Thanks for the lovely quote, unconditional love indeed ..although at the
same time inconceivable to me to try and comprehend Gods love , especially
His causeless mercy in rescuing us from this ocean of birth and death.
Equally inconceivable to me is the fact that although He is all-powerful
nevertheless He is the most humble. Reminded also of the words in Bhagavad-
gita ... " the supreme law of life is pure love.... "Also brings to mind a
lovely description by Shrila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, " Sometimes Krishna
feeds the calves , lovingly placing small bunches of tender grass in their
mouths , and sometimes He gently scratches and rubs their bodies. Oh , how I
yearn to one day see Krishna s calves jumping and frolicking in Vrindavana.
" Krishna is after all bhakta-vatsala ... one who is affectionate to His
devotees and prema -niketana ...the reservoir of love... so since He is the
reservoir of love , how can we know the unlimited nature of that love ?
(Talking of matters divine have you heard a song by Sinon Webbe called
Grace ....really beautiful. )
Neither for that matter do I have any real comprehension of causeless mercy.
Suffice to know that especially for the neophyte like me .." the mercy IS
the Holy Names " as Bhakti Vijaya said. I remember also Shrila Prabhupada
saying "... Krishna consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the
mind ", the Vedic understanding being that I ,the soul am eternally pure ,it
is only my consciousness which has become impure , because I am Krishna s
marginal energy and I can come under the control of maya-shakti , His
external, illusory energy at which time my consciousness becomes polluted ,
forgetful of my divine, pure nature. By Krishna s causeless mercy and that
of His pure representative , dormant krishna -prema , love of Krishna ,is
awakened. Jiv jago -wake up sleeping soul !
With your kind permission I would like to post your quote and comment and my
response on my blog. Haribol
'Wherever you are in your development, whatever you are doing, with a
strong affirmation of all your goodness and good deeds, with a gentle
understanding of your weakness, God is forever loving you. You do not have
to change, grow, or be good in order to be loved. Rather, you are loved so
that you can change, grow, and be good.'
- John Powell in 'Fully Human, Fully Alive'.
(If the author believes this as a Jesuit, how much more so those who are
aligned to causeless Mercy!) Hare Krishna. Bhakta Felix
Monday, 24 May 2010
APES OR DEMIGODS - WHICH ARE OUR ANCESTORS ?
Apes or Demigods – which are our ancestors?
Remember when the world was flat? Well,no,not really ,but most people believed it was- until science proved otherwise. Most people nowadays believe their ancestors were apes- but science now tells us otherwise. Thats according to Dr. Richard Thompson, a graduate of Cornell University and Michael Cremo ,an investigative journalist and research associate of The Bhaktivedanta Institue, co-authors of the book Forbidden Archeology-The Hidden History of the Human Race.The book is a collection and analysis of archeological reports from around the world of findings of bones and artifacts such as stone tools and utensils.So after eight years of research published in over nine hundred pages ,what do the authors conclude ? To quote "Over the past two centuries, researchers have found bones and artifacts showing that people like ourselves existed on earth millions of years ago. But the scientific establishment has suppressed,ignored,or forgotten these remarkable facts.Why ? Because they contradict dominant views of human origins and antiquity."The book comes highly recommended by top academics such as Dr. Phillip E. Johnson, University of California,author of Darwin on Trial,Dr. Pierce J. Flynn,Department of Arts and Science,California State University, San Marcos and Dr. Siegfried Scherer, Institute for Microbiology,Technical University of Munich, Germany. The World Congress of Archeologists asked one of the co-authors , Michael Cremo, to present a paper on the book at its fourth annual congress at the University of Cape Town. The book documents around 150 archeological reports that are all saying the same thing- our ancestors were not apes. So whose idea was it that our great grandparents high up in the family tree were apes? His name was Charles Darwin and in 1879 he published a book called The Origin of Species in which he proposed the theory of evolution whereby one species evolved into the next starting with the simplest of life forms up to the most complex,the human species. The followers of Darwin therefore believe that apes evolved into humans and that they did so on our doorstep , 40 kilometres west of Johannesburg in the area best known as Sterkfontein which has therefore come to be called The Cradle of Civilzation due to the number of hominid fossils discovered in that area.On the basis of such findings the Darwinians claim that uncivilized humans first evolved around 40 000 years ago.Next time you visit your doctor, why not ask him the question “Where do we come from?” More than likely he will reply that we come from the apes. That’s because current theory of the origins of man is based on Darwin’s theory of evolution. Wits Medical School, arguably the most prestigious in South Africa, teaches Darwin’s theory to it’s students. So what to speak of us mere mortals- dare we believe otherwise?
