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krsna

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  1. There is nothing so comfortable as money, - but nothing so defiling if it be come by unworthily; nothing so comfortable, but nothing so noxious if the mind be allowed to dwell upon it constantly. If a man have enough, let him spend it freely. If he wants it,let him earn it honestly. -- Anonymous:cool:
  2. What ought one to say then as each hardship comes? I was practicing for this, I was training for this. -- Epictetus (55-135 AD) Greek Philosopher Tests will inevitably come in KC. The biggest test is the moment of death. Chant Hare Krsna maha-mantra and pray for the guru's spiritual power of tolerance to bear all trials and tribulations in the course of one's devotional life.
  3. Our Remarkable Godbrother An Appreciation of Gour Govinda Maharaja By Patita Pavana das Adhikary It was thirty-five years ago, and today my memory is a bit vague, but I recall the incident went something like this. The Meeting Vrindavana, 1974-5: It might have been the always-blissful English brahmachary Gunarnava or maybe the philosophical Scottish devotee Smara Hari who approached me with the news. “Hey, Patit,” he called, “A sadhu just asked Shrila Prabhupada for initiation.” “Wow, good luck to that Maharaja,” I chuckled pessimistically. After all, we had both been Prabhupada’s disciples for a number of years, and had been in India long enough to know that most sadhus preferred to keep their distance from us “phoren bhaktas”. Sure, most of the yogis and renunciates appreciated the fact that we were doing our level best, but they were reticent about mingling; maybe rightfully so. There were the wild rumors that we were foreign spies, or that we had strange parties into the night, but I doubt any intelligent person took those seriously. I think what really kept the genuine article at arm’s length from us was that we were neophyte students of an ancient culture. And–truth be told–in the length and breadth of India and the whole wide world, too, only Prabhupada possessed the bell-metal-into-gold savvy to tame the savage white man and create devotees from base mlecchas. Maybe the other so-called gurus who were preaching in the West had some following, but generally they wore their Western students the way Boy Scouts wear merit badges.*(1) Though the number of our Hindu well-wishers in India was growing–especially among the vaishyas–the brahmanas and sadhus remained wary. And who could blame those pious sadhus and brahmanas anyway? When it came to preaching Vedic philosophy we Americans and Europeans were often overbold, sometimes even rude. For some of us, preaching did not go far beyond that all-purpose admonition, “You’re in Maya!” Hindus naturally wondered at the presumptuousness of foreigners telling them a thing or two about a culture they felt “flowed in their blood”, while we felt that they had compromised away the value of their Vedic heritage. Although we had learned something about prachar (preaching), what we lacked was achar–a standard of behavior acceptable to Indian sensibilities. We had seen a few sadhus join us, only to turn and leave within the week when asked to mop the ashram or clean the pots. So I might not have been blamed for being skeptical when told that a sadhu had approached Shrila Prabhupada for initiation. However, my Godbrother cautioned me to avoid snap judgments, “Not so fast, Prabhu, he seems very sincere. Somehow he’s different.” As events would unfold, this sadhu who had approached Shrila Prabhupada–and who would soon become Shrila Gour Govinda Swami–was not at all like the others who had come and gone away. The wandering pilgrim who was signing on as one of Shrila Prabhupada’s men was neither a mayavadi yogi nor a dry renunciate given over to abstract meditation. He did not imagine that religious philosophies can be opportunistically manufactured by selecting wise-sounding homilies from professional gurus, then knitting them together into a patchwork doctrine of convenience. Neither had he approached the acharya like some profit-motivated broker with the baited offering of conditional service. He did not want a green card, nor was he looking to hang with a fraternity of foreigners. No boasting masked ulterior motives. Neither was he some New Age “guru collector” who imagines his spiritual advancement hinges upon meeting many yogis for bragging rights. He was not seeking respect, which in fact appeared to be the greatest obstacle of those who felt themselves superior by dint of some tapasya or high birth. I was humbled to discover that his motive was unconditional surrender and service at the lotus feet of the empowered representative of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. As I would learn many years later, Gour Govinda Maharaja sprang from a family of famous Orissan Gaudiya kirtan leaders, devotional mystics and Vaishnava renunciates. There in Vrindavana after a long, long search he had immediately recognized Shrila Prabhupada as the acharya, the very embodiment of Lord Chaitanya’s worldwide movement. Full surrender took only a moment. Devotees would see him ascend to the post of guru in his own right. He would rise from the ranks to become a victorious preacher and modern sampradaya