and really experience himself as one who knows little or nothing, and has a desperate need to learn the bare rudiments. Those who think they "know" from the beginning will never, in fact, come to know anything."

"We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginners, all our life!"

And there's a passage in Nectar of Devotion written by Srila Prabhupada that is very instructive in being enthusiastic:

"In other words, one should learn how to cry for the Lord. One should learn this small technique, and he should be very eager and actually cry to become engaged in some particular type of service. This is called laulyam, and such tears are the price for the highest perfection. If one develops this laulyam, or excessive eagerness for meeting and serving the Lord in a particular way, that is the price to enter into the kingdom of God. Otherwise, there is no material calculation for the value of the ticket by which one can enter the kingdom of God. The only price for such entrance is this laulyam lālasāmayī, or desire and great eagerness."

So please help me fight.

My Discovery of Kabir

2009-11-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

Poem by Kabir das:

1) Poet Kabir Das says, “When I was born, the world smiled and I cried. However, I will do such deeds that when I leave, I will be the one smiling and the world will be the one crying.” This life is like a very thin transparent shawl which should be drenched in the holy name of Lord Rama, the Reservoir of Pleasure.

2) The eight lotuses is the spinning wheel using the five earthly elements to make the chadar (the body). In nine or ten months, the chadar is completed; however, the fools will destroy it.

3) When the chadar is completed, it is sent to the dyer -rang rej-(the spiritual master) to color it. The dyer (the spiritual master) colored it as such that it is all red (the color of self-realization).

4) Do not have doubts or fears while wearing this chadar. It is only given to you for two days and it is temporary too. The foolish people do not understand the temporariness of this chadar, and they day by day destroy it.

5) Great devotees such as Dhruva Maharaja, Prahlad Maharaja, Sudama, and Śuka have worn this chadar as well as purified their chadars as well other chadars (souls). The servant, Kabir Dasa, is attempting to wear this chadar as given to him originally by his guru.

Kabir on the greatness of God:

"I have done nothing and nothing can I do,
this body is capable of nothing:
Whatever is done is the work of Hari,
It is He who made Kabir `Kabir'!

If I made the seven seas my ink
and the trees of the forest my pen,
If the whole expanse of earth were my paper,
still I could not write greatness of Ram!

Kabir, what good deed can you do,
if Ram comes not to your aid?
Since every branch you step upon
yields and gives way!"

Holiday Cheer

2009-11-25T13:23:00.000-08:00

Tis the season to be jolly. Oh the holiday season has arrived. Children are writing their list for Santa, parents are rushing here and there to get presents, families are getting together, and the mood of the world is lighter.
This time of the year, people also start asking themselves big questions. Obviously the television and theater shows aid the public in this area. THe classics are played to get people into this mood. The classics such as: It's A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, and Jesus of Nazareth.
The underlying themes are gratitude and selfless service. Especially when we are with family during the holidays, we forget about all the craziness that happens during the rest of the year. We are grateful we are surrounded by loved ones and focus on their positive qualities.
People, at this time, also focus on selfless service. Jesus Christ is the epitome of selfless service. Everyone is in the giving mood no matter what position you may hold. Unless you're Scrooge.
The hard part is accepting that this atmosphere is quickly forgotten. Kids go back to school, parents go back to work, and the world is once again back to "normal." Everyone is busy and distracted.
For those who are sincerely seeking spiritual truth, gratitude and selfless service are constantly in the foreground, not just at holiday times. It is a struggle. Most of the world wants to go with the flow. The incessant flow of material desires and bad habits. The spiritual seeker must struggle against the flow.
When we are busy and swept away by the swift flow, then we start thinking about our time. We start thinking what are others doing for me? I'm doing so much, why aren't others working as hard as me? This is our false ego keeping us from diving deeply into a mood conducive for spiritual awareness.
So let us help each other cultivate the holiday mood, not just on Thanksgiving or Christmas, but throughout the year and in doing so we will advance together rather than alone.

On Haridas Samadhi [ A Saragrahi Vaishnava] by Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura

2009-09-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

O! Born of Muslim parents, Haridas!
And trained in youth in Muslim creed,
Thy noble heart to Vaishnava truth did pass!-
Thy holy acts thy candor plead!

Is there a soul that cannot learn from thee
That man must give up sect for God?-
That thoughts of race and sect can ne'er agree
With what they call religion broad?

Thy love of God and brother soul alone
Bereft thyself of early friends,-
Thy softer feelings oft to kindness prone
Led on thyself for higher ends!!

I weep to read that Kazis and their men
Oft persecuted thee, alas!
But thou didst nobly pray for th' wicked then!
For thou wert Vaishnava Haridas!

And God is boundless grace to thee, O man!
United thee to one who came
To save the fallen souls from evil's plan
Of taking human souls to shame.

And he it was who led you all that came
For life eternal, -holy,-pure!
And gave you rest in Heaven's enduring name
And sacred blessings ever sure!

Thy body rests upon the sacred sands
Of Swargadwar near the sea,
Oh! Hundreds come to thee from distant lands
T' enjoy a holy, thrilling glee!

The waters roar and storming winds assail
Thy ears in vain, Ah! Vaishnava soul!
The charms of Brindaban thy heart regale,
Unknown the wheel of time doth roll!!

He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavas die
When thou art living in sound.
The Vaishnavas die to live and living try
To spread a holy life around!

Now let the candid man that seeks to live
Follow thy way on shores of time,
Then posterity sure to him will give
Like one song in simple rhyme!

Struggle

2009-08-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

My head dunks underneath the water
Sound is absent...
I hold my breath as long as I can
The sun creates a beautiful seen on the waves...

My mind begins to wander
I try to search for my source of happiness
Is it there in my daughter's face?
Is it there in the laughter of my wife?
I witness my brothers and sisters struggling everyday

They struggle for their position and money
They struggle for a social life... They struggle for sex

Spiritual life is also a struggle...
The illusory potency is so strong and cruel
She presents the best offers possible only to blow you over like a twig in a hurricane
I have to admit that I flirt with her daily
Somehow by the devotees' insurmountable mercy I am still struggling

Let's go to the desert
The desert is actually in our hearts
Jesus went to the desert for forty nights and forty days
His heart was flooded by the pure waters of God's love
Flirting with maya is like putting a drop on the desert like soil of our hearts
We torture ourselves with a drop
When the ocean is there at any moment

Lust, anger and greed trample me when I should show restraint
I pray and curse my fickle mind
O Lord, what will You do with such a foolish person?

I struggle to chant Your holy names
My brother struggles for temporary sense gratification
So many people in anxiety and living with fear
I curse myself because I allow them to live this way
Why don't I struggle to help them?
Instead I criticize them to show how I'm better than them

Where is my humility?
Where is my compassion?
O Radha, You are the keeper of Krishna's heart
You give energy to the devotees
You are most merciful
When shall this fallen soul gain the most precious opportunity of serving the devotees of Your devotees?

Finally More Poems and Prayers

2009-08-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

Got No Water by Matisyahu:

"You quench my thirsting soul and you fill my appetite
I give myself to you because you treat me right
Put my trust in the world and the world gets tight
Shift my trust to you it's like a crystal clear night
Expand in all directions get the sections to unite
Hashem's rays fire blaze light my way light of my life
And these days well wait no longer night
I´m reaching for my God like skyscrapers in the night
I said I know it's hard inside is empty galus (exile) cuts like a knife
Internalize torah vibes bound to feel alright

Chorus:
Whirlwind of praise from below to above
Take flight in the sky got wings like a dove,
We Soaring to shamayim (heaven) where the angels call in love
And the glory of Hashem fits like a glove

Hashem rules the world and Israel is his wife
Love you yes my God with all my heart my soul and my might
When I feel you by my side yes I'm flying like a kite
When I feel you by my side yes I'm soaring like a kite

You open up my eyes and give me sight
Super energized and everyday I feel you give me life
I seen the ways of the world intoxifying on pride
Young man don't you know drugs impurify your mind
When Israel left mitzrayim four fifths got left behind
If you got no water how you gonna survive
Roots lead you to the well springs so you could stay alive
Pharaoh claimed to be a God and claimed to make the Nile
A crocodile could smile and show his teeth
You could see beauty shining externally but that's the story of Greece
Inside America bleeds, Israel won't you get up from your knees
Its just lies in disguise Torah's truth won't you please alive
Given to the humble one on Mt. Sinai

Chorus

Shma Y'sroel, Hashem Elokainu, Hashem Echad
(Hear Israel, the lord is our God, the lord is one)

The world could just crumble to dust it's just us it's not two it's just one
The middle road called truth, Torah you sooth my brain bruise
Open up peruse with knowledge of God
And move up an arousal from below till the secrets start to ooze
Don't snooze it's pure light the most high wants us alive
What's the proof?
We got life!
Chabad philosophy that's the deepest well-spring
Gaining knowledge of God while your gaining money
Fill up yourself with the light of his majesty
In a world of separation that's the only way to be
It's time we leave we won't flee just walk out easily

If you got no water how you gonna survive

Chorus"

Excerpt from The Masnavi Book 4 by Rumi:
"He loved music because he heard in it a mysterious conversation. Voices singing, the low menace of the drum, clear flute and trumpet. Philosophers have said that we love music because it resembles the sphere sounds of union. We've been part of a harmony before, so these moments of treble and bass keep our remembering fresh. But how does this happen within these dense bodies full of forgetfulness and doubt and grieving? It's like water passing through us. It becomes acidic and bitter, but still still as urine it retains watery qualities. It will put out a fire! So there is this music flowing through our bodies that can dowse restlessness. Hearing the sound, we gather strength. Love kindles with melody. Music feeds a lover composure, and provides form for the imagination. Music breathes on personal fire and makes it keener."

Psalm 133:
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing- life forever more."

Third Eye by Tool:
"Dreaming of that face again. It's bright and blue and shimmering. Grinning wide and comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes. On my back and tumbling down that hole and back again rising upand wiping the webs and the dew from my withered eye. In Out In Out In Out A child's rhyme stuck in my head. It said that life is but a dream. I've spent so many years in question to find I've known this all along. "So good to see you. I've missed you so much. So glad it's over. I've missed you so much. Came out to watch you play. Why are you running?" Shrouding all the ground around me. Is this holy crow above me. Black as holes within a memory and blue as our new second sun. I stick my hand into his shadow to pull the pieces from the sand. Which I attempt to reassemble to see just who I might have been. I do not recognize the vessel, but the eyes seem so familiar. Like phosphorescent desert buttons singing one familiar song... "So good to see you. I've missed you so much. So glad it's over. I've missed you so much. Came out to watch you play. Why are you running away?" Prying open my third eye. So good to see you once again. I thought that you were hiding. And you thought that I had run away. Chasing the tail of dogma. I opened my eye and there we were. So good to see you once again I thought that you were hiding from me. And you thought that I had run away. Chasing a trail of smoke and reason. Prying open my third eye."

Here I sit pouring over transcendental literatures
My mind struggles to retain, as my intelligence struggles to apply
O Lord Krishna this world is full of struggling
By Your mercy I somehow strive
I am thankful to be alive...
I am grateful to be allowed the opportunity to know Your most intimate pastimes
Most grateful to be allowed to chant Your holy names
All of this is a gift from my Gurudeva whose humility and devotion is as deep as the ocean
I pray to you Srila Prabhupada!
You have relieved me from the burden of impersonalism
What will I do with these rare jewels?
Will I keep them on a shelf some place?
Sitting and staring at the ocean
The breeze surrounds me and lifts my spirits
Chanting as I watch the waves crash
I sincerely pray to pray sincerely...
Bal Gopal das writes this as he meditates on the lotus feet of His Holiness Radhanath Swami

Vaikuntha Children

2009-07-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

For me being a father has been a great joy, not only for material reasons, but being being a father has allowed me to attain great insight into my spiritual life. There's struggles and tears involved but I would not trade anything in the world for those great experiences that have enriched my life these past few years.

Upon thinking about this, I recently read a great purport by Srila Prabhupada from the Tenth Canto, Chapter Seven, Verse Four. We hear so many stories today about people either giving up their children or killing their children. It's a very sad time in the human history that so many of these things are going, what to speak of abortion. So here's the purport all glories to the beautiful Vaikuntha children.

"There is no question of overpopulation or of children's being a burden for their parents in a Vedic society. Such a society is so well organized and people are so advanced in spiritual consciousness that childbirth is never regarded as a burden or a botheration. The more a child grows, the more his parents become jubilant, and the child's attempts to turn over are also a source of jubilation. Even before the child is born, when the mother is pregnant, many recommended ritualistic ceremonies are performed. For example, when the child has been within the womb for three months and for seven months, there is a ceremony the mother observes by eating with neighboring children. This ceremony is called svāda-bhakṣaṇa. Similarly, before the birth of the child there is the garbhādhāna ceremony. In Vedic civilization, childbirth or pregnancy is never regarded as a burden; rather, it is a cause for jubilation. In contrast, people in modern civilization do not like pregnancy or childbirth, and when there is a child, they sometimes kill it. We can just consider how human society has fallen since the inauguration of Kali-yuga. Although people still claim to be civilized, at the present moment there is actually no human civilization, but only an assembly of two-legged animals."