Certainly according to Thompson and Cremo and the archeological evidence they have uncovered,excuse the pun, we should believe otherwise. Actually in another sense the archeological evidence that man hasn’t evolved from apes comes as no surprise. Darwin himself admitted to the unscientific nature of his own theory in his book The Origin of Species in which he says,
“To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light…could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.” Perhaps those who have accepted Darwinian theory have never read his book, which after all was just a theory.But according to Thompson and Cremo there has been a cover-up. They say that the evidence debunking Darwins theory has been there all along- its just been suppressed,ignored or forgotten. If I may quote one such example of suppression from their book."In the early 1950s, Thomas E. Lee of the National Museum of Canada found advanced stone tools in glacial deposits at Sheguiandah, on Manitoulin Island in northern Lake Huron.Geologist John Sanford of Wayne State University argued that the oldest Sheguiandah tools were at least 65,000 years old and might be as much as 125,000years old. For those adhering to standard views on North American prehistory,such ages were unacceptable.Thomas E. Lee complained that he was hounded from his Civil Service position into prolonged unemployment;publication outlets were cut off;the evidence was misrepresented by several prominent authors and that tons of artifacts vanished into storage bins of the National Museum of Canada.Futhermore Lee is quoted as saying that for refusing to fire the discoverer, Lee, the Director of the National Museum, who had proposed having a monograph on the site published, was himself fired and driven into exile." Lee goes on to say that,"..... Sheguiandah would have forced embarrassing admissions and the re-writing of almost every book in the business. It had to be killed. It was killed. " Chilling stuff....to be expected I suppose if you go tramping around glaciers. Seriously though, Thompson and Cremo quote other instances of deliberate attempts to conceal the facts in order to save face
Getting back to our flat earth example for a moment, science proved the earth was round. Similarly if we accept the findings of Thompson and Cremo that our ancestors are not apes then who , according to science,are they? What are the true origins of the human race? We get answers from two sources. One is archeology and the other is Harvard Business School and Microsoft . Well …indirectly. Lets start with the bones and artifacts. May we quote again from the book Forbidden Archeology. " In 1979`,researchers at the Laetoli, Tanzania , site in East Africa discovered footprints in volcanic ash deposits over 3.6 million years old. Mary Leakey and others said the prints were indistinguishable from those of modern humans.To these scientists, this meant only that the human ancestors of 3.6 million years ago had remarkably modern feet.But according to other scientists, such as physical anthropologist R.H. Tuttle of the University of Chicago, fossil bones of the known australopithecines of 3.6 million years ago show they had feet that were distinctly apelike. Hence they were incompatible with the Laetoli prints. In an article in the March 1990 issue of Natural History, Tuttle confessed that we are left with somewhat of a mystery. It seems permissible,therefore, to consider a possibility neither Tuttle nor Leakey mentioned-that creatures with anatomically modern human bodies to match their anatomically modern human feet existed some 3.6 million years ago in East Africa. Perhaps....they coexisted with more apelike creatures. As intriguing as this archeological possibility may be, current ideas about human evolution forbid it ."In other words Thompson and Cremo are saying that based on the archeological evidence we should consider the possibility that one species didnt evolve to another, but rather all species co-exist simultaneously. That view incidentally is the same as information given in the ancient Vedic literature,the oldest on the planet, which states that there are 8,400,000 species simultaneously existing in the universe from aquatics, plant,insects,reptiles animals, humans and demigods. More about that later.Now onto Harvard Business School and Microsoft.Both have been clients of Swami Partha Sarathi , the founder of the Vedanta Academy. He is much sought after by big corporations to help boost productivity. He teaches principles like Concentration, Consistency and Compassion as essential in any successful business. He extracts these principles not from current business surveys but rather from the Bhagavad-gita .Bhagavad-gita is part of the Vedas,hence the name Vedanta Academy.The foremost Vedic scholar of our time gives us a brief history of Bhagavad-gita. "... a rough estimate is that the Gita was spoken at least 120,400.000 years ago;and in human society it has been extant for two million years."Spoken originally in the mother of all languages , Sanskrit, there are currently over 600 translations of Bhagavad-gita in many other languages, including a soon-to-be published first Afrikaans edition we believe, provided funds are forthcoming. Vedic information covers all aspects of life on this planet. Everything from Ayurvedic medicine, political and economic systems, world history, military science, astrology, astronomy and self-realisation etc, is included in the Vedas. In Bhagavad-gita, the essence of Vedic literature, we find explicit information of how we humans came to be here. Shree Krishna, the speaker of Bhagavad-gita, says to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra ,
“In the days long past I illumined the Deity of the Sun with this understanding. He, in turn, gave instruction to the father of the human race, Manu, who in due course revealed these truths to Ikshvaku, the founder of the Solar dynasty.” Bg: 4:1 Interesting how there is the close similarity in the name of the demigod Manu and the word "man".Demigods ,by the way, according to Bhagavad -gita are empowered controllers of the various cosmic departments such as rain ,wind,the oceans,fire,light etc . The Vedas tell us there are 33million such demigods in the universe..Further detail of human origins is given in the commentary of Bhagavad-gita by Shrila Prabhupada." From Brahma(the original creature born out of the energy of the Supreme Lord),all the seven great sages, and before them four other great sages, named Sanaka,Sananda,Sanatana and Sanat -kumara,and the Manus,are manifested.All these twent-five great sages are known as the patriarchs of the living entities all over the universe." The Vedas go on to say that all these 8,400.000 species simultaneously exist; there is no evolution of the species, just an evolution of consciousness as the individual soul transmigrates from body to body,from the lower species to the higher, according to the laws of re-incarnation.