link, proving his mettle over again in the fire of bhakti-yoga. And by the time he would suddenly leave this world in Mayapur in January 1996 at the calling of Lord Shri Krishna, he would enhance the glory of ISKCON by founding two major centers of pilgrimage on behalf of his worshipable Guru Maharaja. A Life of Devotion His life is briefly described in the inspiring little book “Gopalju, the Beloved Deity of Gour Govinda Swami” penned by his ever-faithful disciple Shriman Madhavananda Das. At birth, his pious parents had pointed to his future by giving him a name of Lord Krishna. Braja Bandhu Manik came into this world in the interior village of Jagannathpur, Orissa. His earliest memories were of his love for the family Deity Gopaljiu of the nearby village Gadegiri. It was his relationship with Shri Gopaljiu that would guide and shape every moment of his life. By the age of eight, Braja Bandhu was discoursing from the Gita and the Bhagavat. Married at twenty-three, he raised a large family, supporting them on a school teacher’s salary. Then in 1974 at forty-five he took the name of Gour Gopal and suddenly walked out of his house to search the length and breadth of India for a bona fide spiritual master. Penniless, he wandered as a pilgrim from India’s tip at Kanya Kumari where the waters of three great oceans mingle, to the Himalayas where he discoursed with countless yogis on the mysteries of life and its goal. Satisfaction eluded him, for he found in his journey that India’s so-called spiritual preceptors were ignoring the command of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself in His full avatara as Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The Lord’s sankirtan movement had been overlooked in favor of shadowy spiritual practices that are wholly unsuitable for the present age. Rejecting the many impersonalists he met along the way, Gour Gopal turned his footsteps toward the land for which he had been named. At last the seeker arrived in Vraja Mandala. Ironically, at a Gaudiya Math temple in Mathura the brahmacharis mistook him for a mayavadi and abruptly showed him the door. Later, in Vrindavana he spotted a sign that led him to the construction site of ISKCON’s proposed Krishna Balarama Mandir. There a devotee handed him a Back to Godhead. Looking through the magazine, Gour Gopal was delighted to find the three things he was looking for in his prospective guru: Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the mahamantra and Shrimad Bhagavatam. As if by Providence, Shrila Prabhupada happened to be there as though waiting for him. When Gour Gopal offered his obeisances, Shrila Prabhpada’s first words were, “Have you taken sannyasa? I will give you sannyasa.” In this way the World Guru immediately knew the mind of the sincere candidate and offered the pilgrim what he had left home for. Less than a year later, His Divine Grace would offer him cloth and danda, as Braja Bandhu, now Gour Gopal, became transformed into Shrila Gour Govinda Swami on the holy day of Rama Navami at the opening of the Shri Krishna Balarama Temple in Vrindavana. Lord Gopaljiu of Gadeigiri Spiritual initiation from Shrila Prabhupada only deepened Gour Govinda Swami’s devotion to his beloved Deity of Shri Gopaljiu back in Gadeigiri. This village of Gadeigiri was founded in the late 1600’s by an ancestor of Shri Gour Govinda Maharaja named Shri Gadai Giri. Gadai Giri used to come down from Midnapur, today part of West Bengal, to sell door to door brass and metal items. While on one such trip, he heard coming from the jungle, the auspicious sounds of a flute, the tinkle of ankle bells and the blowing of a conch intermingling with the calls of various birds. A local sadhu whom Gadai Giri had befriended recommended that he make his home in that very spot, advising him that Lord Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, must be present there. And wherever Krishna lives, there dwells Goddess Lakshmi. Hence, all of Gadai Giri’s needs would be met if he were to simply remain there in adoration of the Supreme Lord. Thus Shri Gadai Giri made a clearing from the jungle and built a thatched-roof home. He gave up his business, constructed a small temple to Dadhi Baman* (2) and engaged full time in the glorification of the Supreme Lord through kirtan and study of the Shrimad Bhagavatam. Gadai Giri’s only son was Gopal Giri, who became a great devotee of Lord Jagannath and a master of kirtan. Gopal Giri intensely desired to worship a Deity of Lord Krishna from Vrindavana, but in those days, long before trains and buses, he had no way to make the pilgrimage to Vrajabhumi. Hence he shifted from Gadeigiri to Puri thinking that somehow Lord Krishna would come to him there. At the temple of Lord Jagannath he was employed by the king as the poddar or cashier. At Puri he frequently met sadhus whom he used to request to bring him a Deity of Gopal from Vraja, but his wish remained unfulfilled. At that time there was a Vaishnava mendicant in far away Vrajabhumi who was worshipping a Deity of Lord Gopal. While the sannyasi went for begging alms daily, the Deity would accompany him in a cloth bag. One night the sadhu had a vision in which Lord Gopal ordered the renunciate to take Him to Puri where He desired to accept the adoration of Gopal Giri. At first