Devotional Scriptures Part Two

2009-06-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 1, Chapter 5, text 10 purport given to us by Srila Prabhupada. I thought I should add this beautiful purport to balance my ramblings.

"Similarly, there are different kinds of literature for different types of men of different mentality. Mostly the market literatures which attract men of the crow's categories are literatures containing refused remnants of sensuous topics. They are generally known as mundane talks in relation with the gross body and subtle mind. They are full of subject matter described in decorative language full of mundane similes and metaphorical arrangements. Yet with all that, they do not glorify the Lord. Such poetry and prose, on any subject matter, is considered decoration of a dead body. Spiritually advanced men who are compared to the swans do not take pleasure in such dead literatures, which are sources of pleasure for men who are spiritually dead.

These literatures in the modes of passion and ignorance are distributed under different labels, but they can hardly help the spiritual urge of the human being, and thus the swanlike spiritually advanced men have nothing to do with them. Such spiritually advanced men are called also mānasa because they always keep up the standard of transcendental voluntary service to the Lord on the spiritual plane. This completely forbids fruitive activities for gross bodily sense satisfaction or subtle speculation of the material egoistic mind.

Social literary men, scientists, mundane poets, theoretical philosophers and politicians who are completely absorbed in the material advancement of sense pleasure are all dolls of the material energy. They take pleasure in a place where rejected subject matters are thrown. According to Svāmī Śrīdhara, this is the pleasure of the prostitute-hunters.

But literatures which describe the glories of the Lord are enjoyed by the paramahaḿsas who have grasped the essence of human activities."

Devotional Scriptures

2009-06-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Attempting to read the great literary works in front of my eyes, I become bored and restless. I feel emptiness wash over my mind. The thoughts and emotions seem so trivial and pointless. I want something to shake me out of my materialistic slumber! I want something to smash my heart into a million pieces! I want to break down and cry!

I want truth. And I want that truth to be straight to the point. Truth that clears doubts. Truth that feels like you're walking through a park on a Sunday morning when the dew on the grass is just about to disappear from the Sun's rays splashing across the land. That's what I need to keep me going. Honestly there's only one place to find literature like that.

After reading Bhagavad-gita, Henry David Thoreau, one of the greatest writers and intellectuals of the modern day wrote: "In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonical philosophy with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial."

That literature that speaks of devotional service, or bhakti, is the most thrilling and emotional. To tell you honestly, I enjoy reading the Bible and the Koran but they seem very dry for the most part. To really get some juice you have to dive deep and immerse yourself in prayer. The scriptures that explain bhakti act very quickly on the heart because they are not contaminated by the modes of material nature. Some of the Vedas are categorized in the mode of ignorance, so I'm not attacking anyone's scriptures, I'm merely pointing out that bhakti-sastra's, or scriptures pertaining to bhakti, are enriched with emotional ecstasy from the very beginning.

On one hand I very much enjoy Rumi and Christian mystics who have penetrated the rituals of their particular religion and have gone to a place very few people dare to travel. That's because to a certain degree they have bhakti. Bhakti is universal. Love of God. Prema-bhakti cannot be contained by a society or organization. It flows from the heart. Case in point Saint Francis showed how a Christian can become a pure lover of God. Rumi revealed to the world how a Muslim can become the greatest lover of Allah. Sectarianism destroys bhakti. In Caitanya-caritamrta it's stated in 2.22.65: "A faithful devotee is a truly eligible candidate for the loving service of the Lord." And in 2.22.71: "A devotee is considered superlative or superior according to his attachment and love."

So, getting to the point, it is the spiritual masters causeless mercy to be able to get a taste for reading the scriptures. But a very nice point is that we should read the scriptures in the association of the devotees to get the full benefit. Srila Prabhupada writes in Bhagavad-gita Chapter 12, text 9 purport: "And one should constantly hear Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam from pure devotees. This practice can help anyone rise to the level of love of God, and then he is sure of his progress into the spiritual kingdom of God."

The bhakti-sastras give us wonderful histories that teach us great instructions on how to love the Lord, they give us lessons on psychology, they give us culture, and most importantly they give us entrance into the spiritual realm of Sri-Sri-Radha-Krishna.

I guess to end this ranting about how great the scriptures are I should give an example of how rich they are. To me I really want to get a taste for that which is truly spiritual. But something spiritual that will make my heart explode with spiritual emotions.

This is a poem written by Srila Raghunath das Gosvami named Sri Abhista-prarthanastaka.

"Even though her eyes wew filled with tears as she caressed her playful son, and even though Rohini largely blocked her view, Mother Yasoda carefully noted the entrance of Sri Radha. When will I humbly offer betel nuts to Visakha's friend, Sri Radha?

When, again and again taking jewels from the box and placing them in Sri Radha's hand as in Her home She and Her friends make necklaces for Lord Hari, will the vine of my hand bear fruit?

When will Sri Radha, my queen, happily playing with the cuckoos, bees, and other citizens in Her pastime kingdom of Vraja's forest, fill me with transcendental bliss?

Stringing flower garlands with three or four friends by the Yamuna's shore, Radha bends down. Hiding Krishna suddenly approaches and earnestly tries to embrace Her. She resists, knitting Her eyebrows. When will I fan Sri Radha as She enjoys these pastimes?

In the splendid rasa dance arena on the sandy shore, Lord Hari became a blue lotus testing stone to test the value of a host of golden-complexioned girls intoxicated with pride. When will Sri Radha, the greatest treasure among them, delight us all?

When will this person draw a picture of Radha's beloved Krishna? When will this person give the picture to the flowering vine that is Visakha's dear friend Radha as She sits with Her friends on thrones of flowers deep in beautiful Bhandiravana Forest? When will this person show that picture to Krishna?

When in a solitary place at the top of a mountain will She point out the various cottages of flowering vines and recount the pastimes She enjoyed there? When, filled with happiness and embarassment will SHe eagerly ask me a question in stuttering words?

This lake is my eternal home. It is everything for Radha's friends. It is filled with the glory of Radha's love for Krishna. Krishna loves it as much as He loves Radha. I pray at this lake Lalita's friend Radha may eternally enjoy pastimes before my eyes."

What's New

2009-06-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't written anything in a very long time. The blog is usually filled up with quotes from Rumi, saints, Thomas Merton and videos I happened to enjoy, rather than anything I've actually written.

Three years ago I was going on writing spurts pumping out notebooks of various poems and short stories. For me that period helped me realize a lot about my personality. It also allowed me to grow in many different ways. It was, you could, say therapeutic.

When my daughter was born I stopped writing so much mainly due to a lack of time. I picked up the pen and started writing here and there, but I was just in a different mind space that I couldn't really write what I was feeling. I felt that I was writing on some platform that I couldn't relate to.

A year ago, I went through my notebooks and felt embarrassed. My writings felt superficial and nonsensical. I had wasted time on temporary feelings that were brought about by lust and hatred. That's because I grew up turning those emotions into something that helped me escape situations. After ten years of striving to have a personal relationship with God, I decided my writing had to stop so that I could focus on chanting, reading, and hearing.

The writings of this world are mostly in the mode of ignorance and the mode of passion. I don't want to produce something covered by the modes of material nature. I want to dig deep into myself and excavate unwanted desires that are keeping me from producing a message of love and compassion. To whomever is reading this now, I want to express gratitude and love for you.

We are all brothers and sisters. We have lost our way home and we have only each other to help each other find the path.
So I have made some changes to the blog and will be making changes in my personal life to really write something that means something. This will be mainly for my own purification. I'm done treading water, I want to swim.

Thank you for tolerating my many short comings. All glories to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga who are always guiding us in this world darkness.

Love Love Love

2009-05-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

This was written by the great Christian scholar Thomas Merton:

Our philosophy of life is not something we create all by ourselves out of nothing. Our ways of thinking, even our attitudes toward ourselves, are more and more determined from the outside. Even our love tends to fit ready-made forms. We consciously or unconsciously tailor our notions of love according to patterns we are exposed to day after day....

Love [Merton begins to examine one of these patterns] is regarded as a deal. The deal presupposes that we all have needs which have to be fulfilled by means of exchange. In order to make a deal you have to appear in the market with a worthwhile product, or if the product is worthless, you can get by if you dress it up in a good-looking package. We unconsciously think of ourselves as objects for sale on the market. We want to be wanted. We want to attract customers. We want to look like the kind of product that makes money. ...In doing this we come to consider ourselves and others not as persons but as products, as "goods," or in other words, as packages. We appraise one another commercially. We size each other up and make deals with a view to our own profit. We do not give ourselves in love, we make a deal that will enhance our own product, and therefore no deal is final. Our eye is already on the next deal, and this next deal need not necessarily be with the same customer. Life is more interesting when you make a lot of deals with a lot of new customers.

The trouble with this commercialized idea of love is that it diverts your attention more and more from the essentials to the accessories of love. You are no longer able to really love the other person, for you become obsessed with the effectiveness of your own package, your own product, your own market value.

The Hero's Journey

2009-05-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

I've been watching Joseph Campbell videos lately and learning about the Hero's Journey. We are all heroes treading on this path. So I found this video that describes the Hero's Journey step by step using The Matrix. Hope you enjoy and strive to live the hero life.

Aaaarrrrggghhhh, Matey!

2009-05-13T21:20:00.001-07:00

Lord Nrsimhadeva's Appearance Day Tomorrow

2009-05-06T12:53:00.000-07:00

These are some beautiful verses from Srila Rupa Goswami's Sri Laghu Bhagavatamrta pertaining to Lord Nrsimhadeva, whose Appearance Day is tomorrow:

"Let me offer my obeisances unto Lord Nrsimhadeva, who is always enlightening Prahlada Maharaja within his heart and who always kills the nescience that attacks the devotees. His mercy is distributed like moonshine, and His face is like that of a lion. Let me offer my obeisances unto Him again and again.

Lord Nrsimhadeva is always assisted by Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, and He is always embracing to His chest the goddess of fortune. The Lord is always complete in knowledge within Himself. Let us offer obeisances unto Nrsimhadeva.

Narada Muni described to King Yudhsisthira the anger of the pillar's son (Lord Nrsimha), which with its deep roar stunned lotus-born Brahma.

THe hair on Nrsimhadeva's head shook the clouds and scattered them here and there, His glaring eyes stole the effulgence of the luminaries in the sky, and His breathing agitated the seas and oceans. Because of His roaring, all the elephants in the world began to cry in fear.

Airplanes were thrown into outer space and the upper planetary system by the hair on Nrsimhadeva's head. Because of the pressure of the Lord's lotus feet, the earth appeared to slip from its position, and all the hills and mountains sprang up due to His intolerable force. Because of the Lord's bodily effulgence, both sky and all directions diminished in their natural illumination.

Although very ferocious, the lioness is very kind to her cubs. Similarly, although very ferocious to non-devotees like Hiranyakasipu, Lord Nrsimhadeva is very, very soft and kind to devotees like Prahlada Maharaja."

Poems of Love

2009-04-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

"Do you know, my friends, where the real saints are?
Wherever I look, wherever I want them, they're there.

My words bounce off the loveless like an echo from stone.
Do you know, whoever hasn't got at least an atom of love,
lives in a wilderness?

Don't be a liar, don't lie to love.
Whoever lies here, earns a sentence in the other world.

Oh, you unaware of Yourself,
you don't understand the meaning of words,
if you desire the realness of Truth,
here it is in knowledge and in the Quran:

If Allah says, "He is Mine,"
Allah keeps giving the realness of Love,
has the realness of God within.

Many people tell Yunus,
"You're too old to be a lover,"
but this love is so new and fresh."
-Yunus Emre

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Love suffers long and is kind;love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
-1 Corinthians Chapter 13

I write of love, I speak of love,
yet I am entangled in the web of lust...
Struggling on the path
I slip and barely keep from falling

Here I stand with the sun caressing my face
The room appears clearer
I chant Your holy names as my hand counts the beads
My voice drifts into the background
Illusion overcomes me once again

I force my eyes close
I want to taste love.... To do that I must beg for love
Prayer is love.... The Names are the essence of love
Failing to practice this throughout the day
I feel shame as my hypocrisy is revealed
-Bal Gopal das

Kula Shaker- Govinda

2009-04-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

God's Will

2009-04-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

If you want to know what is meant by "God's will", this is one way to get a good idea of it. "God's will" is certainly found in anything that is required of us in order that we may be united with one another in love. ...Everything that is demanded of me, in order that I may treat every other person effectively as a human being, "is willed for me by God under the natural law." ...I must learn to share with others their joys, their sufferings, their ideas, their needs, their desires. I must learn to do this not only in the cases of those who are of the same class, the same profession, the same race, the same nation as myself, but when those who suffer belong to other groups, even to groups that are regarded as hostile. If I do this, I obey God. If I refuse to do it, I disobey Him. It is not therefore a matter left open to subjective caprice. - Written By Thomas Merton.

Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 2.96

2009-04-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

TRANSLATION

"One who knows the real feature of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His three different energies cannot remain ignorant about Him.