Furthermore Vedic literature gives detailed descriptions of such demigods and their abodes in higher planetary systems including historical accounts of their visits to the earth planet and their interaction with humans. Dr Richard Thompson in his book Alien Identities reveals striking parallels in modern UFO reports with Vedic accounts of inter-planetary travel and extra-terrestial beings. So its up to you now to choose - is it apes , is it demigods ? One things for sure, fossils dont lie.
The above is a summary of a talk given by Andrew Freedman on the 30th August this year at the Body Mind Spirit Tourism Forum at Erin Hall, Rondebosch, Cape Town. Andrew ,a Wits Psychology graduate is a motivational speaker on radio and television,singer/songwriter , editor of Rainbow News and a student of Vedic science. He teaches bhakti-yoga and meditation in Cape Town and his latest Cd "Time Stands Still" (recording name Ananda Vardhan) is available in record shops nationwide
For further information please email Andrew at freedmana@mweb.co.za
Remember when the world was flat? Well,no,not really ,but most people believed it was- until science proved otherwise. Most people nowadays believe their ancestors were apes- but science now tells us otherwise. Thats according to Dr. Richard Thompson, a graduate of Cornell University and Michael Cremo ,an investigative journalist and research associate of The Bhaktivedanta Institue, co-authors of the book Forbidden Archeology-The Hidden History of the Human Race.The book is a collection and analysis of archeological reports from around the world of findings of bones and artifacts such as stone tools and utensils.So after eight years of research published in over nine hundred pages ,what do the authors conclude ? To quote "Over the past two centuries, researchers have found bones and artifacts showing that people like ourselves existed on earth millions of years ago. But the scientific establishment has suppressed,ignored,or forgotten these remarkable facts.Why ? Because they contradict dominant views of human origins and antiquity."The book comes highly recommended by top academics such as Dr. Phillip E. Johnson, University of California,author of Darwin on Trial,Dr. Pierce J. Flynn,Department of Arts and Science,California State University, San Marcos and Dr. Siegfried Scherer, Institute for Microbiology,Technical University of Munich, Germany. The World Congress of Archeologists asked one of the co-authors , Michael Cremo, to present a paper on the book at its fourth annual congress at the University of Cape Town. The book documents around 150 archeological reports that are all saying the same thing- our ancestors were not apes. So whose idea was it that our great grandparents high up in the family tree were apes? His name was Charles Darwin and in 1879 he published a book called The Origin of Species in which he proposed the theory of evolution whereby one species evolved into the next starting with the simplest of life forms up to the most complex,the human species. The followers of Darwin therefore believe that apes evolved into humans and that they did so on our doorstep , 40 kilometres west of Johannesburg in the area best known as Sterkfontein which has therefore come to be called The Cradle of Civilzation due to the number of hominid fossils discovered in that area.On the basis of such findings the Darwinians claim that uncivilized humans first evolved around 40 000 years ago.Next time you visit your doctor, why not ask him the question “Where do we come from?” More than likely he will reply that we come from the apes. That’s because current theory of the origins of man is based on Darwin’s theory of evolution. Wits Medical School, arguably the most prestigious in South Africa, teaches Darwin’s theory to it’s students. So what to speak of us mere mortals- dare we believe otherwise?