the sadhu disregarded the command of the Lord as a mere dream. So a few days later, the Lord appeared again, this time soundly beating the sadhu across the legs till they bled. The Vaishnava awoke in pain and fervently apologized to Lord Gopal for ignoring His order. He immediately began the 2½ month trek walking to Puri. Gopal Giri was well known in Puri and there the sadhu had no difficulty in locating him. When they met, the sadhu handed over his Gopal Deity as per the divine instruction. When he showed the wounds on his legs, Gopal Giri healed them by his mere touch. Gopal Giri offered the sadhu as much money as he liked, but he declined, requesting instead that he remain with Lord Gopal as his pujari. Gopal Giri had a brass Deity of Shrimati Radharani made for the Deity’s pleasure, and resigned from his post, returning to Gadeigiri to engage in kirtan. The sadhu remained there in seva for twenty years and when he departed this world, a samadhi was built for him. Gopal Giri’s kirtan in the Odissi Gaudiya style of Shri Rasikananada and Shri Shyamanada Prabhus became so famous that it would be inscribed in the history book of the Jagannath Temple at Puri that the Gadeigiri kirtan group should always be allowed to perform in the temple. The tradition of employing a sannyasi pujari for Shri Gopaljiu of Gadeigiri continued for generations. In the mid-1800’s a crooked sannyasi engaged in His seva kidnapped the Deities in the still of night. Meanwhile, Lord Gopal alerted Gadai Giri’s great-great grandson Bhagavat Charan in a dream that He was being stolen away. By the will of Providence, the fleeing sadhu was bitten on his way by a poisonous snake. Bhagavat Charan found the thievish pujari lying dead, and returned Lord Radha-Gopal to the temple. Afterwards, he only engaged married brahmanas in Thakur-seva. In the early 1900’s, care of the temple fell to the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Gadai Giri, named Bauri Giri. Even government officers would come for the darshan of Bauri Giri, a paramhamsa bhakta said to have mystic powers to heal illness by the grace of Lord Gopajiu. One deputy magistrate named Bal Mukunda Kanungo used to come for his darshan, and it was his grand daughter who would hand over her property to Shrila Prabhupada for the future ISKCON Bhubaneshwara. ISKCON Bhubaneswar In the latter half of the Twentieth Century the grandson of Bhauri Giri, Ghanashyam, took over the seva of Gopaljiu. One day in a dream, the Deity instructed Ghanashyam to turn over His seva to Gour Govinda Maharaja. There had been discussion of Lord Gopaljiu’s seva coming under the banner of ISKCON, but Ghanashyam had been a little reluctant. Now his wife heard him telling Lord Gopaljiu in his sleep, “I will give, I will give.” Upon waking, Ghanashyam told her of how Lord Gopaljiu spoke to him from the window. A few days later Gour Govinda Swami arrived at Gadeigiri for darshan, and Ghanashayam Giri, honoring the Lord’s request, donated Lord Gopaljiu, His paraphernalia and His property to our dear Godbrother. Shrila Gour Govinda Maharaja immediately put everything in the name of ISKCON for the pleasure of Shrila Prabhupada setting the example that everything in the disciple’s possession is the property of Shri Guru. Then during his conversation with Ghanashyam Giri, Gour Govinda Maharaja revealed that Lord Gopaljiu had spoken with him at the same time as He had ordered Ghanashyama to offer Him to ISKCON. Shrila Gour Govinda Maharaja’s Divine Legacy Like several of his mystical ancestors, Gour Govinda Swami predicted his own departure and, like many of them, it would prove to be in the holy month of Magha. That is a time when the sun is in uttarayana, described in the Gita as one of the prerequisites for liberation. Like the other mahabhagavatas in his family tree who departed this world of their own accord, our remarkable Godbrother accepted maha-samadhi after Gopaljiu’s darshan. And so it was in Magha of 1996 after a visit to Gadeigiri that His Holiness Shrila Gour Govinda Thakur confided in a few devotees that he would soon leave this world. He departed soon thereafter at Shridham Mayapur on the sacred appearance day of Shrila Shri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur. Our revered Godbrother left behind a notable legacy of service and accomplishments for the pleasure of his spiritual master, for the expansion of ISKCON and for benefit for the entire world. He is remembered primarily for the place of pilgrimage he developed at Bhubaneshwar, celebrated as ISKCON’s second Shri Krishna Balarama Mandir. By the wish of Shrila Prabhupada, the Deities of the Supreme Lord and His elder brother are of brass, and there is also a Deity of Lord Govinda in the same Divine Form as Shri Gopaljiu. Many had wondered at the remote spot Shrila Prabhupada chose for the temple. However, the all-knowing Shrila Prabhupada answered with a prediction that the area would become a major part of the city and an internationally-recognized tirtha-bhumi, which has now come to pass. Indeed, Shrila Prabhupada spent seventeen days in Bhubaneshwara with Gour Govinda Maharaja domiciling in a hut our Godbrother built for the pleasure of his Guru Maharaja. At that time Shrila Prabhupada encouraged him by telling of a prediction that Gaudiya Vaishnavism