PURPORT

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī states in his Bhagavat-sandarbha (16) that by His potencies, which act in natural sequences beyond the scope of the speculative human mind, the Supreme Transcendence, the summum bonum, eternally and simultaneously exists in four transcendental features: His personality, His impersonal effulgence, particles of His potency (the living beings), and the principal cause of all causes. The Supreme Whole is compared to the sun, which also exists in four features, namely the personality of the sun-god, the glare of his glowing sphere, the sun rays inside the sun planet, and the sun's reflections in many other objects. The ambition to corroborate the existence of the transcendental Absolute Truth by limited conjectural endeavors cannot be fulfilled, because He is beyond the scope of our limited speculative minds. In an honest search for truth, we must admit that His powers are inconceivable to our tiny brains. The exploration of space has demanded the work of the greatest scientists of the world, yet there are countless problems regarding even fundamental knowledge of the material creation that bewilder scientists who confront them. Such material knowledge is far removed from the spiritual nature, and therefore the acts and arrangements of the Absolute Truth are, beyond all doubts, inconceivable.

The primary potencies of the Absolute Truth are mentioned to be three: internal, external and marginal. By the acts of His internal potency, the Personality of Godhead in His original form exhibits the spiritual cosmic manifestations known as the Vaikuṇṭhalokas, which exist eternally, even after the destruction of the material cosmic manifestation. By His marginal potency the Lord expands Himself as living beings who are part of Him, just as the sun distributes its rays in all directions. By His external potency the Lord manifests the material creation, just as the sun with its rays creates fog. The material creation is but a perverse reflection of the eternal Vaikuṇṭha nature.

These three energies of the Absolute Truth are also described in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, where it is said that the living being is equal in quality to the internal potency, whereas the external potency is indirectly controlled by the chief cause of all causes. Māyā, the illusory energy, misleads a living being as fog misleads a pedestrian by blocking off the light of the sun. Although the potency of māyā is inferior in quality to the marginal potency, which consists of the living beings, who are part and parcel of the Lord, it nevertheless has the power to control the living beings, just as fog can block the actions of a certain portion of the sun's rays although it cannot cover the sun. The living beings covered by the illusory energy evolve in different species of life, with bodies ranging from that of an insignificant ant to that of Brahmā, the constructor of the cosmos. The pradhāna, the chief cause of all causes in the impersonal vision, is none other than the Supreme Lord, whom one can see face to face in the internal potency. He takes the material all-pervasive form by His inconceivable power. Although all three potencies — namely internal, external and marginal — are essentially one in the ultimate issue, they are different in action, like electric energy, which can produce both cold and heat under different conditions. The external and marginal potencies are so called under various conditions, but in the original, internal potencies there are no such conditions, nor is it possible for the conditions of the external potency to exist in the marginal, or vice versa. One who is able to understand the intricacies of all these energies of the Supreme Lord can no longer remain an empiric impersonalist under the influence of a poor fund of knowledge.

Mysterious Origins Of Man

2009-04-11T17:49:00.000-07:00

Some Vegetarian Quotes I Found Online

2009-04-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."
Pythagoras, mathematician

"The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."
Leonardo da Vinci, artist and scientist

"To a man whose mind is free there is something even more intolerable in the sufferings of animals than in the sufferings of man. For with the latter it is at least admitted that suffering is evil and that the man who causes it is a criminal. But thousands of animals are uselessly butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. If any man were to refer to it, he would be thought ridiculous. And that is the unpardonable crime."
Romain Rolland, author, Nobel Prize 1915

"If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth -- beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals -- would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals?"
George Bernard Shaw, playwright, Nobel Prize 1925
"What is it that should trace the insuperable line? ...The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?"
Jeremy Bentham, philosopher

"In their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis. Human beings see oppression vividly when they're the victims. Otherwise they victimize blindly and without a thought."
Isaac Bashevis Singer, author, Nobel Prize 1978

"Our task must be to free ourselves . . . by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel Prize 1921

"I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."
Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President

"You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity."
Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist

"As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields."
"What I think about vivisection is that if people admit that they have the right to take or endanger the life of living beings for the benefit of many, there will be no limit to their cruelty."
Leo Tolstoy author

"I cannot fish without falling a little in self-respect...always when I have done I feel it would have been better if I had not fished."
Henry David Thoreau, author

"While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth?"
"Atrocities are not less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are called medical research."
George Bernard Shaw

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
"To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being."
Mahatma Gandhi, statesman and philosopher

"I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't...The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further."
Mark Twain, author

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."
Thomas Edison, inventor

Rumi!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-04T15:49:00.000-07:00

Song of Offerings by Rabindranath Tagore

2009-04-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

O now beneath your feet's dust let
My head kneel on the ground.
Yield up my arrogance to tears,
Let all my pride be drowned.
If glory to myself I offer
It is self-insult that I suffer-
And then I die within myself,
Turning around, around.
Yield up my arrogance to tears,
Let all my pride be drowned.

Let me not advertise myself
In various things I do-
But let my deeds fit your desire,
That your will may come through.
O for your true peace is my longing,
And your dear image's belonging.
Within my heart of lotus petal
May your shield be found.
Yield up my arrogance to tears,
Let all my pride be drowned.

Sri Rama-Navami 2009

2009-04-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

Today is the most glorious appearance day of Lord Ramacandra, also known as Rama-navami. Lord Rama appeared in the Treta-yuga with His three brothers, Laksmana, Bharata, and Satrughna. They are all vishnu-tattva. Lord Krishna expands Himself as Lord Balarama to increase His transcendental pastimes. Lord Balarama expands Himself as the catur-vyuha: Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. These four expands have appeared as Lord Rama and His brothers. They were born from Maharaja Dasaratha who had previously appeared as Vasudeva, Kashyapa, and Nanda.

Lord Rama was always accompanied by His younger brother Laksmana. In Sri-Caitanya-caritamrita, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja gives an in depth study of the character of Laksmana: "Lord Nityananda Svarupa formerly appeared as Laksmana and served Lord Ramacandra as His younger brother. THe activities of Lord Rama were full of suffering, but Laksmana, of His own accord, tolerated that suffering. As a younger brother He could not stop Lord Rama from His resolution, and so He remained silent, although unhappy in His mind." This not only gives us a psychological study of Laksmana but also the mood of Lord Rama's pastimes.

The Ramayana, written by Valmiki Muni, is the authoritative scripture that deals with the pastimes of Lord Rama. The Ramayana is considered to be one of the first epic poems written. In the adventures of Lord Rama, we find romance, drama, fierce battles and deep friendship.

It all began with Pulastya Muni's son, Visrava. He was a powerful brahmana who is also the father of Kuvera. He was approached by a rakshasi, demoness. Together they had many children. But since she had approached him at an inauspicious time, she gave birth to terrible demons. Ravana was born with ten heads and twenty arms. Kumbha Karna was a huge demon who was eating anything and anyone. But their last son was a great devotee of the Lord. His name was Vibhisnana.

Ravana was given many benedictions by Lord Brahma. He began terrorizing the universe. The demigods prayed for the Lord to appear. Lord Rama descended in the Raghu dynasty to appease the demigods. The Sri Ramarcana-dipika describes the Lord's birth: "During the ninth tithi, when five planets were exalted, when Jupiter was conjoined with the moon in the constellation Punarvasu in Cancer on the ascendent, and when the sun was in Aries, from the arani wood of Ayodhya was kindled a sacrificial fire of unprecedented power manifested to burn the palasa wood fuel (of a great host of demons)."

Here are some excerpts from the Ninth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam depicting the padtimes of Lord Sri Rama:

"To keep the promise of His father intact, Lord Rāmacandra immediately gave up the position of king and, accompanied by His wife, mother Sītā, wandered from one forest to another on His lotus feet, which were so delicate that they were unable to bear even the touch of Sītā's palms. The Lord was also accompanied by Hanumān [or by another monkey, Sugrīva], king of the monkeys, and by His own younger brother Lord Lakṣmaṇa, both of whom gave Him relief from the fatigue of wandering in the forest. Having cut off the nose and ears of Śūrpaṇakhā, thus disfiguring her, the Lord was separated from mother Sītā. He therefore became angry, moving His eyebrows and thus frightening the ocean, who then allowed the Lord to construct a bridge to cross the ocean. Subsequently, the Lord entered the kingdom of Rāvaṇa to kill him, like a fire devouring a forest. May that Supreme Lord, Rāmacandra, give us all protection."

"O King, the pastimes of Lord Rāmacandra were wonderful, like those of a baby elephant. In the assembly where mother Sītā was to choose her husband, in the midst of the heroes of this world, He broke the bow belonging to Lord Śiva. This bow was so heavy that it was carried by three hundred men, but Lord Rāmacandra bent and strung it and broke it in the middle, just as a baby elephant breaks a stick of sugarcane. Thus the Lord achieved the hand of mother Sītā, who was equally as endowed with transcendental qualities of form, beauty, behavior, age and nature. Indeed, she was the goddess of fortune who constantly rests on the chest of the Lord. While returning from Sītā's home after gaining her at the assembly of competitors, Lord Rāmacandra met Paraśurāma. Although Paraśurāma was very proud, having rid the earth of the royal order twenty-one times, he was defeated by the Lord, who appeared to be a kṣatriya of the royal order."

"O King Parīkṣit, when Rāvaṇa, who had ten heads on his shoulders, heard about the beautiful and attractive features of Sītā, his mind was agitated by lusty desires, and he went to kidnap her. To distract Lord Rāmacandra from His āśrama, Rāvaṇa sent Mārīca in the form of a golden deer, and when Lord Rāmacandra saw that wonderful deer, He left His residence and followed it and finally killed it with a sharp arrow, just as Lord Śiva killed Dakṣa."

"After constructing a bridge over the ocean by throwing into the water the peaks of mountains whose trees and other vegetation had been shaken by the hands of great monkeys, Lord Rāmacandra went to Lańkā to release Sītādevī from the clutches of Rāvaṇa. With the direction and help of Vibhīṣaṇa, Rāvaṇa's brother, the Lord, along with the monkey soldiers, headed by Sugrīva, Nīla and Hanumān, entered Rāvaṇa's kingdom, Lańkā, which had previously been burnt by Hanumān."

"After thus rebuking Rāvaṇa, Lord Rāmacandra fixed an arrow to His bow, aimed at Rāvaṇa, and released the arrow, which pierced Rāvaṇa's heart like a thunderbolt. Upon seeing this, Rāvaṇa's followers raised a tumultuous sound, crying, "Alas! Alas! What has happened? What has happened?" as Rāvaṇa, vomiting blood from his ten mouths, fell from his airplane, just as a pious man falls to earth from the heavenly planets when the results of his pious activities are exhausted."

Raghupati Raghava Raja-Ram
Patita Pavana Sita-Rama
Lord Sri Rama Ki Jaya!

Sri Gauranga-stava-kalpa-vrksa by Srila Raghunatha das Gosvami

2009-03-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

When everyone sees His graceful motions they revile the graceful mad elephant and when they see His face they spit at the moon. He is as splendid as a gold mountain and the waves of His words are nectar. The appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, awakening in my heart, maddens me.

Decorating Himself with the jewels of paleness, becoming stunned, stuttering, trembling, shedding tears, and bodily hairs erect with joy, and laughing and perspiring, as He danced for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath, may Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise in my heart and make me mad with love.

Staggering about in ecstasy, sprinkling everyone with water from the reddish syringes of His eyes, joyfully biting His charming lips with His teeth, and trembling as he dances, may Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise in my heart and make me mad with love.

Sometimes Sri Caitanya would go to the house of Kasi Misra. There would be greatly aggrieved, feeling separation from Krishna. The joints of His transcendental body would slacken, and His arms and legs would become elongated. Rolling on the ground, the Lord would cry out in distress in a faltering voice and weep very sorrowfully. The appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, awakening in my heart, maddens me.

How wonderful it is! Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu left His residence without opening the three strongly bolted doors. Then He crossed over three high walls, and later, because of strong feelings of separation from Krishna, He fell down amidst the cows of the Tailanga district and retracted all the limbs of His body like a tortoise. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who appeared in that way, rises in my heart and maddens me.

Because of separation from His many friends in Vrindavana, who were like His own life, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu spoke like a madman. His intelligence was transformed. Day and night He rubbed His moonlike face against the walls, and blood flowed from the injuries. May that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise in my heart and make me mad with love.

"My dear friend the doorkeeper, where is Krishna, the Lord of my heart? Kindly show Him to Me quickly." With these words Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu addressed the doorkeeper like a madman. The doorkeeper grasped His hand and replied very hastily, "Come, see Your beloved!" May that Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise within my heart and thus make me mad also.

Near Jagannath Puri was a great sand dune known as Cataka-parvata. Seeing that hill, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "Oh, I shall go to the land of Vraja to see Govardhana Hill." Then He began running madly to it, and all the Vaisnavas ran after Him. This scene awakens in my heart and maddens me.

Under a charming pavilion at the swing festival, with Svarupa Damodara and the other devotees He sweetly sang the holy names of Lord Krishna. May Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise in my heart and make me mad with love.

As Lord Narayana is kind to Garuda, He is kind to Govinda dasa. As Lord Krishna is devoted to His guru, He is devoted to Isvara Puri. As Lord Giridhari loves Subala, He loves Svarupa Damodara. May that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise in my heart and make me mad with love.

Although I am a fallen soul, the lowest of men, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu delivered me from the blazing forest fire of great material opulence by His mercy. He landed me over in great pleasure to Svarupa Damodara, His personal associate. The Lord also gave me the garland of small conch shells that He wore on His chest and a stone from Govardhana Hill, although they were very dear to Him. That same Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu awakens within my heart and makes me mad after Him.