Certainly according to Thompson and Cremo and the archeological evidence they have uncovered,excuse the pun, we should believe otherwise. Actually in another sense the archeological evidence that man hasn’t evolved from apes comes as no surprise. Darwin himself admitted to the unscientific nature of his own theory in his book The Origin of Species in which he says,
“To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light…could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.” Perhaps those who have accepted Darwinian theory have never read his book, which after all was just a theory.But according to Thompson and Cremo there has been a cover-up. They say that the evidence debunking Darwins theory has been there all along- its just been suppressed,ignored or forgotten. If I may quote one such example of suppression from their book."In the early 1950s, Thomas E. Lee of the National Museum of Canada found advanced stone tools in glacial deposits at Sheguiandah, on Manitoulin Island in northern Lake Huron.Geologist John Sanford of Wayne State University argued that the oldest Sheguiandah tools were at least 65,000 years old and might be as much as 125,000years old. For those adhering to standard views on North American prehistory,such ages were unacceptable.Thomas E. Lee complained that he was hounded from his Civil Service position into prolonged unemployment;publication outlets were cut off;the evidence was misrepresented by several prominent authors and that tons of artifacts vanished into storage bins of the National Museum of Canada.Futhermore Lee is quoted as saying that for refusing to fire the discoverer, Lee, the Director of the National Museum, who had proposed having a monograph on the site published, was himself fired and driven into exile." Lee goes on to say that,"..... Sheguiandah would have forced embarrassing admissions and the re-writing of almost every book in the business. It had to be killed. It was killed. " Chilling stuff....to be expected I suppose if you go tramping around glaciers. Seriously though, Thompson and Cremo quote other instances of deliberate attempts to conceal the facts in order to save face
Getting back to our flat earth example for a moment, science proved the earth was round. Similarly if we accept the findings of Thompson and Cremo that our ancestors are not apes then who , according to science,are they? What are the true origins of the human race? We get answers from two sources. One is archeology and the other is Harvard Business School and Microsoft . Well …indirectly. Lets start with the bones and artifacts. May we quote again from the book Forbidden Archeology. " In 1979`,researchers at the Laetoli, Tanzania , site in East Africa discovered footprints in volcanic ash deposits over 3.6 million years old. Mary Leakey and others said the prints were indistinguishable from those of modern humans.To these scientists, this meant only that the human ancestors of 3.6 million years ago had remarkably modern feet.But according to other scientists, such as physical anthropologist R.H. Tuttle of the University of Chicago, fossil bones of the known australopithecines of 3.6 million years ago show they had feet that were distinctly apelike. Hence they were incompatible with the Laetoli prints. In an article in the March 1990 issue of Natural History, Tuttle confessed that we are left with somewhat of a mystery. It seems permissible,therefore, to consider a possibility neither Tuttle nor Leakey mentioned-that creatures with anatomically modern human bodies to match their anatomically modern human feet existed some 3.6 million years ago in East Africa. Perhaps....they coexisted with more apelike creatures. As intriguing as this archeological possibility may be, current ideas about human evolution forbid it ."In other words Thompson and Cremo are saying that based on the archeological evidence we should consider the possibility that one species didnt evolve to another, but rather all species co-exist simultaneously. That view incidentally is the same as information given in the ancient Vedic literature,the oldest on the planet, which states that there are 8,400,000 species simultaneously existing in the universe from aquatics, plant,insects,reptiles animals, humans and demigods. More about that later.Now onto Harvard Business School and Microsoft.Both have been clients of Swami Partha Sarathi , the founder of the Vedanta Academy. He is much sought after by big corporations to help boost productivity. He teaches principles like Concentration, Consistency and Compassion as essential in any successful business. He extracts these principles not from current business surveys but rather from the Bhagavad-gita .Bhagavad-gita is part of the Vedas,hence the name Vedanta Academy.The foremost Vedic scholar of our time gives us a brief history of Bhagavad-gita. "... a rough estimate is that the Gita was spoken at least 120,400.000 years ago;and in human society it has been extant for two million years."Spoken originally in the mother of all languages , Sanskrit, there are currently over 600 translations of Bhagavad-gita in many other languages, including a soon-to-be published first Afrikaans edition we believe, provided funds are forthcoming. Vedic information covers all aspects of life on this planet. Everything from Ayurvedic medicine, political and economic systems, world history, military science, astrology, astronomy and self-realisation etc, is included in the Vedas. In Bhagavad-gita, the essence of Vedic literature, we find explicit information of how we humans came to be here. Shree Krishna, the speaker of Bhagavad-gita, says to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra ,
“In the days long past I illumined the Deity of the Sun with this understanding. He, in turn, gave instruction to the father of the human race, Manu, who in due course revealed these truths to Ikshvaku, the founder of the Solar dynasty.” Bg: 4:1 Interesting how there is the close similarity in the name of the demigod Manu and the word "man".Demigods ,by the way, according to Bhagavad -gita are empowered controllers of the various cosmic departments such as rain ,wind,the oceans,fire,light etc . The Vedas tell us there are 33million such demigods in the universe..Further detail of human origins is given in the commentary of Bhagavad-gita by Shrila Prabhupada." From Brahma(the original creature born out of the energy of the Supreme Lord),all the seven great sages, and before them four other great sages, named Sanaka,Sananda,Sanatana and Sanat -kumara,and the Manus,are manifested.All these twent-five great sages are known as the patriarchs of the living entities all over the universe." The Vedas go on to say that all these 8,400.000 species simultaneously exist; there is no evolution of the species, just an evolution of consciousness as the individual soul transmigrates from body to body,from the lower species to the higher, according to the laws of re-incarnation.
Furthermore Vedic literature gives detailed descriptions of such demigods and their abodes in higher planetary systems including historical accounts of their visits to the earth planet and their interaction with humans. Dr Richard Thompson in his book Alien Identities reveals striking parallels in modern UFO reports with Vedic accounts of inter-planetary travel and extra-terrestial beings. So its up to you now to choose - is it apes , is it demigods ? One things for sure, fossils dont lie.