would spread all over the world from Orissa. Then, of course, there is the Deity Who guided his every step of his life and Who brought him to Shrila Prabhupada. Shri Gour Govinda Swami’s beautiful Radha-Gopaljiu Temple at Gadeigiri has also become a major ISKCON place of pilgrimage. Gadeigiri Temple For the pleasure of Shrila Prabhupada, our illustrious Godbrother introduced an Oriyan flavor of Gaudiya Vaishnavism into the family of ISKCON adding to the movement’s divine glory. By this he demonstrated that devotional service is not robotic, rather it is a personal expression of the individual devotee’s love for Shri Guru expressed through unalloyed service. Yet, more importantly, H.H.Gour Govinda Maharaja always emphasized the necessity of maintaining the Society as desired by Shrila Prabhupada. While not the goal in and of itself, the foundation and structure of ISKCON serves as a base that shores up the spiritual needs of both the preachers and the public they enlighten. Maharaja remained always a staunch and vigilant opponent of outside influences that would only weaken the minds and newfound faith of the Society’s worldwide members. Regarding devotees running for support and shelter outside the Society against the will of the founder-acharya, His Holiness offered this advice in a letter: “It is a fact that if an elevated Vaishnava is there, then one should go and take his association. There is no harm in that. But in this case there is a danger that the discipline in our organization will be affected adversely. If the leaders are going outside of ISKCON, how will we be able to maintain discipline? Srila Prabhupada has formed this society, and this threat to his society will only cause him pain.” Then in another letter he advised along the same lines: “My opinion is that Srila Prabhupada will not be happy with these senior devotees going outside of ISKCON. Srila Prabhupada has said that everything is in his books. If you try to understand this, then by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada it will all be made clear to you.” His Holiness made the following statement in 1994: “There are three things that are very important to me. One is that I want to preach to the preachers. It causes me so much pain to see the devotees falling down and going away. The second thing is that I want to show how everything is in Prabhupada’s books. Those persons who are saying that Srila Prabhupada only gave ABC, it causes me so much pain in my heart. I want to make them silent. And the third thing is that I want to show how everything is in ISKCON and that devotees do not have to go elsewhere for higher teachings.” Our remarkable Godbrother also left behind a grand legacy of noteworthy Vaishnava literary contributions of his own. To read Godbrothers’ reviews of his masterful The Embankment of Separation and Mathura Meets Vrindavana, Reviews Today from Bhubaneshwar his disciples continue to preach his unsullied parampara message of pure love of God through Krishna consciousness. Always emphasizing scripture, whatever he said he always backed up with shastric references, and he came down heavily on those who did not follow suit. His disciples emulate his example that utmost tolerance is realized when the mind is placed at feet of Shri Guru in an attitude of service. They never find fault with the overall organization in an understanding that the Society remains as strong as its weakest links, and strengthening that structure rests upon each disciple’s personal tolerance. The journal called Shri Krishna Kathamrita produced by his disciples from ISKCON Bhubaneshwar is celebrated as among the finest current Vaishnava periodicals in the world. And any devotee who reads the book Gopaljiu will find his heart transformed. Today, some thirty-five years after the briefest of encounters, it has become this Godbrother’s ardent desire to someday visit the dual tirthas that HH Gour Govinda Maharaja established by the grace of Shrila Prabhupada and Lord Gopaljiu. By his example and activities, he is celebrated by his disciples as a modern-day acharya in his own right, a tireless preacher of Krishna consciousness, and a saint known for tolerance who never deviated from the order of Guru Maharaja. To learn more about the work of HH Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja, visit Welcome to GopalJiu.org. While there, sign up for the free online fortnightly Shri Krishna Kathamrita Bindhu and thereby enhance your Krishna consciousness. For more on ISKCON Gadeigiri , visit www.gopaljiutempel.com. Lectures by His Holiness can be accessed via YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.. ++++++++++++++++ *1. As evidence of this, even today many hundreds of thousands of pages of parampara literature have emerged from the pens of Prabhupada’s Western Vaishnavas, yet all the millions of Western fashion yogis world wide together have produced hardly a word of bona fide Vedic text whatsoever. That is the value of parampara disseminated via the bona fide spiritual master surcharged with the power and glory of the great Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradya. *2. In Orissa, whenever Lord Jagannath is worshipped without the Deities of Goddess Subhadra and His brother Lord Balarama, He is called Dadhi Baman or Patita Pavana.