One who, with the water of careful reading mixed with the medicine of strong faith, waters this celestial tree, its charming branches the verses of this poem, and the splendor of its flowers pure love for Lord Gauranga, will reap that tree's heavy fruit: the sight of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Spark Of Life Video

2009-03-24T05:51:00.000-07:00

Justify My Soul

2009-02-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

This is a nice prayer by one of my heroes, Thomas Merton. I hope it inspires:

"Justify my soul, O God, but also from Your fountains fill my will with fire. Shine in my mind, although perhaps this means "be darkness to my experience," but occupy my heart with Your tremendous Life. Let my eyes see nothing in the world but Your glory, and let my hands touch nothing that is not for Your service. Let my tongue taste no bread that does not strengthen me to praise Your great mercy. I will hear Your voice, and I will hear all the harmonies you have created singing your hymns. Sheep's wool and cotton from the field shall warm me enough that I may live in Your service; I will give the rest to the poor. Let me use all things for one sole reason: to find my joy in giving You glory."

The Appearance Day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura

2009-02-13T12:34:00.000-08:00

This is a song written by His Divine Grace Srila Bahaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur:

O wicked mind! What kind of vaisnava do you think you are? Your pretentious show of chanting Lord Hari's holy name in a solitary place is only for the sake of attaining false prestige of a worldly reputation- it is nothing but pure hypocrisy.

Such materialistic prestige is as disgusting as the stool of a hog. Do you not know that it is only a mere illusion cast by the potency of Maya? What is the value of contemplating day and night your plans for enjoying wealth and women? All these things are only temporary.

When you claim wealth as your own, it creates in you ever-increasing desires for material enjoyment. Your riches should be used for serving Madhava, the Lord of all wealth. Neither is it your proper place to indulge in lust for women, whose only true proprietor is Lord Yadva.

The demon Ravana (lust-incarnate) fought with Lord Ramacandra (love-incarnate) in order to gain the tree of worldly reputation- but that oasis turned out to be a mirage cast in the desert wasteland of the Lord's illusoory material potency. Please cultivate fixed determination to attain only the steady and solid platform whereupon a Vaisnava ever stands. If you neglect worshiping the Lord from this position, then you will ultimately attain a hellish existence.

Why do you needlessly suffer the torment of blaspheming the devotees of Lord Hari, attempting to achieve their eminence, thereby only proving your own fruitless foolishness? The desire for spiritual eminence is easily fulfilled when one becomes a devotee of the Lord, for eternal fame automatically follows the heels of a Vaisnava. And that fame is never to be considered a temporary worldly opulence.

The relationship between a devotee and Lord Hari is devoid of even a trace of worldly illusion; it has nothing to do with the materialistic cheating propensity. The prestige of so-called popularity in the material realm is compared to a treacherous dog-eating witch, and the attempt to live in solitude to supposedly engage in unalloyed bhajan is compared to an entangling network of distraction. Please know that anyone striving in either of these ways verily lives in the hell of Maya's illusion.

"I shall give up chanting the Lord's name publicly in kirtan and retire to solitude, thus smearing myself with worldly honor." Dear mind, what is the good of seeking such so-called glory? I will always remind you that the great soul Madhavendra Puri never deceived himself in that regard by committing theft in his own storehouse of perception the way you do.

Your cheap reputation is equal to the stool of a hog. An ordinary ambitious man like you can never be equated with a devotee of Madhavendra Puri's eminence. Under the sway of envy, you have drowned yourself in the filthy waters of material enjoyment after having abandoned the excellent perfection of congregational kirtan.

Truly, O wicked mind, the glories of so-called solitary worship are propagated only by false yogis using unscrupulous means to deceive others. To save yourself from these pitfalls, please contemplate the instructions that the Supreme Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu kindly gave us while addressing Srila Sanatana Goswami with the utmost care.

Do not forget for a moment the two most valuable concepts that He taught: 19 the principle of dry, apparent renunciation as opposed to real, appropriate renunciation; and 20 the principle of a soul being trapped in the bondage of matter as opposed to a soul who is liberated. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking that these conflicting concepts are on the same level. Please remember this while engaging yourself in chanting the Lord's holy names as loud as you possibly can.

One is truly a Vaisnava who has given up the habit of falling victim to the ferocious tigress of wealth, beauty, and fame. Such a soul is factually detached from material life, and is known as a pure devotee. Someone with this consciousness of detachment has thereby become victorious over the mundane world of birth and death.

One is indeed detached who moderately partakes of worldly things that are deemed necessary for living in devotional service; a devotee acting in that manner does not fall prey to the disease of material infatuation. Thus devoid of selfish attachment, and endowed with the ability to see things in relation to the Lord, all sense objects are then directly perceived as being Lord Madhava Himself.

This is the standard of befitting renunciation, and one who realizes this is most fortunate indeed.Everything involved in such a devotee's life represents Lord Hari's personal spiritual opulence as manifest in the world of matter. On the other hand, one who engages in chanting the Lord's name with hopes of enhancing his own material reputation finds that all his activities and paraphernalia represent only the riches of hypocrisy.

O mind, please reject the company of two types of persons- those desiring impersonal liberation from the material world, and those who desire to enjoy the pleasure of material sense objects. Both of these are equally non-devotees. The things that are used in relation to Lord Krishna are objects belonging directly to the transcendental realm, and thus having nothing to do with matter they cannot be either owned or forsaken by persons interested in mundane enjoyment or renunciation.

An impersonal philosopher is opposed to thinking of Krishna as an object of devotion, and thus being puffed up with the false pride of imaginary liberation he dares to criticize the true devotees of the Lord. O mind, you are the servant of the Vaisnavas, and you should always hope for attaining devotion. Why then do you make such a loud commotion by calling to me and trying to prove the supposed supremecy of your practice of solitary worship?

One who falsely gives up things that could actually be used in the Lord's service proudly calls himself a 'renunciate' but unfortunately he can never become a Vaisnava by such an attitude. Abandoning his servitorship to the lotus feet of Lord Hari, and resigning himself to his solitary home- whatever is gained by that exercise can only be the worthless treasure of deception.

Ever engage yourself in the service of Sri Radha, and keep allof from the vicious snake of materialistic sense gratification. The glory of participating in the Lord's kirtan is not meant to bolster anyone's ambitions for personal recognition. O mind, why then have you abandoned the identity of being Radha's eternal servant in favor of retiring to a solitary place to practice the cheating process of so-called bhajan?

The most valuable treasures amongst the Lord's preachers are the eternal personalities residing in Vraja-dham. They never occupy themselves with begging for worthless material reputation, which is cherished only by the living dead. The Vraja-vasis are truly infused with life, and therefore they preach in order to give life to the walking corpses of the mundane world. All the songs that the Vraja-vasis sing about the glories of Lord Krishna are devoid of any tinge desire for fame.

This humble servant of Radha and Her beloved Krishna always hopes for kirtan, and he begs all to loudly sing the names of Lord hari. The transcendental power of congregational chanting automatically awakens remembrance of the Lord and His divine pastimes in relation to one's own eternal spiritual form. Only at that time does ti become possible to go off to a solitary place and engage in the confidential worship of Their Lordships.

Sri-Caitanya-Caritamrita Adi Lila, Chapter 2, Text 5 Purport

2009-01-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

The compilers of the Upaniṣads speak very highly of the impersonal Brahman. The Upaniṣads, which are considered the most elevated portion of the Vedic literatures, are meant for persons who desire to get free from material association and who therefore approach a bona fide spiritual master for enlightenment. The prefix upa- indicates that one must receive knowledge about the Absolute Truth from a spiritual master. One who has faith in his spiritual master actually receives transcendental instruction, and as his attachment for material life slackens, he is able to advance on the spiritual path. Knowledge of the transcendental science of the Upaniṣads can free one from the entanglement of existence in the material world, and when thus liberated, one can be elevated to the spiritual kingdom of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by advancement in spiritual life.

The beginning of spiritual enlightenment is realization of impersonal Brahman. Such realization is effected by gradual negation of material variegatedness. Impersonal Brahman realization is the partial, distant experience of the Absolute Truth that one achieves through the rational approach. It is compared to one's seeing a hill from a distance and taking it to be a smoky cloud. A hill is not a smoky cloud, but it appears to be one from a distance because of our imperfect vision. In imperfect or smoky realization of the Absolute Truth, spiritual variegatedness is conspicuous by its absence. This experience is therefore called advaita-vāda, or realization of the oneness of the Absolute.

The impersonal glowing effulgence of Brahman consists only of the personal bodily rays of the Supreme Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Since Śrī Gaurasundara, or Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is identical with Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, the Brahman effulgence consists of the rays of His transcendental body.

Similarly, the Supersoul, which is called the Paramātmā, is a plenary representation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The antar-yāmī, the Supersoul in everyone's heart, is the controller of all living entities. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), wherein Lord Kṛṣṇa says, sarvasya cāhaḿ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ: "I am situated in everyone's heart." The Bhagavad-gītā (5.29) also states, bhoktāraḿ yajña-tapasāḿ sarva-loka-maheśvaram, indicating that the Supreme Lord, acting in His expansion as the Supersoul, is the proprietor of everything. Similarly, the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.35) states, aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham. The Lord is present everywhere, within the heart of every living entity and within each and every atom as well. Thus by this Supersoul feature the Lord is all-pervading.

Furthermore, Lord Caitanya is also the master of all wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation because He is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is described as pūrṇa, or complete. In the feature of Lord Caitanya, the Lord is an ideal renouncer, just as Śrī Rāma was an ideal king. Lord Caitanya accepted the order of sannyāsa and exemplified exceedingly wonderful principles in His own life. No one can compare to Him in the order of sannyāsa. Although in Kali-yuga acceptance of the sannyāsa order is generally forbidden, Lord Caitanya accepted it because He is complete in renunciation. Others cannot imitate Him but can only follow in His footsteps as far as possible. Those who are unfit for this order of life are strictly forbidden by the injunctions of the śāstras to accept it. Lord Caitanya, however, is complete in renunciation as well as all other opulences. He is therefore the highest principle of the Absolute Truth.

By an analytical study of the truth of Lord Caitanya, one will find that He is not different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa; no one is greater than or even equal to Him. In the Bhagavad-gītā (7.7) Lord Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna, mattaḥ parataraḿ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: "O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no truth superior to Me." Thus it is here confirmed that there is no truth higher than Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.

The impersonal Brahman is the goal of those who cultivate the study of books of transcendental knowledge, and the Supersoul is the goal of those who perform the yoga practices. One who knows the Supreme Personality of Godhead surpasses realization of both Brahman and Paramātmā because Bhagavān is the ultimate platform of absolute knowledge.
The Personality of Godhead is the complete form of sac-cid-ānanda (full life, knowledge and bliss). By realization of the sat portion of the Complete Whole (unlimited existence), one realizes the impersonal Brahman aspect of the Lord. By realization of the cit portion of the Complete Whole (unlimited knowledge), one can realize the localized aspect of the Lord, the Paramātmā.

But neither of these partial realizations of the Complete Whole can help one realize ānanda, or complete bliss. Without such realization of ānanda, knowledge of the Absolute Truth is incomplete.
This verse of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī is confirmed by a parallel statement in the Tattva-sandarbha, by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. In the Ninth Part of the Tattva-sandarbha it is said that the Absolute Truth is sometimes approached as impersonal Brahman, which, although spiritual, is only a partial representation of the Absolute Truth. Nārāyaṇa, the predominating Deity in Vaikuṇṭha, is to be known as an expansion of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Absolute Truth, the object of the transcendental love of all living entities.

HAHAHAHA

2009-01-20T12:37:00.001-08:00

Spiritual Love

2009-01-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

"There are different states of God realization. The idea of merging into God or entering into the all-pervading oneness, beyond this temporary existence, is a very preliminary partial understanding of God realization. That type of mukti, or salvation, or nirvana, is to be completely free from the sufferings of this world, and to enter a state of total peace. You're really non-existent as far as a personality. You're simply resting in an atmosphere of utter peace. Yes?

But a higher realization of the Absolute is love. What is higher peace or love? To some people they may want peace. But actually peace is the negation of all disturbances. Just like when you fall asleep, you're peaceful because you forget everything. When you have a nightmare it's different, but when you're just sleeping it's very peaceful because everything is forgotten. When you go into a deep state of meditation you enter a state where you're oblivious to the world. There's peace. And this is a spiritual realization that type of peace.

But a more complete and full spiritual realization is love or prema. Prema is ecstatic. It's actually a higher ecstasy to suffer for your beloved than to be in peace. Because even in suffering for, on a spiritual platform, suffering for God is an expression of very, very deep love. And it transcends and goes beyond even the peace of oneness.

So yes, we should understand that the real craving of the heart is for this love. Spiritual love."

-His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaja

Whew

2008-12-26T10:54:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days have been interesting. Interesting in the sense that I've been having to do a lot of reflection. Last week we visited my friend John in the hospital. He's been battling cancer. In this war he is winning and hopes to recover fully and quickly. He told us of his realizations. A person who is facing possible death has many realizations that a person who is comfortable might never have. But, we are all battling death. Each day is closer to death. I'm not trying to be negative, I'm pointing out the truth. How much time we have is limited in this body. Anyway, whenever someone becomes sick around you it really makes you analyze the valuable time that you're wasting.