The above is a summary of a talk given by Andrew Freedman on the 30th August this year at the Body Mind Spirit Tourism Forum at Erin Hall, Rondebosch, Cape Town. Andrew ,a Wits Psychology graduate is a motivational speaker on radio and television,singer/songwriter , editor of Rainbow News and a student of Vedic science. He teaches bhakti-yoga and meditation in Cape Town and his latest Cd "Time Stands Still" (recording name Ananda Vardhan) is available in record shops nationwide
For further information please email Andrew at freedmana@mweb.co.za
Thursday, 20 May 2010
ID
" Got any ID ? " asked the officer and I said " Yes sir. I am jivera svarupa haya - krishnera nitya-dasa - I am pure spirit soul , eternal servant of Krishna . " The officer turned to his partner, cracked a smile and said , " Hey Frank , we ve got a joker here - cuff him. " Well there wasnt really such a conversation but in this Dark Age , the Iron Age of Kali, it could quite easily go that way although my answer to the officer was perfectly correct according to the most ancient books of widom , namely the Vedas. Quarrel , hypocrisy and ignorance of spiritual truth are the symptoms of this unfortunate age , so most people believe we are these bodies . Therefore they believe they are male or female, black or white , German or Spanish , housewife or engineer etc., and that these designations are in fact their true identity , their real ID. Thats like wearing a blue checkered shirt and therefore thinking that you are blue and checkered . Its just something you are wearing for a while , its not you. Similarly these gross material bodies ( as well as the subtle material bodies of mind and intelligence ) are simply like temporary garments "worn " by the soul , the eternal spiritual personality within .Yet so deep is this misidentification with the material body that people lay down their lives for it in wars between one race and another or one nation and another. As my Guruji Bhakti Vijaya Acharya once said , the illusion, which has been reinforced for millions of lifetimes , of thinking we are these material bodies , is so thick " ... that not even a jackhammer can cut it loose ! " Fortunately there is something that will cut it loose - Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare , Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare , the transcendental sound vibration imported from the topmost planet in the Spiritual Sky , Goloka Vrindavana , shaped like a giant lotus flower where Sri Sri Radha - Krishna are enjoying Their never-ending divine loving pastimes in the company of Their pure devotees .
So yes officer , I do have ID. I am a sub -atomic spiritual particle with more energy than millions of suns and unlike the temporary, miserable material body my perfect spiritual body is sac-cid ananda - eternal , indestructible and full of knowledge , full of bliss - bullet-proof indeed ! So lets chant Hare Krishna and meet again in Vrindavana. Oh and by the way dont bother to bring your handcuffs officer - everyone in Vrindavana is a good citizen. They are all very happy to obey the supreme law , the law of love , love for the Supreme Divine Couple - Radha and Krishna.
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Sri Guru
In the Vedic literature our position is nicely described. Our objective is to cross over the ocean of material existence , the ocean of repeated birth and death , and arrive on the safe shores of the transcendental realm , Goloka Vrindavan , the personal abode of the Supreme Divine Couple ,Sri Sri Radha and Krishna and to be engaged in Their eternal loving service. To cross the ocean , this human form of life is described as a good boat , the verses of scripture are the favorable breezes and the expert captain is Sri Guru , the spirtual master, the pure devotee of Sri Krishna . This topmost of all gurus is called an uttama - Guru and the following verse from Shrimad-Bhagavatam 11.3.21 gives his exalted qualifications
tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh shreya uttamam
shabde pare ca nishnatam brahmany upashamashrayam
" Therefore ( because we cannot attain real peace or happiness in this material world ) , a person who seriously desires to inquire about the ultimate spiritual perfection must take shelter of a bona fide Guru. The qualifications of Sri Guru are that (1) he has fully realised the purport of all Vedic scriptures -shabda-brahma - (and therefore can dispel all the doubts of his disciple and answer all questions ) , (2) has full realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth (para-brahma Sri Krishna ) , and (3) for whom the mundane world holds no charm whatsoever. "
So without the perfect, loving shelter and guidance of Sri Guru , taking us home , we are endlessly adrift in the vast ocean of material life with no direction, no safe passage , simply being carried away by the waves of illusion - alone without a true friend , without true peace, without true joy.Elsewhere this condition of the lost soul is described by Sri Krishna in Bhagavad-gita chapter 18 as being " ...in the wilderness of the mundane existence ."
So I offer my humble obeisances to my spiritual master who , with the torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes , which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance. Jaya Gurudeva. Kindly engage me in your loving service.
Monday, 17 May 2010
ambrosia
The storms of material life are inevitable. I dont need to try and stop them.In the immortal words of George Harrison " All things must pass ." The storms will end of their own accord. I just need to weather them by chanting the holy names.
