mark

Haribol.. We could all be at risk from the results of mans inhumane and unsanitary treatment of livestock with the forthcoming bird flu pandemic - see following web page: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4289637.stm Mark

Haribol! wow what a site - many many thanks! Mark

Haribol Max, What sort of music do Shelter play please , and which is the best Shelter album (in your opinion)? I have been thinking about buying one of their CDs as I have heard a few people on this site praise them, but was not too sure if I would like their music. My (maya) tastes in music have ranged from 60s music all the through to Radiohead, and Whitestripes, but since my interest in K.C has grown I have been listening to less pop/rock and more to the few K.C recordings I have eg George Harrison-London RadhaKrishna Temple album, a couple of VisnuJana CDs (I wish I could find more), and recently purchased a Rasa CD 'devotion'. Hare Krishna Mark

Hare Krisna! Would anyone like to share some favourite K.C. recipes for everyday meals ? My Apologies if I have introduced an inappropriate subject for a K.C discussion forum, its just that I sometimes struggle for ideas for simple everyday meals, (especially ones that my young daughter will eat). No offence was intended. Also could anyone tell me if I making my offering of food in the right way please ? Is there a nice sanskrit prayer for offering food to Lord Krsna ? At the moment I say the Prabhupada Pranati and then ask Lord Krishna to forgive any offence and if he could accept my humble offering and bless it with his mercy. Haribol Mark

Srila Prabhupada wrote in the purport Srimad Bhagavatam, book 1 chap 9 text43: "The devotional service of the Lord consists of nine principles of service activities, and they are (1) hearing, (2) chanting, (3) remembering, (4) serving the lotus feet, (5) worshiping, (6) praying, (7) executing the orders, (8) fraternizing, and (9) fully surrendering. Any one of them or all of them are equally competent to award the desired result, but they require to be practiced persistently under the guidance of an expert devotee of the Lord. The first item, hearing, is the most important item of all, and therefore hearing of the Bhagavad-gétä and, later on, Çrémad-Bhägavatam is essential for the serious candidate." I guess this means you first have to hear about the chanting and Lord Krishna before you can actually start your own chanting, but please correct me if I am wrong. Hope this helps. Hare Krishna Mark

Haribol Is there a download of the Ramayana please ? I found one on www.salagram.net but unfortunately it would not work for me. regards Mark

Hare Krishna I have finally managed to get out of the lottery gambling syndicate I was in and have now stopped. At first it seemed such an innocent thing to do, just a bit of fun, but when I even thought about stopping this gambling I felt the worry and anxiety that a addict has of giving up their addiction. I feel much relieved! Although gambling, as with any other sinful pastime, was not a good thing to do, I feel that its taught me a lesson. Mark

Haribol Is it ok to be a blood/bone marrow donor? Is there any vedic rules against this? What about organ donation ? In the UK giving blood is a purely voluntary thing, a bit like giving charity but giving of yourself rather than just money or time, and hopefully helps people in dire need, eg those in need of emergency treatment, or during operations. I know some relgions/sects are totally against this eg Jehovahs Witness's, and would rather let themselves or a close relative die than let blood be transferred. Is doing this ok if you do it for the right reasons, ie not just to feel good about yourself, but as a small sacrifice to Krishna?

Thats ok Anand, I guessed you meant me! In some strange way it is sometimes good for me to make the occasional mistake, as although I feel very bad about it when I do, it makes me a little more humble, and also makes me want to try a little harder in future. rgds Mark

Haribol, I have heard that many eggs that are 'free range' are quite often fertilised eggs, so an animals life really is being curtailed, and no one in their right mind would want to eat a egg from a battery hen, even if it was unfertilised. I am still quite inexperienced in KC and have made several mistakes, some very recently where I have eaten egg 'hidden' in other food, such as eating some biscuits at my Moms, and then later finding on peeking at the ingredient list on the packet that they contained egg! Why put egg in biscuits ? Its not needed. Same with some ice cream - some types are made with egg in the UK, but are always labelled as suitable for vegetarians. I have tried to become more careful but expect I will make the occasional further mistake, as sometimes, eg at a restaurant, you cannot check the labels, and many things that do not need to be made with egg such as biscuits, ice cream, and pasta, sometimes have egg in them. What should I do when I find I have made mistakes (assuming that I find even realise) ? Will Krishna forgive me ? Its difficult to avoid living in the material world. I have also made a mistake by eating some innocent looking sweets my daughter offered me only to find later that they contained gelatin (made from cows hooves) ..yuck.