It's also Christmas time when everyone is getting together trying to enjoy the holiday spirit. It's that time of the year we meditate on the birth and life of Lord Jesus Christ. Srila Prabhupada stated that Jesus Christ is our guru. I've been hearing lectures on Jesus and reading the Bible. Jesus was such a compassionate and powerful devotee of the Lord. His life is amazing and his teachings are very instructive. And yet, Christmas is another commercialized holiday that focuses more on our capitalism than trying to re-spiritualize our mundane lives. I could go on but this dead horse has been flogged and flogged by numerous scholars, transcendentalists and many others over the years.

I have many more thoughts to write down, but I feel the other thoughts will be blog topics in themselves rather than bombarding whoever reads this with many ideas scrunched together. It's been a while since the last blog due to so many things going on so, I hope to get back into a writing schedule for the new year. Hare Krishna, please forgive my offenses.

Oh I Luv Conspiracies

2008-12-13T16:10:00.001-08:00

Begging For Compassion

2008-12-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

I woke up today with a very clouded feeling. I laid on the couch with my daughter while she played around me. The phone suddenly rang. We usually don't get any calls at that time in the morning so I felt something was going to be wrong. The machine picked up and my mother in a distraught voice told me to call her back. I jumped and got the phone. My mother informed me that my grandmother had passed away last night. She had been there to see her last breath.

Honestly, what does one say at that moment? My mother was crying and I wanted to say something comforting. I closed my eyes and internally started praying for my grandmother's soul. I hung up and my mind started downloading a million thoughts at once.

This last week has been one of those trying weeks that force you to hold your ground. First, my wife had complications with her health that required serious medical attention. Now she's slowly getting better. Then my friend John found out he has lung cancer. He is currently going through chemotherapy treatments.

As I pray I think about the nature of this material world. It is a place of suffering. Why? Because everything is temporary. We want to enjoy and be happy by exploiting the material elements. Our mind contemplates the objects of the senses. We become attached. This attachment turns to lust. The senses want something new. Basically, happiness means keeping ourselves distracted from the suffering around us. We become frustrated when our senses fail us. The comforts we build around the body suddenly slip away.

Everything in this world is temporary. The body will die, our cars will break down, natural resources are running out, we have to work hard just so we have money, and now the economy is failing. We want a permanent, comfortable atmosphere but that is not found here.

We are eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss, but we are now thinking that we are these material designations. In this material atmosphere we are constantly plagued by miseries because that is the nature of this world. This is not our home. We are dreaming away.

In the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord continuously explains these points to Arjuna, who has become full of doubts. He has become overtaken by lamentation and dualities. In chapter five there is a great quote that can help us lighten the burden of the material world: "Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and is happy in this world. One whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices within, and whose aim is inward is actually the perfect mystic. He is liberated in the Supreme, and ultimately he attains the Supreme."

One problem may arise. One's heart may become very hard because of renunciation and diving into analytical study of the world. At that point, one becomes desensitized from others sufferings. This is a major stumbling block in spiritual life. One who loves Krishna loves every aspect of Krishna's creation. The sufferings of others becomes that devotees sufferings. The devotee's only suffering is others' suffering, and their happiness is the happiness of others.

One great saint who lived more than 500 years ago, displayed the ultimate compassion. His name was Vasudeva Datta. In Caitanya-caritamrta, it is stated that the Lord glorified Vasudeva as if He had a thousand mouths. Vasudeva Datta very sincerely stated: "My Lord, my heart breaks to see the suffering of all the conditioned souls; therefore I request You to transfer the karma of their sinful lives upon my head. My dear Lord, let me suffer perpetually in a hellish condition, accepting all the sinful reactions of all living entities. Please finish their diseased material life."

"When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu heard Vasudeva Datta's statement, His heart became very soft. Tears flowed from His eyes, and He began to tremble."

I read the news, I hear the sirens, I witness so much pain and suffering in this world but because my heart is still filled with envy and lust, I fail to develop compassion. I pray and I beg for mercy, but because of my offenses I remain very far the ocean of devotional service unto that Divine Couple Who enjoy pastimes in the eternal groves of Vraja.

Sitting here I look at the beautiful face of the Lord and pray to give strength and hope to others. I pray for my Grandmother who always had a smile on her face.

Barsana Eye Camp

2008-11-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

World Of Politics

2008-11-17T11:09:00.001-08:00

It is true, political problems are not solved by love and mercy. But the world of politics is not the only world, and unless political decisions rest on a foundation of something better and higher than politics, they can never do any real good. When a country has to be rebuilt after war, the passions and energies of war are no longer enough. There must be a new force, the power of love, the power of understanding and human compassion, the strength of selflessness and cooperation, as the creative dynamism of the will to live and to build, and the will to forgive, the will for reconciliation.
-Thomas Merton

Some Nice Poems

2008-11-13T21:05:00.000-08:00

Self-Knowledge
"Know yourself-and is this the prime
And heaven-sprung adage of the olden time?-
Say, canst thou make thyself?-Learn first that trade;-
Haply thou mayst know what thyself had made.
What hast thou, Man, that thou dar'st call thine own?-
What is there in thee, Man that can be known?-
Dark fluxion, all unfixable by thought,
A phantom dim of past and future wrought,
Vain sister of the worm,-life, death, soul, clod-
Ignore thyself, and strive to know thy God!
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your word.
I have declared my ways, and You answered me; teach me Your statutes.
Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.
My soul melts from heaviness; strengthen me according to Your word.
Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously.
I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgements I have laid before me.
I cling to your testimonies; O Lord, do not put me to shame!
I will run the course of Your commandments, for You shall enlarge my heart."
-Psalm 119 Daleth

"Look at this figure of a man on horseback,
his turban with gold thread,
striking a gallant pose, asking, "Where is death? Show me!"
He seems powerful, but he's a fake.
Death attacks from six sides. Hello, jackass. Where's your magnetism now, the famous temperament?
The jokes you told, the carpets you gave relatives?
It's not enough to spend your life turning bread into dung.
We are pawing through manure to find pearls.
There are people with the light of God on them.
Serve those.
Don't trivialize any suffering. I say this to myself.
I am that mounted man, his illusion. How long shall I keep pointing to others?
Shams of Tabriz is a fountain. We wash in the water of his eyes."
-Rumi

"The dust from the lotus feet of pure devotees gives rise to devotional service, and service to the devotees is itself the supreme perfection and the root of the tender creeper of divine love.

With great care I observe holy days like Ekadasi and Janmastami, for they are the mother of devotion. And with the greatest reverence and love i choose as my dwelling place the transcendental abode of Sri Krishna.

In the company of loving devotees I will visit all those places where my Lord Gaurasundara traveled and performed His pastimes.

My mind always begs to hear the music of the mridanga, and my heart dances in ecstasy whenever i hear the kind of kirtana established by Lord Gaudacandra.

I feel supreme bliss when i behold the Deity forms of the divine couple, Sri Sri Radha and Krishna, and I conquer all worldly illusions by honoring the Lord's prasadam.

Everyday Goloka Vrndavana appears in my home when I see Lord Hari being worshiped there. My joy knows no bounds when I see the Ganges, a river of nectar emanating from the Lord's feet.

THe sight of the tulasi plant soothes my soul, for I know she gives pleasure to Lord Krishna. I feel that my life has been fulfilled when I honor saka, a green leafy vegetable preparation that is a favorite of Lord Caitanya's.

Whatever Bhaktivinoda obtains that furthers devotional service to Sri Krishna he accepts every day with greatest joy."
-Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Facts I Found

2008-11-12T14:07:00.000-08:00

Livestock production is a major cause of desertification (where the land dries out and loses its precious topsoil so vegetation is unable to grow on it anymore) as well as deforestation (loss of trees).

Two hundred years ago American cropland had topsoil that averaged 21 inches in depth. Today, only about 6 inches remain. Every year in the U.S. an area the size of Connecticut is lost to topsoil erosion- 85% of erosion is associated with livestock production.

Spinach grown on an acre of land can yield 26 times more protein than beef produced on the same acre.

Number of pure vegetarians who can be fed on the amount of land needed to feed one person consuming a meat-based diet: 20

Some beef comes from cattle raised on land that was formerly rainforest. This land is not good for grazing and it lasts only for a few years, after which more rainforest must be destroyed to raise the cattle on.

For each quarter-pound fast food hamburger sold that came from cattle raised on former rainforest land, 55 square feet of rainforest was destroyed.

A lot more water is required in animal agriculture than in plant agriculture. It takes only about 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat and around 390 gallons to produce just one pound of beef. In fact, It takes less water to produce the food that a pure vegetarian needs for one year than to produce the food that a meat eater needs for a month.

Animal production requires a lot of fossil fuels. Fuels are needed to transport animal feed, to heat their housing, and to take the animals to slaughter, meat packing plants, and grocery stores. The burning of these fuels, as well as methane produced by the animals, is one cause of global warming.

Pesticides, herbicides, and fertlizers used in the production of animals' feed pollute land and water.

Many plants and animals become extinct due to the destruction of land.

Purport To Caitanya-caritamrta 1.1.46

2008-11-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

This is a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.17.27) spoken by Lord Krishna when He was questioned by Uddhava regarding the four social and spiritual orders of society. The Lord was specifically instructing how a brahmacari should behave under the care of a spiritual master. A spiritual master is not an enjoyer of facilities offered by his disciples. He is like a parent. Without the attentive service of his parents, a child cannot grow to manhood; similarly, without the care of the spiritual master one cannot rise to the plane of transcendental service.
The spiritual master is also called acarya, or a transcendental professor of spiritual science. The Manu-samhita (2.140) explains the duties of an acarya, describing that a bona fide spiritual master accepts charge of disciples, teaches them the Vedic knowledge with all its intricacies, and gives them their second birth. The ceremony performed to initiate a disciple into the study of spiritual science is called upaniti, or the function that brings one nearer to the spiritual master. One who cannot be brought nearer to a spiritual master cannot have a sacred thread, and thus he is indicated to be a sudra. The sacred thread on the body of a brahmana, kshatriya or vaisya is a symbol of initiation by the spiritual master; it is worth nothing if worn merely to boast of high parentage. The duty of the spiritual master is to initiate a disciple with the sacred thread ceremony, and after this samskara, or purificatory process, the spiritual master actually begins to teach the disciple about the Vedas. A person born a sudra is not barred from such spiritual initiation, provided he is approved by the spiritual master, who is duly authorized to award a disciple the right to be a brahmana if he finds him perfectly qualified. In the Vayu Purana an acarya is defined as one who knows the import of all Vedic literature, explains the purpose of the Vedas, abides by their rules and regulations, and teaches his disciples to act in the same way.
Only out of His immense compassion does the Personality of Godhead reveal Himself as the spiritual master. Therefore in the dealings of an acarya there are no activities but those of transcendental loving service to the Lord. He is the Supreme Personality of Servitor Godhead. It is worthwhile to take shelter of such a steady devotee, who is called asraya-vigraha, or the manifestation or form of the Lord of whom one must take shelter.
If one poses himself as an acarya but does not have an attitude of servitorship to the Lord, he must be considered an offender, and this offensive attitude disqualifies him from being an acarya. The bona fide spiritual master always engages in unalloyed devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By this test he is known to be a direct manifestation of the Lord and a genuine representative of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. Such a spiritual master is known as acaryadeva. Influenced by an envious temperament and dissatisfied because of an attitude of sense gratification, mundaners criticize a real acarya. In fact, however, a bona fide acarya is nondifferent from the Personality of Godhead, and therefore to envy such an acarya is to envy the Personality of Godhead Himself. This will produce an effect subversive of transcendental realization.
As mentioned previously, a disciple should always respect the spiritual master as a manifestation of Sri Krishna, but at the same time one should always remember that a spiritual master is never authorized to imitate the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. False spiritual masters pose themselves as identical with Sri Krishna in every respect to exploit the sentiments of their disciples, but such impersonalists can only mislead their disciples, for their ultimate aim is to become one with the Lord. This is against the principles of the devotional cult.
The real Vedic philosophy is acintya-bhedabheda-tattva, which establishes everything to be simultaneously one with and different from the Personality of Godhead. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami confirms that this is the real position of a bona fide spiritual master and says that one should always think of the spiritual master in terms of his intimate relationship with Mukunda (Sri Krishna). Srila Jiva Gosvami, in his Bhakti-sandarbha (213), has clearly explained that a pure devotee's observation of the spiritual master and Lord Siva as being one with the Personality of Godhead exists in terms of their being very dear to the Lord, not identical with Him in all respects. Following in the footsteps of Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and Srila Jiva Gosvami, later acaryas like Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura have confirmed the same truths. In his prayers to the spiritual master, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura confirms that all the revealed scriptures accept the spiritual master to be identical with the Personality of Godhead because he is a very dear and confidential servant of the Lord. Gaudiya Vaishnavas therefore worship Srila Gurudeva (the spiritual master) in the light of his being the servitor of the Personality of Godhead. In all the ancient literatures of devotional service and in the more recent songs of Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and other unalloyed Vaishnavas, the spiritual master is always considered either one of the confidential associates of Srimati Radharani or a manifested representation of Srila Nityananda Prabhu.