  4. Our Remarkable Godbrother An Appreciation of Gour Govinda Maharaja By Patita Pavana das Adhikary It was thirty-five years ago, and today my memory is a bit vague, but I recall the incident went something like this. The Meeting Vrindavana, 1974-5: It might have been the always-blissful English brahmachary Gunarnava or maybe the philosophical Scottish devotee Smara Hari who approached me with the news. “Hey, Patit,” he called, “A sadhu just asked Shrila Prabhupada for initiation.” “Wow, good luck to that Maharaja,” I chuckled pessimistically. After all, we had both been Prabhupada’s disciples for a number of years, and had been in India long enough to know that most sadhus preferred to keep their distance from us “phoren bhaktas”. Sure, most of the yogis and renunciates appreciated the fact that we were doing our level best, but they were reticent about mingling; maybe rightfully so. There were the wild rumors that we were foreign spies, or that we had strange parties into the night, but I doubt any intelligent person took those seriously. I think what really kept the genuine article at arm’s length from us was that we were neophyte students of an ancient culture. And–truth be told–in the length and breadth of India and the whole wide world, too, only Prabhupada possessed the bell-metal-into-gold savvy to tame the savage white man and create devotees from base mlecchas. Maybe the other so-called gurus who were preaching in the West had some following, but generally they wore their Western students the way Boy Scouts wear merit badges.*(1) Though the number of our Hindu well-wishers in India was growing–especially among the vaishyas–the brahmanas and sadhus remained wary. And who could blame those pious sadhus and brahmanas anyway? When it came to preaching Vedic philosophy we Americans and Europeans were often overbold, sometimes even rude. For some of us, preaching did not go far beyond that all-purpose admonition, “You’re in Maya!” Hindus naturally wondered at the presumptuousness of foreigners telling them a thing or two about a culture they felt “flowed in their blood”, while we felt that they had compromised away the value of their Vedic heritage. Although we had learned something about prachar (preaching), what we lacked was achar–a standard of behavior acceptable to Indian sensibilities. We had seen a few sadhus join us, only to turn and leave within the week when asked to mop the ashram or clean the pots. So I might not have been blamed for being skeptical when told that a sadhu had approached Shrila Prabhupada for initiation. However, my Godbrother cautioned me to avoid snap judgments, “Not so fast, Prabhu, he seems very sincere. Somehow he’s different.” As events would unfold, this sadhu who had approached Shrila Prabhupada–and who would soon become Shrila Gour Govinda Swami–was not at all like the others who had come and gone away. The wandering pilgrim who was signing on as one of Shrila Prabhupada’s men was neither a mayavadi yogi nor a dry renunciate given over to abstract meditation. He did not imagine that religious philosophies can be opportunistically manufactured by selecting wise-sounding homilies from professional gurus, then knitting them together into a patchwork doctrine of convenience. Neither had he approached the acharya like some profit-motivated broker with the baited offering of conditional service. He did not want a green card, nor was he looking to hang with a fraternity of foreigners. No boasting masked ulterior motives. Neither was he some New Age “guru collector” who imagines his spiritual advancement hinges upon meeting many yogis for bragging rights. He was not seeking respect, which in fact appeared to be the greatest obstacle of those who felt themselves superior by dint of some tapasya or high birth. I was humbled to discover that his motive was unconditional surrender and service at the lotus feet of the empowered representative of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. As I would learn many years later, Gour Govinda Maharaja sprang from a family of famous Orissan Gaudiya kirtan leaders, devotional mystics and Vaishnava renunciates. There in Vrindavana after a long, long search he had immediately recognized Shrila Prabhupada as the acharya, the very embodiment of Lord Chaitanya’s worldwide movement. Full surrender took only a moment. Devotees would see him ascend to the post of guru in his own right. He would rise from the ranks to become a victorious preacher and modern sampradaya link, proving his mettle over again in the fire of bhakti-yoga. And by the time he would suddenly leave this world in Mayapur in January 1996 at the calling of Lord Shri Krishna, he would enhance the glory of ISKCON by founding two major centers of pilgrimage on behalf of his worshipable Guru Maharaja. A Life of Devotion His life is briefly described in the inspiring little book “Gopalju, the Beloved Deity of Gour Govinda Swami” penned by his ever-faithful disciple Shriman Madhavananda Das. At birth, his pious parents had pointed to his future by giving him a name of Lord Krishna. Braja Bandhu Manik came into this world in the interior village of Jagannathpur, Orissa. His earliest memories were of his love for the family Deity Gopaljiu of the nearby village Gadegiri. It was his relationship with Shri Gopaljiu that would guide and shape every moment of his life. By the age of eight, Braja Bandhu was discoursing from the Gita and the Bhagavat. Married at twenty-three, he raised a large family, supporting them on a school teacher’s salary. Then in 1974 at forty-five he took the name of Gour Gopal and suddenly walked out of his house to search the length and breadth of India for a bona fide spiritual master. Penniless, he wandered as a pilgrim from India’s tip at Kanya Kumari where the waters of three great oceans mingle, to the Himalayas