Haribol Could anyone say what are the vedic views of wearing leather ? Since becoming interested in K.C, and becoming vegatarian I have not purchased any leather goods, but am still wearing leather belt / shoes that I bought in previous years. I have managed to find a website in the UK that sells 'veggie' shoes/belts, and so will buy replacememnt items from there when I need them. In the mean time is it ok to carry on wearing these old leather items of shoes/belts ? I feel a bit guilty about wearing them. I guess real Vaishanavas would not wear any leather? Mark

Haribol, The bible seems to contain some contradictions regarding the eating of meat (as well as drinking alcohol) I have read that this is because emperor Constantine had the biblical scriptures 'corrected' during the early phase of Christianity as he was very fond of meat and alcohol. Over many centuries, many other things were apparently 'corrected' such as the belief in reincarnation and karma. My guess is that these decisions were made for various political reasons, eg to help make Christianity more popular by 'relaxing' the rules, and perhaps to make people feel that they had only one chance to develop love of God and get to heaven (via the Church), so that they would become more dependant on the Church. This early form of spin-doctering would help explain some of the contradictions found in the bible regarding meat eating, and naturally if meat eating is sanctioned so is egg eating. I am sure that Jesus's real teachings and statements in the bible have been tampered with. If they had not then true Christianity would be very close to Krishna Conciousness teachings in most essential aspects. Sorry for straying off the egg subject a bit but I thought it might still be of interest. Hare Krishna

Hare Krishna Can someone please tell me a little about the incarnation of God known as Lord Rama, and also his servitor Hanuman, as I know very little about them. Many thanks Please excuse my ignorance Haribol Mark

Hare Krishna, I agree that God does not create evil beings, and that the beings themselves are able to choose to be good or evil, but some seem to take immense delight in being evil and tormenting other beings. The spirit souls not only have a tendency to want to lord it over material nature as S.P says, but it seems to me that they particularly want to lord it over other beings as well, either trying to have power over them or wishing to destroy them (although only physical bodies can be destroyed - not souls). Is this because they want to try to be powerful like God I guess?

Haribol, Could anyone enlighten me to the vaishnava view of the devil/satan/evil spirits please? During his forty days in the desert Jesus was apparently tempted by the'devil', but is the devil a seperate spritual entity or is the devil an aspect of ourselves, that has become personified as an evil entity. I have read that Jesus cast out 'unclean spirits' that had possessed people. Was this a description of him healing people who were mentally ill? I hear occasional stories of people being possessed and saved by exocism by priests/vicars. Are there spirit souls which 'hover around' the earthly plane waiting for their chance to possess people or is this just nonsense? I think that as in Christianity, Islam also recognises 'Satan' as an evil entity, and in Miltons story Paradise lost it was Satan/Lucifer who stirred up all the angels (the spirit souls), which resulted in them turning their backs on God and being ejected from heaven? It seems that many people who commit terrible crimes seem to like to have someone else to blame, ie the devil, rather than face up to the fact that it was they themselves who did it. Is the devil/Satan one of the many 'demons' that Krishna can so easily defeat, no matter how powerful they are ? I would be interested to hear everyones views. humble obeisances, Mark

Haribol, I have read that Srila Prbahupada once wrote an article entitled 'No time, a chronic disease of the modern man' a long time ago, probably in the late 50's, before he had left India. Has anyone a copy of this please, as I would very much like to read it. Its probably even more relevant today than it was then in the 24/7 nightmare we live in. Many thanks Mark.

Many thanks for the download - I have found lots of useful info on it Haribol!