Intelligence

2008-11-09T14:49:00.000-08:00

"Intelligence refers to the power to analyze things in their proper perspective...." -Bhagavad-gita 10.4 purport.

"When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that will be heard." -Bhagavad-gita 2.52

"Mind is the center of all the activities of the senses, and thus when we hear about sense objects the mind generally becomes a reservoir of all ideas of sense gratification; and, as a result the mind and the senses become the repositories of lust. Next, the intelligence department becomes the capitol of such lustful propensities. Intelligence is the immediate next-door neighbor of the spirit soul. Lusty intelligence influences the spirit soul to acquire the false ego and identify itself with matter, and thus with the mind and senses. The spirit soul becomes addicted to enjoying the material senses and mistakes this as true happiness." -Bhagavad-gita 3.40 purport.

A Message From Maynard James Keenan That I Thought Was Beautiful

2008-11-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

"Roughly 9 years ago, on a day off from endless touring, I found myself in Memphis, TN. Instead of the normal routine of bad room service, pay-per-trash, cookie cutter mall visit, dinner, and "gentleman's club," I opted to visit an historic site. The Civil Rights Museum & Martin Luther King Jr Memorial. Rather than cab it, I chose to walk the several dozen blocks across town in an attempt to tune myself to this place. This Museum is not in the center of town and not a place you would just happen upon. It's a place you would need to seek out. As you approach the building, it appears that it's simply a converted motel. Basically because it is. And for good reason. You pay your donation and begin to wind through a seemingly endless maze of photos, documents, text, video/audio. I took my time. I read as much as I could. It didn't take long for the dark reality of this period to set in. Atrocity after atrocity. This wasn't that long ago. We did these things to each other. These awful awful things. It was like watching a movie. I kept thinking, "surely something good must happen soon to offset all these horrible things and events and surreal moments." I spent hours in there looking for it. At times I caught myself walking faster from display to display looking for an emotional break or some levity and found none. 2 full floors. And just when I thought it was over, and I could see the exit sign ahead, my body froze. I realized why it was a motel. I realized where in fact I was. I was standing in front of a display window that looked into the room where Dr Martin Luther Kings Jr drew his final breath before stepping out of his room. He was assassinated in this very spot. I could feel my heart snap. And although it rarely if ever happens, I wept like a baby. We did this. People like you and I who come into the world in the same manner, walk on the same soil, breathe the same air. We did this. Will we always be capable of such monstrous acts against our brothers and sisters? Where is the light? Will we ever see it? Today, Nov 4th, 2008 I think I may have seen evidence of this light. Never mind the candidates. They're politicians. Not the point. That we were able to grow enough as human beings to elect Senator Barack Obama as our President and International Representative showed me hope. It began to untie the knot that I've carried with me since that visit to Memphis. This time tears of joy. Granted, we aren't out of the woods yet. But I see light. And today is truly a wonderful day." -MJK

Mercy From Guru

2008-10-31T15:32:00.000-07:00

Through the mercy of my spiritual master, I have been able to take a deep look at my life. I can now see that I am very much attached to this body and the senses. When one is too much absorbed in the body and sense gratification, one is very far from the Lord. The proof of spiritual advancement is freedom from materialism. This is a very basic understanding that is talked about in all of the great religions.

In Chapter 2 of Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna makes it very clear that one who is bewildered by sense enjoyment and the opulences of this world can not enter deeply into samadhi (devotional service to the Lord.) The first instruction in the science of self realization is that we are not this body. We are spirit souls.

I have to constantly adjust my consciousness by asking myself, how deep do I really understand these spiritual truths? Do I focus more on my material designations or put myself first as a servant of God. For three days in a row, I listened to a class by His Holiness Radhanath Swami where he talked about the miracles that took place in his life. I have been dwelling on how intense his determination was to reach God. He cried and prayed to the Lord with such sincerity. I then look at my life and see how I'm so distracted by the things of this world. I'm trapped in false sense of comfort that keeps me from crying out to the Lord.

But, by associating more and more with Krishna through the scriptures and the Holy Name and my guru through his lectures, slowly I'm seeing what I must do to be properly situated as a lover of God. Not in a theoretical way but in the most practical terms.

Govardhan Puja Ki Jaya!

2008-10-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

It's been a great week for me. Somehow or other I have received some special mercy. I think it all started on Saturday when we went to a program at our friends' house for Govardhana-puja. Then on Sunday we celebrated Govardhana-puja at the Temple.

One day, Srimati Radharani asked Lord Krishna if He would fulfill one of Her desires. Krishna replied that He would satisfy any desire she wanted. She asked that He would create the most supreme place. He meditated on the essence of His love. From His heart came a seed that floated to the ground. When the seed touched the ground, Govardhana Hill sprang up.

Krishna later lifts Govardhana Hill for seven days and seven nights to curb the pride of Lord Indra and to show how He protects His devotees.

The pics above are from the Temple celebration. Hari Bol!

Quotes From Thomas Merton

2008-10-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

I fear the ignorance and power of the United States. And the fact that is has quite suddenly become one of the most decadent societies on the face of the earth. The body of a great, dead, candied child. Yet not dead: full of immense, uncontrolled power. Crazy.

If somebody doesn't understand the United States pretty soon-and communicate some of that understanding to the United States-the results will be terrible. It is no accident that the United States endowed the world with the Bomb.

The mixture of immaturity, size, apparent indulgence and depravity, with occasional spasms of guilt, power, self-hate, pugnacity, lapsing into wildness and then apathy, hopped up and wild-eyed, inarticulate and wanting to be popular. You need a doctor, Uncle!

Why am I so willing to believe that the country will be destroyed? It is certainly possible, and in some sense it may even be likely. But this is a case where, in spite of evidence, one must continue to hope. One must not give in to defeatism and despair, just as one must hope for life in a mortal illness which has been declared incurable. -Thomas Merton

The Gita can be seen as the main literary support for the great religious civilization of India, the oldest surviving culture in the world. The present translation and commentary is another manifestation of the permanent living importance of the Gita. Swami Bhaktivedanta brings to the West a salutary reminder that our highly activistic and one-sided culture is faced with a crisis that may end in self-destruction because it lacks the inner depth of an authentic metaphysical consciousness. Without such depth, our moral and political protestations are just so much verbiage. - Thomas Merton, Intro to Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Socratic-Prophetic- Please Listen To Cornel West

2008-10-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

WTF!?

2008-10-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

People are responding with hate and fear to Barack Obama. Obviously, the first reason being due to the bodily conception of life. The second is due to not being informed about the issues. It's very crazy that this is even going on in America, the land of progress, where we're supposed to be beyond racism. And to think that every Muslim is a terrorist is another calamity created by false propaganda.

Los Angeles City Blues

2008-10-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles hums. There is no silence here. The freeway is busy, helicopters constantly flying, electrical wires buzzing, planes roaring above. The sounds mesh together as one big hum. Do I crave for silence?

I remember the summers I spent at my uncle's farm. At night it was so silent that you could hear a truck driving miles away. There was no light. That would inspire and scare me at the same time. The insects would be talking amongst themselves and frogs would be inviting gardner snakes with their croaking.
Peaceful and serene.

The city inspires rage and face paced days. Everyone colliding rather than floating. Obviously this is my subjective perception.

How to find silence in the city? Solace in the noise. Here I am listening to the birds outside. Do I focus on the birds more than the other sounds?

The mind can make heaven hell, and hell heaven.............

I've Been Busy... Sorry For The Momentary Lapse Of Reason

2008-10-09T22:48:00.001-07:00

" This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of the night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if the answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple "I must write," then build your life in accordance with this necessity." - Rainer Maria Rilke

"Know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but a spark of My splendor." - Lord Krishna in Ch. 10, text 41, Bhagavad-gita.

"Black then white are all i see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see.
as below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn beyond the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.

Black then white are all i see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see there is so much more and
beckons me to look thru to these infinite possibilities.
as below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn outside the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition leaving opportunities behind.
Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line.
Reaching out to embrace the random.
Reaching out to embrace whatever may come.

I embrace my desire to
I embrace my desire to
feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow
to feel inspired to fathom the power, to witness the beauty,
to bathe in the fountain,
to swing on the spiral
to swing on the spiral
to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human.

With my feet upon the ground I move myeslf between the sounds and open wide to suck it in.
I feel it move across my skin.
I'm reaching up and reaching out. I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.
what ever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going." - Lateralus, Tool

Change slicing through me one more time... Do I resist or allow myself to mold?
Forever finding feelings felt only in dreams during the day, I smile at the ability to smile
Focus on the feather of Brother Hawk trapped in a cage
Speaking softly still he will hear, and then bear the grudge

Resting my head on your shoulder
I witness beauty felt between husband and wife
Intimacy that keeps the world at our heels
Humbled by her gentle looks
I find myself discovering locked secrets and false ramblings of a boy that should be cast off the subtle body
Will her kiss send my tattered daydreams into the breeze...

Forgetting myself in moments of work
I return to a man...
He thinks about the changes in his life... He smiles
For this man knows that changes are natural...
Even the most horrible changes bring about a polished a stone

Stone melts in the midst of spiritual awakening... - Bal Gopal das

Something I Wrote In The Early Morning To Help Me Start The Day

2008-09-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

In this material world, there is the concept of good and bad. A person in knowledge does not act out good nor bad actions. For actually sees that the truth. The Truth?

To discern the truth from ignorance one must have proper education. Proper education means taking shelter of a person who will lead you out of ignorance. 99 percent of the people do not understand real knowledge. Knowledge begins with understanding that we are not the material bodies that we inhabit.

Hence, our materialistic minds dwell on certain activities of the bodies as good or bad. A good action for one person might mean disaster for another living entity. For example, one who slaughters a cow thinks, "this is good so my family can eat." To another person seeing this action is bad because a life was taken unnecessarily. The learned person who understands that we are not these bodies can truly see the modes of nature are in control just like puppeteers controlling puppets.

This, as my wife says, is the greatest conspiracy theory. When you break it down, the main conspiracy that starts it all is: You have someone who has control of another person. Example: government controls the people. The modes of material nature are goodness, passion and ignorance. In the mode of goodness, one can gradually develop knowledge, but they're still controlled by that mode. We must therefore free ourselves from these ropes or modes.

How can one free himself from ropes? If you're bound up by ropes, you cannot free yourself (unless you're Houdini.) A person has to come and untie the ropes. This is the process found in all spiritual truths. Bhagavad-gita states: "This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it."

Therefore, we can understand that there are two processes of finding Truth. Revelation, or taking refuge in God and then receiving knowledge from Him. The other path is called sankhya in Sanskrit. This process entails that one analyze all of the 24 material elements very scrutinizingly until one finds the Truth. The last process is like being tied up in ropes and wriggling and pulling until the ropes loosen and then you wriggle and fight and pull and tug until it loosens some more. Finally you fight so much that the ropes give and you achieve freedom.

The problem with the last process is that this world is full of distractions. We can analyze the elements but there's always a chance of being captivated by those elements. In the other process, you are protected and cared for by the Higher Power.

Some people believe that you will never actually come to know Truth in full. This is because they do not know the Truth. That is why we must take shelter of those who have see the Truth. Will you go to a doctor who will guess about what operation he should perform on you? Problem.... Who should we trust and who should we keep away from? Which one is good or bad?

Beyond good or bad is knowledge that pleases God. The only real thing is devotional service to God, everything else is phantasmagoria. This might sound dogmatic, but when you get to the point, that's the Truth. The world around us will tell us differently. But, if you are not serving God, then you are serving your out of control senses and the senses of those people around you. Being nice and doing good to others are activities that can be performed by atheists, theists, and other eists you can think of. Those who serve God naturally serve others, but the quality is very different.

The example: A ship is sinking. Rather than saving the people, you save their clothes. Rather than perform activities that enlightens others, you just serve their material bodies. This DOES NOT MEAN WE BECOME HARDHEARTED!!!! We must act in such a way that both soul and body will be nourished.

Lord Chaitanya is the best physician. He came to teach us the easy process of chanting the holy names which cleanses the mirror of the heart and extinguishes the blazing fire of material existence. He taught that each person can have a personal relationship with God or Krishna.

Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya taught that we must strive to be humble at all times. Humility and tolerance. We see this in His dear associates. Knowledge can only be obtained through humility. And good and bad is only a concoction of the mind. Transcendental activities are that which pleases Krishna. Activities that please Krishna, please everyone. Water the root of the tree and the entire tree will be nourished..........................

Please Forgive My Laziness... Enjoy These Songs And Vids!!!!!!!!

2008-09-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

Lord Vamana Part Two

2008-09-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

One instruction that always struck my heart is when Lord Vamana asks for three steps of land. The Lord had walked to the place by the Narmada river where King Bali was engaged in performing sacrifices. The Lord's body was so effulgent that the sages thought this person was either the sun personified, or a fire-god.

After hearing the Lord's request for three steps of land, Bali rebuked the Lord for not asking for more. The Lord then uttered these words: "O my dear king, even the entirety of whatever there may be within the three worlds to satisfy one's senses cannot satisfy a person whose senses are uncontrolled."