where he discoursed with countless yogis on the mysteries of life and its goal. Satisfaction eluded him, for he found in his journey that India’s so-called spiritual preceptors were ignoring the command of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself in His full avatara as Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The Lord’s sankirtan movement had been overlooked in favor of shadowy spiritual practices that are wholly unsuitable for the present age. Rejecting the many impersonalists he met along the way, Gour Gopal turned his footsteps toward the land for which he had been named. At last the seeker arrived in Vraja Mandala. Ironically, at a Gaudiya Math temple in Mathura the brahmacharis mistook him for a mayavadi and abruptly showed him the door. Later, in Vrindavana he spotted a sign that led him to the construction site of ISKCON’s proposed Krishna Balarama Mandir. There a devotee handed him a Back to Godhead. Looking through the magazine, Gour Gopal was delighted to find the three things he was looking for in his prospective guru: Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the mahamantra and Shrimad Bhagavatam. As if by Providence, Shrila Prabhupada happened to be there as though waiting for him. When Gour Gopal offered his obeisances, Shrila Prabhpada’s first words were, “Have you taken sannyasa? I will give you sannyasa.” In this way the World Guru immediately knew the mind of the sincere candidate and offered the pilgrim what he had left home for. Less than a year later, His Divine Grace would offer him cloth and danda, as Braja Bandhu, now Gour Gopal, became transformed into Shrila Gour Govinda Swami on the holy day of Rama Navami at the opening of the Shri Krishna Balarama Temple in Vrindavana. Lord Gopaljiu of Gadeigiri Spiritual initiation from Shrila Prabhupada only deepened Gour Govinda Swami’s devotion to his beloved Deity of Shri Gopaljiu back in Gadeigiri. This village of Gadeigiri was founded in the late 1600’s by an ancestor of Shri Gour Govinda Maharaja named Shri Gadai Giri. Gadai Giri used to come down from Midnapur, today part of West Bengal, to sell door to door brass and metal items. While on one such trip, he heard coming from the jungle, the auspicious sounds of a flute, the tinkle of ankle bells and the blowing of a conch intermingling with the calls of various birds. A local sadhu whom Gadai Giri had befriended recommended that he make his home in that very spot, advising him that Lord Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, must be present there. And wherever Krishna lives, there dwells Goddess Lakshmi. Hence, all of Gadai Giri’s needs would be met if he were to simply remain there in adoration of the Supreme Lord. Thus Shri Gadai Giri made a clearing from the jungle and built a thatched-roof home. He gave up his business, constructed a small temple to Dadhi Baman* (2) and engaged full time in the glorification of the Supreme Lord through kirtan and study of the Shrimad Bhagavatam. Gadai Giri’s only son was Gopal Giri, who became a great devotee of Lord Jagannath and a master of kirtan. Gopal Giri intensely desired to worship a Deity of Lord Krishna from Vrindavana, but in those days, long before trains and buses, he had no way to make the pilgrimage to Vrajabhumi. Hence he shifted from Gadeigiri to Puri thinking that somehow Lord Krishna would come to him there. At the temple of Lord Jagannath he was employed by the king as the poddar or cashier. At Puri he frequently met sadhus whom he used to request to bring him a Deity of Gopal from Vraja, but his wish remained unfulfilled. At that time there was a Vaishnava mendicant in far away Vrajabhumi who was worshipping a Deity of Lord Gopal. While the sannyasi went for begging alms daily, the Deity would accompany him in a cloth bag. One night the sadhu had a vision in which Lord Gopal ordered the renunciate to take Him to Puri where He desired to accept the adoration of Gopal Giri. At first the sadhu disregarded the command of the Lord as a mere dream. So a few days later, the Lord appeared again, this time soundly beating the sadhu across the legs till they bled. The Vaishnava awoke in pain and fervently apologized to Lord Gopal for ignoring His order. He immediately began the 2½ month trek walking to Puri. Gopal Giri was well known in Puri and there the sadhu had no difficulty in locating him. When they met, the sadhu handed over his Gopal Deity as per the divine instruction. When he showed the wounds on his legs, Gopal Giri healed them by his mere touch. Gopal Giri offered the sadhu as much money as he liked, but he declined, requesting instead that he remain with Lord Gopal as his pujari. Gopal Giri had a brass Deity of Shrimati Radharani made for the Deity’s pleasure, and resigned from his post, returning to Gadeigiri to engage in kirtan. The sadhu remained there in seva for twenty years and when he departed this world, a samadhi was built for him. Gopal Giri’s kirtan in the Odissi Gaudiya style of Shri Rasikananada and Shri Shyamanada Prabhus became so famous that it would be inscribed in the history book of the Jagannath Temple at Puri that the Gadeigiri kirtan group should always be allowed to perform in the temple. The tradition of employing a sannyasi pujari for Shri Gopaljiu of Gadeigiri continued for generations. In the mid-1800’s a crooked sannyasi engaged in His seva kidnapped the Deities in the still of night. Meanwhile, Lord Gopal alerted Gadai Giri’s great-great grandson Bhagavat Charan in a dream that He was being stolen away. By the will of Providence, the fleeing sadhu was bitten on his way by a poisonous snake. Bhagavat Charan found the thievish pujari lying dead, and returned Lord Radha-Gopal to the temple. Afterwards, he only engaged married brahmanas in Thakur-seva. In the early 1900’s, care of the temple fell to