Haribol, This is from Srimad Bhagavatam canto 1 chap 3 txt 24: "Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Aïjanä, in the province of Gayä, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist." Srila Prabhupadas comments: "Lord Buddha, a powerful incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, appeared in the province of Gayä (Bihar) as the son of Aïjanä, and he preached his own conception of nonviolence and deprecated even the animal sacrifices sanctioned in the Vedas. At the time when Lord Buddha appeared, the people in general were atheistic and preferred animal flesh to anything else. On the plea of Vedic sacrifice, every place was practically turned into a slaughterhouse, and animal-killing was indulged in unrestrictedly. Lord Buddha preached nonviolence, taking pity on the poor animals. He preached that he did not believe in the tenets of the Vedas and stressed the adverse psychological effects incurred by animal-killing. Less intelligent men of the age of Kali, who had no faith in God, followed his principle, and for the time being they were trained in moral discipline and nonviolence, the preliminary steps for proceeding further on the path of God realization. He deluded the atheists because such atheists who followed his principles did not believe in God, but they kept their absolute faith in Lord Buddha, who himself was the incarnation of God. Thus the faithless people were made to believe in God in the form of Lord Buddha. That was the mercy of Lord Buddha: he made the faithless faithful to him." I suppose one need not worship Lord Buddha if one believes in God but if you do not believe in God and would prefer to worship a wise and intelligent 'man' then best to worship Lord Buddha (as he was an incarnation of God). Are buddhists supposed to be vegetarian ? I know someone who says they are a buddhist but still eats meat? I have only read a little about Buddhism, and there are many varieties but some of the teachings about how we should live (ie being truthful, honest, non-violent, right thinking etc) seem to coincide with principles of God conciousness, apart from believing in Gods personal feature, ie seeing the sunshine but not the sun. Please excuse any offence or ignorance on my part, as I am not learned but am interested, and would happily stand corrected if wrong. Hare Krishna Mark

Hare Krishna Was Lord Krishnas skin colour different because he was not actually composed of ordinary physical matter the way the rest our universe is, but of spiritual energy (intense, blissful eternal knowledge) ? Please correct me if I am wrong, as I am still learning, but Lord Krishna was not ordinary flesh and blood was he ? His body did not age beyond being a young man although he lived for 125 years? Ordinary matter has its physical limits - would a body made of ordinary matter be able to lift a hill for instance? Forgive me for any offence due to ignorance. My regards to all devotees. Haribol!

Haribol Many thanks for the dates. One more little question please - I have read that Sril Prabhupada said that the foods that may be eaten on Ekadasi are 'Fruit, Roots, Nuts and Milk' - does milk include milk products such as yogurt and cheese? humble obeisances, Mark

Haribol Bhaktivikas I wish you all the best, and pray you have success! Mark

Haribol, I can sympathise with your position, having only become a vegetarian just over a year ago at the age of 39, and it did cause some upset my family, but they now accept it, and have willingly started to eat a lot less meat than they used to, as they have seen how much my health and weight have improved since I gave up meat. Several times in my life I said I wanted to be a vegetarian, but was put off by the extreme reaction from family. If you cannot become a vegetarian just yet do your best to go in that direction eg suggesting a vegetarian meal such as cheese&tomato pizza for dinner etc or learn to cook a simple veggie meal and offer to cook for your family a couple of times a week. There is plenty of factual information on the health benefits of a non-meat diet, so perhaps you could say you just want to eat less meat or no red meat. I have gradually being 'losing myself' in my religious beliefs, although quietly and secretly at first. Keep chanting & praying to God for help, and become quietly determined to become a vegetarian eventually. My sincere best wishes Mark

Haribol! Dear Bhaktivikas, could you plan for a new business, such as a K.C restaurant or something similar, and perhaps sell your current business when you are able ? Wishing you all the best Mark

Hare Krishna I saw an article on the bbc news website asking people for their religious views on how disasters like the tsunami can be explained. Can anyone give me a vedic viewpoint of how to understand the reasons why such tragedies occcur please? Everything happens for a reason and not by accident, as not even a blade of grass can move without the will of God, but sometimes the reason behind tragedies is hard for many people to understand. Many thanks.

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. ." --From As You Like It (II, vii, 139-143) In trying to become less attached to the world is it ok to view oneself as an actor, with Lord Krishna being the writer and stage director. A good actor should try to play his part according to the script and stage directions, whereas a less good actor does not. Is it that most of the human race (including myself until recently) do not realise they are actors and should be acting to please God, and many think that God does not exist and are acting only for themselves ? My only problem is that sometimes I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing, although I do want to! Sometimes there seems so much 'noise' in life that I feel I cannot hear clearly. I hope I cause no offense by this analogy. Hare Krishna.