This is the problem of the material world. Because we are not satisfied within ourselves then we are forced to seek happiness outside of ourselves. This in turn keeps us in an endless cycle of consumerism which then leads to destroying our surroundings all in the pursuit of happiness. We are complete because we are parts of the complete whole.

One might then ask the question: If we are complete within ourselves then why seek the satisfaction of God? The answer is: "All different varieties of atmaramas (those who take pleasure in the spirit self), especially those established on the path of self-realization, though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls."

Intermission

2008-09-11T22:52:00.000-07:00

Today is Sep. 11th and still people are bringing it up as a tool to keep the American mind in a state of fear. The media is used in many ways to conform people into what the government and the elite want them to do and say. That may be a conspiracy take on it, but please watch this video and ask yourself: Is this real or are they trying to keep parents scared for their children? Are they trying to inform us of dangers in society or are they sparking up paranoia?

Now if you know anything about high fructose corn syrup, please watch this next commercial. Aaahhh, everything on t.v. is the truth.

Lord Vamana Part One

2008-09-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

It is very difficult to understand the Lord's pastimes from a scholarly pursuit. One may memorize the pastimes and speculate on them from different angles, but this will not bring about the desired result. The true goal from hearing the Lord's pastimes is transformation of the heart. To achieve this goal, we must hear submissively and then try to practically apply the teachings from the pastimes into our daily lives.
We read in Bhagavad-gita that the Lord descends when there is a rise in irreligion. He also comes to protect the devotees and clear away the demoniac forces. Tomorrow is the holy appearance day of Lord Vamana, or the dwarf brahman. It starts when Bali Maharaja decides to conquer the heavenly planets. He performed many great sacrifices and therefore got the blessings of the descendants of Bhrigu Muni. He became very powerful and overtook the heavenly realm, making the demigods flee. The mother of the demigods became very sad and wanted something to be done. She was instructed by her husband to perform a special ceremony called payo-vrata, which consisted of many austerities and hardships. She, Aditi, pleased the Supreme Lord, and He appeared before her in his four armed form. He spoke to her about how He would take birth from her womb to protect her other children.
I was meditating on the fact that many devotees described in the scriptures started out desiring something other than pure devotional service. The Lord tells Aditi that I know this desire you have to see the mothers of the demons lament upon seeing the dead bodies of their sons. This seems to be a very materialistic desire. But, we can take Dhruva Maharaja as an example. He was a little boy who wanted a kingdom greater than that of Lord Brahma. His mother told him to go to the forest so he could see God, who was the only one who could grant him that boon. After seeing the Lord, Dhruva was completely washed of all contaminations. Narada Muni is another one. The lives of devotees are very difficult to understand. Some of them were placed in certain circumstances just for the Lord to perform pastimes.
Another instruction I was meditating on, was that Bali Maharaja pleased the brahmans and therefore was infused with brahma-tejas, or spiritual power. Because of his service to the brahmans not even the Lord could overtake Him with power. To make spiritual advancement we must constantly strive to please the devotees of the Lord. To serve the devotees is to please God. This is a very essential instruction. The devotees are even seen as expansions of the Lord in this material world. If you have the blessings of great souls, nothing can interfere with your plans.

Radharani Ki Jaya

2008-09-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

Another day to feel gratitude and love, but my mind wraps around sense objects and other temporary subject matters. I struggle. I want to cry out for mercy. I want to drown in ecstatic love for God, but as Bhagavad-gita states: "One who is bewildered by material enjoyment and the opulences of this world cannot properly attain samadhi (a state of complete trance)."

The more I fill my mind with subjects that have no real essence, the harder it is for me to dive deeper into the goal of life. Distractions keeping me from truly loving and feeling compassion. Keeping me from giving compassion.

Yesterday was Radhastami. The day we celebrate the "birth" of Srimati Radharani, Krishna's most intimate devotee. Without Her mercy we cannot perform any activity. Yogamaya, Her spiritual energy allows us to engage in intimate service to Krishna. Her Mahamaya, or material energy keeps trapped in illusion unless we obtain the mercy of great souls or Krishna.
Lord Krishna upon seeing the beauty of Srimati Radharani becomes completely bewildered, in a very transcendental way. Everything Radha does, is simply to allow God to dive into His own pleasure potency. This is true love. God loves His devotee and the devotee loves God. But, She loves Him so much that She experiences more happiness than the Lord. The Lord is therefore greedy to taste Her love and so Krishna appears as Lord Caitanya to understand Radha's love.

The only way to dive deeply into these very high subject matters, is to constantly strive to focus on being lower than the straw in the street, more tolerant than a tree and constantly give all respects to others without wanting respect for oneself.

2008-09-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

I'm very sorry that I haven't been keeping up the blog properly. This week, actually past few weeks, have been very blissful and very busy. Starting from Jagannath Ratha-yatra and ending this week with a visit by His Holiness Radhanath Swami, my beloved spiritual master. There's so much that I have realized, yet, I feel overwhelmed to put them all down in writing.
My greatest realization was being around a spiritually surcharged personality has a great effect on the heart. Last Sunday, my guru chanted for an hour and a half, this was after he gave a talk about spiritual foundation. Everyone was so enthusiastic to dance and cry out to the Lord. We were literally ringing sweat out of our clothes at the end. We didn't want it to end.
This is taken from Caitanya-caritamrita 1.1.44: "Every living entity is essentially a servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the spiritual master is also His servant. Still, the spiritual master is a direct manifestation of the Lord. With this conviction, a disciple can advance in Krishna consciousness. The spiritual master is non-different from Krishna because he is a manifestation of Krishna.
"Lord Nityananda, who is Balarama Himself, the first direct manifestation or expansion of Krishna, is the original spiritual master. He helps Lord Krishna in His pastimes, and He is a servant of the Lord.
"Every living entity is eternally a servant of Sri Krishna Caitanya; therefore the spiritual master cannot be other than a servant of Lord Caitanya. The spiritual master's eternal occupation is to expand the service of the Lord by training disciples in a service attitude."

I witnessed my spiritual master giving every single person attention and guidance with such love and compassion that it should have melted my heart. He literally drains himself every time he visits trying to make sure everyone is cared for spiritually and materially.
Another thing I realized is, my spiritual master has so much intensity and deep knowledge. It's quite amazing to know someone that has a one-minded goal of constantly trying to go deeper into the spiritual. Very amazing.

I know everyone is focused on the Democratic Convention and the Republican National Convention, but at a certain point we really have to ask ourselves: Is a change in politics really going to solve the problems in this world. I was recently reading how prime ministers or brahmanas in Vedic culture we're never paid for their services. Instead, they would live off the earth and from donations that people would freely give. This gave them power over the King to instruct him. The people had such a relationship with the king as if he was their father. Nowadays politicians will say and do anything just so they can get some power. Lust, anger and greed which are the doors leading to degradation, will not be stopped by rules set up by the government.
Understanding that we are not these material bodies, but eternal, blissful servants of Sri- Sri-Radha-Krishna completely washes the false ego away allowing pure love to enter the heart. Chant Hare Krishna and be happy.

Just To Keep It Balanced... Mr. Show is the Best!!!!!!

2008-08-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

Protesters Chant F*ck Fox News Haha

2008-08-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

Bhajahu Re Mana Sri Nanda-nandana

2008-08-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

This is a song sung by the great poet Govinda das Kaviraja.

"O mind, just worship the lotus feet of the son of Nanda, which make one fearless. Having obtained this rare human birth, cross over this ocean of worldly existence by associating with saintly persons.

"Day and night I remain sleepless, suffering heat and cold, wind and rain. For a bit of flickering happiness I have served wicked and miserly men.

"What assurance of real happiness is there in all one's wealth, youth, sons, and relatives? This life totters like a drop of water on a lotus petal; therefore you should always worship the lotus feet of lord Hari.

"Govinda das longs to hear the glories of Lord Hari, chant His glories, constantly remember Him, offer Him prayers, serve His lotus feet, become His servant, worship Him, serve Him as a friend, and completely offer Him his very self."

Sri Lalita-Pranama-Stotra: Bowing Down to Sri Lalita

2008-08-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

This is a poem written by Srila Rupa Goswami. In this poem he describes the glories of Srimati Radharani's closest friend. My wife is named after her. Lalita means "one who plays." My wife's full name is Lalita Sundari devi dasi or "the servant of beautiful Lalita."

Verse 1
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, who worships the perspiration from Sri Sri Radha-Mukunda's lotus feet, and who, out of great love, is very bold and arrogant.

Verse 2
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, the beauty of whose face rebukes the full moon's splendor, whose eyes are like the lovely eyes of a frightened doe, and who is famous for artistically decorating Srimati Radharani.

Verse 3
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, whose transcendental form is gracefully dressed with a bodice, ornaments, and silk garments wonderfully colorful as the tail of a jubilantly dancing peacock, and whose fair complexion rebukes the splendor of gorocana.

Verse 4
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, who gives the following instruction. "Radha, please hear these beneficial words: Be contrary with the rogue who is the prince of Vraja. O dishonored one, do not become gentle and submissive for Your own doing."

Verse 5
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, who, seeing Him even slightly cheat Sri Radha, with reddened eyes shames the prince of Vraja with a flood of words.

Verse 6
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, who is the abode where the queen of the gopas places her love, who is the teacher of the arts of friendship to her friends, and who considers Sri Sri Radha-Krishna as dear as life.

Verse 7
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, all of whose desires became at once completely fulfilled when She saw in Vraja the path of Sri Radha blocked by a certain person.

Verse 8
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, who is the first of Radha's friends in Gokula, and for whom the meeting of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna is the greatest of jubilant festivals.

Verse 9
Srimati Radharani, the splendid desire vine in the family of King Vrsabhanu, lovingly accepts among Her own associates a person who happily and with pure vision reads these eight verses describing the charming virtues of Sri Lalita.

What Hurts The Soul? By Rumi...

2008-08-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

We tremble, thinking we're about to dissolve into nonexistence, but nonexistence fears even more that it might be given human form!

Loving God is the only pleasure.
Other delights turn bitter.
What hurts the soul? To live without tasting the water of its own essence. People focus on death and this material earth.
They have doubts about soul water.
Those doubts can be reduced!
Use night to wake your clarity. Darkness and the living water are lovers
Let them stay up together. When merchants eat their big meals and sleep their dead sleep, we night thieves go to work.

Symbols Splashed Over My Daily Life

2008-08-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

Panting in the darkness from the object that never was
Painting pictures in your mind that you'll never be able to finish by hand
Newspapers scattered with headlines that challenges the qualities of humanity...
Humanity makes great use of pictures and sounds to produce emotions that you never wanted to deal with...
Exhausted from dismantling the confusion I created by identifying with that which is not
Turn up the volume and kiss the wind
Pick up the stone and touch the sky
Determined to love and be loved in a world full of suffering, yet you pull it off with a devilish grin that provokes strangers into fantasizing...
This girl cries when she doesn't get what she wants...
Focus... Pull... Push... He drags his daughter to the rainbow... She blows a kiss
She giggles as the sun tickles her face

When I assume a position of power, I'll see how helpless I really am
Filled with guilt and rotten guts from worrying too much
Bloated from greed and lust, tainted by the disease of pride...

Skip to the back of the room
She talks about conspiracies to those who don't want to listen
I whisper dirty secrets that float around with the fly
Our daughter picks up the mess and explains through practice that we should live like innocent children who are content, no, astonished at kitten rolling in the dirt...
When I'm older will I live in a state of constant emergency?

Compassion and Nourishment

2008-07-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

I have been meditating on a very deep principle that is practiced in Vedic culture. THis principle is: a man must see every woman, with the exception of his wife, as mother. This principle can produce essays and voluminous books, but because I have not the intelligence to go as deep as others, I will make a humble attempt to elaborate.
In Vedic culture, there are seven mothers: the birth mother, the guru's wife, the king's wife, the nurse, the Earth, the cow, and the brahmana's wife. Why are they specifically designated as the seven mothers? Because each of them in their own way nourish and bring about compassion in the society. This is something men have a hard time understanding. Nourishment and compassion are the two most important features for women.
The society must then respect and protect women as one's own mother if they want to make any advancement. Today our society often creates objects out of women. If you look at the television (please don't), movies, magazines, etc., women are objects that attract the male ego. When women are seen as objects then men want to exploit and abuse them. Looking at the world, ask yourself: if men properly respected all women as their mothers, would there be so much rape, abuse, sexual harassment, prostitution and many other vices that degrade the civilization?
A woman's heart is very soft. We can see that because of this softness, women have many abilities that men do not. Women often are psychic, spiritual and act as teachers. The setback is their judgement can often times be swayed. Another problem is their hearts are often dismantled due to a lack of having a proper father figure. Women then search for that love they never received leading them to degradation. Vedic culture therefore states, that a woman should always be protected in her life. At the beginning her father is the protector. He maintains the family and sees that she is properly married off. Then her husband is the protector. He gives her security and sees that she has everything she needs to live comfortably. Then, she is finally protected by the son. The son also has a natural inclination take care of the mother. Women give nourishment and compassion. Men offer protection and security.
Man and woman come together to balance their lives out. Masculine meets feminine. Yin meets Yang. Shiva and shakti. This is natural. A family unit is born. The family unit can strengthen the community as well as weaken the community. Children raised in proper family settings go on to spread love and joy to the rest of the community. In this Kali-yuga the population is mostly consisted of varna-sankara, or unwanted population. The male and female while engaging in sexual intercourse must do so in such a way to bring about good population. Vedic culture teaches this science known as Garbhadhana-samskara. Through different practices, the child is born with such a consciousness, that that child will bring about spiritual and material revolution around them.
Lastly, I wanted to touch upon the phenomena that is happening more and more. In our modern society, women are attempting to take on more and more male roles. In businesses and even the army, women are trying to be equal with men. What happens is that they artificially transform into male personas leaving behind the nourishing and and compassionate qualities that the world desperately needs. Men aren't equal with women physically and women aren't equal with men physically. Spiritually we are all the same. We are not these material designations, but we have these bodies. A man has different hormones than a woman and therefore will act differently.
Respect, protect and serve women so we can fill the world with compassion and love. Forget what Freud said..........