the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Gadai Giri, named Bauri Giri. Even government officers would come for the darshan of Bauri Giri, a paramhamsa bhakta said to have mystic powers to heal illness by the grace of Lord Gopajiu. One deputy magistrate named Bal Mukunda Kanungo used to come for his darshan, and it was his grand daughter who would hand over her property to Shrila Prabhupada for the future ISKCON Bhubaneshwara. ISKCON Bhubaneswar In the latter half of the Twentieth Century the grandson of Bhauri Giri, Ghanashyam, took over the seva of Gopaljiu. One day in a dream, the Deity instructed Ghanashyam to turn over His seva to Gour Govinda Maharaja. There had been discussion of Lord Gopaljiu’s seva coming under the banner of ISKCON, but Ghanashyam had been a little reluctant. Now his wife heard him telling Lord Gopaljiu in his sleep, “I will give, I will give.” Upon waking, Ghanashyam told her of how Lord Gopaljiu spoke to him from the window. A few days later Gour Govinda Swami arrived at Gadeigiri for darshan, and Ghanashayam Giri, honoring the Lord’s request, donated Lord Gopaljiu, His paraphernalia and His property to our dear Godbrother. Shrila Gour Govinda Maharaja immediately put everything in the name of ISKCON for the pleasure of Shrila Prabhupada setting the example that everything in the disciple’s possession is the property of Shri Guru. Then during his conversation with Ghanashyam Giri, Gour Govinda Maharaja revealed that Lord Gopaljiu had spoken with him at the same time as He had ordered Ghanashyama to offer Him to ISKCON. Shrila Gour Govinda Maharaja’s Divine Legacy Like several of his mystical ancestors, Gour Govinda Swami predicted his own departure and, like many of them, it would prove to be in the holy month of Magha. That is a time when the sun is in uttarayana, described in the Gita as one of the prerequisites for liberation. Like the other mahabhagavatas in his family tree who departed this world of their own accord, our remarkable Godbrother accepted maha-samadhi after Gopaljiu’s darshan. And so it was in Magha of 1996 after a visit to Gadeigiri that His Holiness Shrila Gour Govinda Thakur confided in a few devotees that he would soon leave this world. He departed soon thereafter at Shridham Mayapur on the sacred appearance day of Shrila Shri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur. Our revered Godbrother left behind a notable legacy of service and accomplishments for the pleasure of his spiritual master, for the expansion of ISKCON and for benefit for the entire world. He is remembered primarily for the place of pilgrimage he developed at Bhubaneshwar, celebrated as ISKCON’s second Shri Krishna Balarama Mandir. By the wish of Shrila Prabhupada, the Deities of the Supreme Lord and His elder brother are of brass, and there is also a Deity of Lord Govinda in the same Divine Form as Shri Gopaljiu. Many had wondered at the remote spot Shrila Prabhupada chose for the temple. However, the all-knowing Shrila Prabhupada answered with a prediction that the area would become a major part of the city and an internationally-recognized tirtha-bhumi, which has now come to pass. Indeed, Shrila Prabhupada spent seventeen days in Bhubaneshwara with Gour Govinda Maharaja domiciling in a hut our Godbrother built for the pleasure of his Guru Maharaja. At that time Shrila Prabhupada encouraged him by telling of a prediction that Gaudiya Vaishnavism would spread all over the world from Orissa. Then, of course, there is the Deity Who guided his every step of his life and Who brought him to Shrila Prabhupada. Shri Gour Govinda Swami’s beautiful Radha-Gopaljiu Temple at Gadeigiri has also become a major ISKCON place of pilgrimage. Gadeigiri Temple For the pleasure of Shrila Prabhupada, our illustrious Godbrother introduced an Oriyan flavor of Gaudiya Vaishnavism into the family of ISKCON adding to the movement’s divine glory. By this he demonstrated that devotional service is not robotic, rather it is a personal expression of the individual devotee’s love for Shri Guru expressed through unalloyed service. Yet, more importantly, H.H.Gour Govinda Maharaja always emphasized the necessity of maintaining the Society as desired by Shrila Prabhupada. While not the goal in and of itself, the foundation and structure of ISKCON serves as a base that shores up the spiritual needs of both the preachers and the public they enlighten. Maharaja remained always a staunch and vigilant opponent of outside influences that would only weaken the minds and newfound faith of the Society’s worldwide members. Regarding devotees running for support and shelter outside the Society against the will of the founder-acharya, His Holiness offered this advice in a letter: “It is a fact that if an elevated Vaishnava is there, then one should go and take his association. There is no harm in that. But in this case there is a danger that the discipline in our organization will be affected adversely. If the leaders are going outside of ISKCON, how will we be able to maintain discipline? Srila Prabhupada has formed this society, and this threat to his society will only cause him pain.” Then in another letter he advised along the same lines: “My opinion is that Srila Prabhupada will not be happy with these senior devotees going outside of ISKCON. Srila Prabhupada has said that everything is in his books. If you try to understand this, then by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada it will all be made clear to you.” His Holiness made the following statement in 1994: “There are three things that are very important to me. One is that I want to preach to the preachers. It causes me so much pain to see the devotees falling down and going away. The second thing is that I want to show how everything is in Prabhupada’s books. Those persons who are saying that Srila Prabhupada