The spiritual world is called Vaikuntha , the place of no anxiety. In contrast , the material world is an ocean of anxiety and I am certainly here in the material world . I am not seeing Sri Krishna face-to -face 24 hours a day like the saints whose eyes are smeared with the ointment of divine love for Him.Nevertheless in Bhagavad- gita encouraging words are spoken by Sri Krishna when he speaks with Arjuna in chapter 14 verse 20 about the three binding forces of material nature - namely goodness , passion and ignorance. He says " If the effects of these three forces can be overcome it is possible for a person to gain complete freedom from all of the miseries of material existence and to relish the ambrosia of life everlasting even while within the body. " Sri Krishna s reference to "...even while within the body " is what I find encouraging. In the same chapter He then gives us the way to overcome these binding forces . He says in verses 26-27 , " Those who follow the sacred path of unalloyed Divine Sevice , communing with Me in transcendental love , are automatically freed from all mundane effects and are enabled to perceive the Realm of pure divine consciousness , that everlasting zone of nectar which is the domain of Supreme Truth and infinite joy and which has its foundations in Me." So from the stress zone to the nectar zone - that is the sacred path under the guidance of the self-realized soul, Sri Guru - even while within the body. Jaya Gauranga. Hare Krishna
Saturday, 15 May 2010
In Gods eyes
So today, like every other day , I just need to do one thing - always remember Krishna and never forget Him. That much I have learnt. As it is said in the morning prayer ".. Upon remembering Him a reservoir of all-auspiciousness is produced . " Although a foolish mind , making plans to try and enjoy without Krishna , may tell me otherwise , " friendly intelligence "- suhridatmanaiva - reminds me that , " The only treasure is Krishna, service to Krishna and love of Krishna. " Sri - Caitanya-caritamrita. There is no other treasure .Its time to forgive myself of whatever I have found myself guilty of since time immemorial. I have done my time. Lord Chaitanya , the Supreme Personality of Godhead has declared general amnesty and He alone is the Saviour of the most fallen , the Messiah Himself. In God s eyes no crime can be so heinous that it deserves eternal damnation. Only once I have truly forgiven myself , will I then give myself permission to be happy , to experience joy , to be loved . I also need to pray for the humility to seek forgiveness from those I have offended. I also need to forgive others and give them my love. I need to do my true self , my soul , this favour , namely to embrace the orders of my eternal spiritual masters , my eternal well -wishers , and chant the holy names of God. Shree Gauranga jaya Gauranga Gaur Gauranga naam , Shree Gauranga jaya Gauranga Gaur Gauranga naam. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare , Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.This , in the words of Shrila Prabhupada is the "transcendental remedy " for all my difficulties , all my troubles , all my unhappiness , forever and ever. Lord Gauranga , the Supreme Physician , is mahavadanyaya and audarya , the most merciful , the most magananimous of all incarnations because He is freely distributing this priceless gift which is ordinarily very difficult to obtain , namely krishna -prema , love of God , love for Krishna in gopi - bhava , in the mood of the milkmaids of Vraja . They are the topmost lovers of God , they have the purest divine sentiment , the purest love for the all-attractive Supreme Divine Couple , Sri Sri Radha and Krishna in Vrindavana , the Land of Love.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Soulife
Hi Andrew - reading through your quote below and the previous one you sent I feel prompted to share a few of my own convictions in this regard as to what is a meaningful , valuable life . It is certainly a noble desire to want to care for others , to give them your love but as the author says , we need to talk about the soul , and specifically what is of true benefit to the soul . A hug , a smile , kind words and actions ,even given with sincere affection , can only go so deep. To address the true needs of the soul is the perfection of love. So to come to know in truth what is the soul , where does it come from , why is it here and why is it suffering the heart disease of material life , what is the relationship between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul , God our Higher Power , Who has hundreds of millions of names like Allah, Jehovah, Gauranga , Krishna and so many more - these are the questions which need answers for anyone who truly wishes to lead a meaningful , valuable life and to attain the perfection of love. Personally , over the last 30 years , I have found the great classic of spiritual wisdom , Bhagavad-gita , the eternal teachings of Lord Krishna , most authoritative in answering these universal questions as well as giving practical instructions and spiritual techniques for awakening our divine sentiments. Sincerely Andrew
----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew Penkin
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 6:52 AM
Subject: What is your resume?
This is so important...
ANN QUINDLEN
"I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree: there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk or your life on a bus or in a car or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank accounts but also your soul.
People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort on a winter's night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've received your test results and they're not so good.
Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my work stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the centre of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends and them to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cut out. But I call them on the phone and I meet them for lunch. I would be rotten, at best mediocre, at my job if those other things were not true.
You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are. So here's what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger pay cheque, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon or found a lump in your breast?
Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze at the seaside, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a sweet with her thumb and first finger.
Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a letter. Get a life in which you are generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beer and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good too, then doing well will never be enough.
It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the colour of our kids' eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of to live.
I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the back yard with the sun on your face.
Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived".
----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew Penkin
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 6:52 AM
Subject: What is your resume?