Pow Wow

2008-07-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

Bhakta Dave has asked that I speak about Native American spirituality. He himself has stated that the culture and rituals were passed down from generation to generation. There was nothing like a Bible, a Koran or any other manual to experience that which is beyond.
I feel the first thing we must understand about these peoples is that they had a very deep connection to Mother Earth. Such a connection actually brought about their culture. Some were nomads and others were pueblo builders. Definitely, their way of life was much simpler and more respectful.
In many aboriginal tribes, there is the shaman or medicine men. These people are gatekeepers to the unknown. They usually have visions and intense dreams that lead them on a spiritual path. They then take shelter of another shaman who then initiates them into the practices. Fasting, dancing, rituals and herbs are used as tools. Shamans and medicine men can be compared to the guru in India. These spiritual leaders were sought for guidance and cures. They would go on vision quests that would guide their people.
The spirituality of Native Americans and other tribal groups centers around the Great Spirit or Great Mystery. they believe in animism, or seeing that each animal is the representative of a spirit. For instance a beaver would be called Brother Beaver and would represent the entire beaver kingdom. And each animal represents a certain trait such as power, knowledge and so on. Shamans often take shelter of a Power Animal which they receive their gifts from.
We can see that they tried to explain the world around them in spiritual terms.
The formula is the same: there's a creator or Godhead, the material world is not our home, and there is the Happy Hunting Grounds or Heaven. Some might say they are demigod worshipers, others would simply call them heathens or pagans, but one who has knowledge can see that they had a deep connection with God in many ways that people today cannot understand due to our dependence on machines, televisions and so many other comfortable gadgets that we take for granted.

Two Poems By Rumi

2008-07-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

A great sheikh has lost two sons, yet he is not weeping. His family and his wife wonder at this lack of grief. "do not think that I am cold and uncompassionate. I don't weep because for me they are not gone. The eye of my heart sees them distinctly. They're outside of time but very close by here playing and coming to hug me. As people sometimes see dead relatives in dream, I see my sons constantly in this waking state. I am even more deeply with them when I hide for a moment from the world, when I let the sense-perception leaves drop from the tree of my being.
I weep for those who have ungrateful souls. I weep when boys throw stones at dogs. I weep for dogs who bite for no reason. Forgive the harm that anyone does. We are here to be a forgiveness door through which freedom comes. I weep when I ask that the door not be shut."
Some attend to individual mercies and some to universal grace. Try to let them merge. Pond water eventually arrives at the ocean. One saint works and lingers in the lakes of personal life. Another plays without limits in the sea.
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On Resurrection Day God will say, "What did you do with the strength and energy your food gave you on earth? How did you use your eyes? What did you make with your five senses while they were dimming and playing out? I gave you hands and feet as tools for preparing the ground for planting. Did you, in the health I gave, do the plowing?"
You will not be able to stand when you hear those questions. You will bend in double, and finally acknowledge the glory. God will say, "Lift your head and answer the questions."
Your head will rise a little, then slump again.
"Look at me! Tell what you've done."
You try, but you fall back flat as a snake. "I want every detail. Say!" Eventually you will be able to get to a sitting position. "Be plain and clear. I have given you such gifts. What did you do with them?"
You turn to the right looking to the prophets for help, as though to say, I am stuck in the mud of my life. Help me out of this! They will answer, those kings, "The time for helping is past. The plow stands there in the field. You should have used it."
Then you turn to the left where your family is, and they will say, "Don't look at us! This conversation is between you and your creator." Then you pray the prayer that is the essence of every ritual:
God, I have no hope. I am torn to shreds. You are my first and last and only refuge.
Don't do daily prayers like a bird pecking, moving its head up and down. Prayer is an egg.
Hatch out the total helplessness inside.

Could This Be Real? Have Fun.....

2008-07-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

Wow Is All I Can Say!

2008-07-01T07:52:00.001-07:00

Black Elk On the Center of the Heart

2008-06-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

"I am blind and do not see things of this world, but when the Light comes from Above, it enlightens my heart and I can see, for the Eye of my heart sees everything. The heart is a sanctuary at the center of which there is a little space, wherein the Great Spirit dwells, and this is the Eye. This is the Eye of the Great Spirit by which He sees all things and through which we can see Him. If the heart is not pure, the Great Spirit cannot be seen, and if you should die in this ignorance, your soul cannot return immediately to the Great Spirit, but it must be purified by wandering about in the world. In order to know the center of the heart where the Great Spirit dwells you must be pure and good, and live in the manner that the Great Spirit has taught us. The man who is thus pure contains the Universe in the pocket of his heart."
-Black Elk

Material Sight Vs. Spiritual Sight

2008-06-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

God consciousness begins with understanding we are not these material bodies. I must understand this. To simply know this, but then act as if I am this body is a strong sign of unintelligence.
Because of this material body, we add so many others designations. This body was born in America, therefore i am an American. I was born in a Catholic family, so I am also Catholic. Americans are better than people born in other countries. Because of these designations, men and women commit horrible acts that I cannot understand. Men fight and start wars. Women have babies at such young ages due to their inability to control their senses. Famine is created because of greed. Politicians plan out men's lives to exploit them to the fullest degree. Poverty stricken homes, diseases and now environmental issues are created because we are too attached this material body.
To see that all beings from plants to humans are actually spirit souls covered by material elements is a very advanced stage. God is also within the heart, next to the soul guiding. We have this "skin disease" as Srila Prabhupada would put it. How liberating it is to realize everything is spiritual due to it all coming from the same source.
Parrots fly overhead, the breeze glides across the land, bees and insects busy themselves with work I'll never know about, flowers soak in the sunlight, water flows cleansing the ether. Here I sit writing this thinking about how I'm not this body, and how everything is intimately connected through the Supreme Person, Sri Krishna, God. Through loving service to Sri Krishna, I can receive the intelligence to love every living entity, not holding back in any sense. Spiritual love.... Service is love.
I do not want to be absorbed in God, I want to be absorbed in serving God.
This is so easy to write down in my notebook. I return to the pages and stare at the words I've scribbled. Am I putting any of this to practice? Am I struggling to change the conflicts inside me or am I more eager to change others? As Gandhi says, "Become the change you want to see in the world."

Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine

2008-06-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

Disappearance Day of H.H. Bhakti-tirtha Swami

2008-06-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

Surrender

2008-06-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

The greatest benediction in life is to be able to perform devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By performing devotional service, one purifies the senses and destroys the false designations that the false ego identifies with. This service disentangles the soul from matter.
In my devotional life, because I am inattentive, i see the service that I perform as just another activity I must get through so that I am able to do what I want to do. It has taken me millions of lifetimes to be able to perform this service, yet, I rush to do something my mind tricks me into believing is more important.
Surrender.... What does that word mean in this situation?
I can surrender my body without surrendering my mind. If I fail to surrender both, then I am not surrendered, simple...

This morning while chanting Hare Krishna, I meditated on how Srila Prabhupada stated: "The chanting is a spiritual call for the Lord and His internal energy Hara, to give protection to the conditioned soul." I started praying to Sri-Sri-Radha-Krishna to engage me in Their service. But then my mind added, "But not so much service because I'm already doing so much." What a foolish thing to add?!
This proves that I have no love. If I had love for God then I would have prayed: "Give me service until I'm completely immersed, so I have no spare time to waste on material activities."
Rather than fully surrender, I want to surrender at my own convenience. If I have to exert myself or suffer, then I don't want to surrender.

Jesus Christ knew that he was going to be crucified. in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed in a very particular way. He said, "Lord, if this cup can be taken away then allow it to pass from me. But let your will be done, not my will." Jesus was completely surrendered. He didn't want anything for himself. He only wanted what the Lord desired, even if that meant he would have to suffer.
A prayer that I chant at the end of my japa is the last verse of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's Sikshastakam: "Let Krishna tightly embrace this maidservant, who has fallen at His lotus feet, or let Him trample me, or break my heart by never being visible to me. He is a debauchee after all, and can do whatever He likes. But He is the Lord of my heart and no one else."
Lord Caitanya is praying in the mood of Srimati Radharani. Sri Radhika only wants Krishna to have pleasure, even if that means that She might have to suffer.
So, surrendering is true love. It's like a parent who serves the child even if that parent has to struggle more. And the parent might not get anything back in the future. But Krishna is so kind that when one surrenders to Him than Krishna wants to serve that person.
I must focus on what surrender really means. Not a surrender out of fear, defeat or duty. A deep surrender that is unmotivated and uninterrupted.
A surrender out of love...

Pouring It Out

2008-06-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

On coming back from our trip, I feel spiritually recharged. Somehow, I have once again obtained the mercy of my Guru. Everyday I have woken at 4 am and attended the full morning program. I have noticed that my mind is much clearer enabling me to think of Radha-Krishna much more now than before. Being with the devotees in the morning chanting and praying together, has really opened my heart to new insights. I feel very blessed and grateful.
But, this is where it starts getting difficult. How can I properly maintain this enthusiasm? How can I continually feel grateful rather than falling into a pit of familiarity? How can I strive for increasing sincerity?
Obviously, it is by association. It is by prayer. Rather than rush through the activities of my life, I must use each second to struggle towards my goal. What is the goal? Love of Krishna. I must see that every prayer I sing, every name I chant, every service I perform is an opportunity to please my Guru. If I please Gurudev, than I please Krishna. I must pour my heart into everything that I do.

Poem By Ibn "Arabi

2008-06-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

Gentle now, doves...
Don't add to your sighs
To my heartache

Gentle now,
Or your sad cooing
Will reveal the love I hide,
The sorrow I hide away

I echo back, in the evening
In the morning, echo
The longing of a lovesick lover,
The moaning of the lost.

In a grove of Ghada,
Spirits wrestled
Bending the limbs down over me
Passing me away

They brought yearning
Breaking of the heart
And other new twists of pain
Putting me through it...

Hour by hour
They circle my heart
In rapture, in love ache
And touch my pillars with a kiss

As the best of creation
Circled the Ka'aba
Which reason with its proofs
Called unworthy

He kissed the stone there
And was entrusted with the Word.
What is a house of stone
Compared to a man or woman...

A white blazed gazelle
Is an amazing sight.
Red-dye signaling
Eyelids hunting.

Pasture between breastbone
And innards.
Marvel,
A garden among the flames!

My heart can take on
Any form:
For gazelles, a meadow
A cloister for monks

For idols, sacred ground
Ka'aba for circling pilgrims,
The Tables of the Torah,
The Scrolls of the Qu'ran

I profess the religion of love
Wherever its caravan turns
Along the way-that is the belief,
The faith that I keep...

By Ibn' Arabi
Translated by Michael Sells

Lovely Relationships

2008-06-10T07:21:00.000-07:00

Today I read a wonderful article pertaining to the relationship between Moses and God. The relationship started off with Moses wanting something from God but went into a more intimate relationship. God finally revealed His more intimate self rather than the angry/father persona that the Old Testament mostly focuses on.
I was walking around with Baby Gauri outside and it just hit me, that God wants an intimate relationship with us and we want an intimate relationship with God, but due to our being covered by the inferior energy of the Lord, we wrap ourselves up in fruitive activities and mental speculation. We know from the scriptures that devotional service awakens our dormant love for Him.
Love of God. The more we serve with love. Loving Krishna is not based on rituals and regulations. Love transcends these. The devotee does not perform rituals, he transforms the rituals into acts of love. Those acts of love attracts Krishna. It is stated that devotional service is sri-krsna-karsini, it attracts the Lord. That love is Srimati Radharani. As we surrender the Lord reciprocates. We cannot understand God through intellect or ritual, we can only understand God by His mercy. We cannot force our way into a relationship with somebody. We cannot force God to have a relationship with us.
Love. The devotee wants Krishna to be pleased, nothing for oneself. The gopis are the topmost devotees. They are simple village girls who love Krishna for Him. They do not even care for the knowledge of Krishna's Godhead position. They are attracted to His pastimes, qualities and His flute. This may sound sentimental, but this is actually deeper than any mundane religion, meditation or hatha yoga. Covered over by the Lord's maha-maya potency, the living entities do not the truth. The truth is the devotee wants to please Krishna and Krishna wants to please the devotee. To please someone means to serve that person. We are selfish and filled with speculations because we take shelter of other speculators rather than serve the pure representative of God who has the ability to transform us into pure devotees. Whew............................... Love.