This is so important...
ANN QUINDLEN
"I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree: there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk or your life on a bus or in a car or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank accounts but also your soul.
People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort on a winter's night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've received your test results and they're not so good.
Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my work stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the centre of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends and them to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cut out. But I call them on the phone and I meet them for lunch. I would be rotten, at best mediocre, at my job if those other things were not true.
You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are. So here's what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger pay cheque, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon or found a lump in your breast?
Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze at the seaside, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a sweet with her thumb and first finger.
Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a letter. Get a life in which you are generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beer and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good too, then doing well will never be enough.
It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the colour of our kids' eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of to live.
I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the back yard with the sun on your face.
Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived".
Sunday, 9 May 2010
The Gauranga Revolution - pilgrim notes 9.05.10
Lord Gauranga, the Golden Avatar , who is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead , Sri Krishna Himself , appeared just over 500 years ago in India , and He predicted that His name would be sung in every town and village throughout the world. He inaugurated the sankirtan movement , the congregational chanting of the holy names of God , as the yuga -dharma, the religion for this Golden Age. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada , who brought this movement of Krishna consciousness to the west in the mid 1960 s , said that it is meant for the "respiritualization of the entire human society " and that the result of awakening our dormant love for Krishna " will be the imperishable satisfaction of the soul , both individually and collectively . " So this is the real liberation movement , the SLF , the Supreme Liberation Front , the Gauranga Revolution, bringing about a revolution in consciousness. Although revolution means to bring about radical change, all other so-called revolutions this world has known , whether Industrial , French , Russian , Cultural etc., have not brought about radical change - they have simply replaced one form of tyranny with another since they have not addressed the issue of real liberation , the liberation of the soul from the bodily conception of life , liberation from the shackles of illusion. Shree Gauranga jaya Gauranga Gaur Gauranga naam , Shree Gauranga jaya Gauranga Gaur Gauranga naam. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare , Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
Mother Hara
Mother Hara, Shrmati Radharani,Mother Supreme , on this Mothers Day 2010 I offer my respectful obeisances unto Your divine lotus feet.. You are leading us all on the sacred path of transcendental love and You are decorated with all transcendental qualities, so pleasing to Your beloved Shyamasundar. I on the other hand am a crippled soul and have no taste for devotioal service and my heart is steel- franed and therefore my prayer is not heart- felt. Nevertheless somehow or other I have heard that you are Karuna mayi, the Mother of Compassion and I am praying this day that you please be merciful to me so that I may taste the nectar of eternal loving service to Your beloved maidservants. Jaya Radhe
pilgrim notes 9.05.10
In this world people come and go in our lives. Some stay for only a few seconds , some stay a lifetime but they all come and go. In our eternal need for an ecstatic loving relationship , none of these earthly relationships will do - not only because they are all temporary but also because none of them can totally satisfy the soul. Only the Supreme Soul, Sri Krishna can do that. In Bhagavad-gita Sri Krishna says bhoktaram yajna tapasam , sarva loka maheshvaram ,suhridam sarva- bhutanam , jnatva mam shantim ricchati " I am the proper beneficiary of all the sacred acts of sacrifice and it is I whom people hope to please through penance. It is I alone Who am the true Lord of all the galaxies and the King of Kings ! I truly am the ever-well-wishing friend of every soul. It is only by such understanding that a person can become whole and that the world can attain peace. " Ch 5.29. Also in the 15th chapter verse 20 Sri Krishna says to Arjuna iti guhyatamam shastram , idam uktam mayanagha , etad buddhva buddhiman syat , krita-krityash ca bharata " O My pure-hearted friend , give full credence to these words of Mine which contain the clues whereby the most confidential of all revelations may be gained. Anyone who applies the power of intellect sincerely to this subject matter will come to possess infinite wisdom and experience total satisfaction. " So in the words of Bhakti Vijaya Acharya , Sri Krishna is the Lord " with the butter-soft heart " just waiting for our hearts to melt with love for Him. And how to attain that treasure of Divine Love , prema -dhana ? Our great spiritual preceptor Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakur sings in his song Radhika-carana-padma " Shrimati Radhika ( the most beloved of Krishna ) is the acharya (great teacher ) of amorous love ( ujjvala -rasa ).The pure love between Radha and Madhava (Krishna ) is meant to be discussed and contemplated. Those who place Shrimati Radhika s lotus feet in their hearts and worship them with great care obtain the priceless jewel of Krishna s lotus feet.Without taking shelter of the lotus feet of Radha , one can never meet Krishna. The Vedic scriptures declare that Krishna is the property of the maidservants of Sri Radha." Onward to the Land of Nectar - Andrew- Ananda Vardhana dasa
" Shrimad Gaurachandra, in His abhimana, or role, as servant of Krishna, considered Himself lower than a blade of grass. Holding the necks of the devotees, He used to cry and beg for krishna-bhakti.: " I am very wretched and lowly.Please bestow your mercy upon Me. " When He used to speak this kakuti, earnest entreaty, even extremely stone-like hearts would melt,and streams of tears would be seen in eyes that were normally like iron. " SHRILA BHAKTIVINODA THAKURA My dear Lord Gaurachandra, soothing Golden Moon of Divine Love, eternal friend and confidant, again and again I feel all vacant in this world. Although I pursue the so- called pleasures here with great enthusiasm they are cruel shadows, imposters - fleeting and shallow. They do not comfort me.Only Your holy names give me relief.Kindly bless me with an ever-increasing taste for hearing and chanting Your transcendental names, qualities and pastimes. You are my only hope. You are an ocean of unlimited , causeless mercy. Please give just one drop of Your mercy to this fallen soul.
love and respects your servant Ananda Vardhana dasa desiring the mercy of the Vaisnavas
love and respects your servant Ananda Vardhana dasa desiring the mercy of the Vaisnavas
pilgrim notes 22.04.10
Some days when I ve got that fragile feeling , its good to know I have that place to go inside my heart where You are always giving me Your sweet company so loving and serene.
pilgrim notes 10.04.2010
So to help one another to surrender to Krishna - that is the greatest kindness , that is true love , that is everlasting comfort for the soul...... Just an update on Song for George ...sent a copy to Sir George Martin , CBE ( he was the Beatles producer ) and yesterday got a letter back from him in which his PA , Shirley Burns says that , "Sir George sends his best wishes for your career to continue to flourish " -definitely made my day !!
pilgrim notes - April 2010
....me again ... herewith some of todays thoughts on the pilgrims way ....mostly for my own benefit no doubt......To satisfy the soul is whats needed - in other words to taste the nectar of devotion. No other taste will do. In Bhagavad-gita 15:20 , Sri Krishna says to Arjuna, " Iti guhyatamam shastram , idam uktam mayanagha , etad buddhva buddhiman syat , krita-krityash ca bharata - O My pure-hearted friend , give full credence to these words of Mine which contain the clues whereby the most confidential of all revelations may be gained. Anyone who applies the power of intellect sincerely to this subject matter will come to possess infinite wisdom and experience total satisfaction. " In Shrimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.6 Shrila Suta Gosvami says , "Sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokshaje, ahaituky apratihata yayatma suprasidati - The topmost dharma (occupation ) of human life is krishna-bhakti.This bhakti (devotion ) should be unconditional, without any kind of selfish desires, regular and uninterrupted. By performing bhakti in this manner , ones heart feels contented, perceiving the blissful form of Sri Krishna . " The word " suprasidati " is translated as "completely satisfied ." In His Shikshastaka , Lord Chaitanya says in the first verse -purnamritasvadanam -that Sri Krishna sankirtanam -the chanting of the holy names "... enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious . "
For one who realizes that Sri Krishna is non-different from His holy name , constant chanting is the way to feel oneself in the constant presence of Krishna - feeling oneself safe and sound under His protection. This is sharanagati - surrender - to want to submit to the power and influence of the holy name - no separate agenda - "Thy will be done " - " O Lord make me an instrument of Thy peace ." Only then do we find peace and as Sri Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita, "Without peace where shall we find joy ? "
Thats it for today fellow pilgrim
Jaya Shree Radhe
For one who realizes that Sri Krishna is non-different from His holy name , constant chanting is the way to feel oneself in the constant presence of Krishna - feeling oneself safe and sound under His protection. This is sharanagati - surrender - to want to submit to the power and influence of the holy name - no separate agenda - "Thy will be done " - " O Lord make me an instrument of Thy peace ." Only then do we find peace and as Sri Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita, "Without peace where shall we find joy ? "
Thats it for today fellow pilgrim
Jaya Shree Radhe
Saturday, 8 May 2010
pilgrim notes 8.05.10 b
Today be the day - my first official blog ! Thanks first to my eternal instructing spiritual master, Bhakti Vijaya Acharya , for the inspiration , the ability and the will to do this - for your pleasure may it touch the hearts of many by your grace - please"make me an instrument of your peace " - your mercy is all I am made of . May I , by your grace, always be thoroughly honest and present the truth in a palatable way to the seekers of the good , the true and the beautiful. May I also offer my sincere respects and eternal gratitude to my eternal instructing spiritual masters , Shrila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaj, Shrila Prabhupada, and Shrila Sridhar Maharaj - may you always bless me with your loving guidance. Oh yes , and a special thank you to my long-standing friend Greg Varder who gently pushed me into this ! And to you the reader ( may you be many and multiply ! ) please let me hear from you at gauranga.rainbow@gmail.com or just leave a comment .We all have love to give, love to give , love to give. Talking of which you might like to check out my cds -original English songs with mantra on http://www.buymp3.co.za/ or tune into Last.fm. My recording name is Ananda Vardhan.
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