only gave ABC, it causes me so much pain in my heart. I want to make them silent. And the third thing is that I want to show how everything is in ISKCON and that devotees do not have to go elsewhere for higher teachings.” Our remarkable Godbrother also left behind a grand legacy of noteworthy Vaishnava literary contributions of his own. To read Godbrothers’ reviews of his masterful The Embankment of Separation and Mathura Meets Vrindavana, Reviews Today from Bhubaneshwar his disciples continue to preach his unsullied parampara message of pure love of God through Krishna consciousness. Always emphasizing scripture, whatever he said he always backed up with shastric references, and he came down heavily on those who did not follow suit. His disciples emulate his example that utmost tolerance is realized when the mind is placed at feet of Shri Guru in an attitude of service. They never find fault with the overall organization in an understanding that the Society remains as strong as its weakest links, and strengthening that structure rests upon each disciple’s personal tolerance. The journal called Shri Krishna Kathamrita produced by his disciples from ISKCON Bhubaneshwar is celebrated as among the finest current Vaishnava periodicals in the world. And any devotee who reads the book Gopaljiu will find his heart transformed. Today, some thirty-five years after the briefest of encounters, it has become this Godbrother’s ardent desire to someday visit the dual tirthas that HH Gour Govinda Maharaja established by the grace of Shrila Prabhupada and Lord Gopaljiu. By his example and activities, he is celebrated by his disciples as a modern-day acharya in his own right, a tireless preacher of Krishna consciousness, and a saint known for tolerance who never deviated from the order of Guru Maharaja. To learn more about the work of HH Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja, visit Welcome to GopalJiu.org. While there, sign up for the free online fortnightly Shri Krishna Kathamrita Bindhu and thereby enhance your Krishna consciousness. For more on ISKCON Gadeigiri , visit www.gopaljiutempel.com. Lectures by His Holiness can be accessed via YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.. ++++++++++++++++ *1. As evidence of this, even today many hundreds of thousands of pages of parampara literature have emerged from the pens of Prabhupada’s Western Vaishnavas, yet all the millions of Western fashion yogis world wide together have produced hardly a word of bona fide Vedic text whatsoever. That is the value of parampara disseminated via the bona fide spiritual master surcharged with the power and glory of the great Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradya. *2. In Orissa, whenever Lord Jagannath is worshipped without the Deities of Goddess Subhadra and His brother Lord Balarama, He is called Dadhi Baman or Patita Pavana.
  5. Yes, here and now there is another chance to get Gaura's krpa\mercy. I get the invite to burn bright in the everlasting light of Harinam Sankirtana:) By the causeless mercy of His dear devotee! Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
  6. Over 2,000 years ago, South Indian saint Tiruvalluvar wrote in the Tirukural: The body requires no medicine if you eat only after the food you have already eaten is digested. --Kural 942 Once digestion is complete, eat with moderation; that is the way to prolong the life of the body. --Kural 943 Life remains unharmed when one eats with restraint, refraining from foods that have proven disagreeable. --Kural 945 The pleasures of health abide in the man who eats moderately. The pains of disease dwell wth him who eats excessively. --Kural 946 ]
  7. Book distribution, what is the focus? The other day I was reading an article which was talking about the preaching work done be the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormon’s in relation to devotees book distribution. They noted that from what they could see that both were more successful in making followers, and questioned why this could be? One is focus, what is the purpose of book distribution? Is it the book score? Is it the money raised? Or is it something more deeper? I can only talk for the Jehovah’s Witnesses as I used to be a regular pioneer (yes the ones who knock on your door); the focus was not the amount of books distributed, yes big numbers was nice but this was not the focus. The focus was this, the bible study through the study of the bible they will see the need for God in there lives and too become a follower of Jehovah and his son Jesus. Each Friday night service was focused on helping us all develop the skills needed and to inspire. As we went from street to street, house to house we logged and returned not only to those homes that had taken a book, but those who had shown an interest and asked questions. Time would be taken to note facts, name, address, family details, what was talked about any interesting detail; so that on the follow up call we could use these, if a family member or pet was ill we would know to ask how they are. This is a personal touch a personal interest in them, people respond well to this and it demonstrates concern. The aim is simply that one day they will come to the house group, this is held once a week in a persons home and is a page by page discussion of one of the societies books; it gives the person association of others and helps develop more personal relationships Eventually they will come to the Kingdom Hall and eventually will enter into the House to House ministry school Yes this was the simple program in order to make disciples. Srila Prabhupada wrote this: When Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami went to Vrndavana, there was not a single temple, but by their preaching they were gradually able to construct various temples. Sanatana Gosvami constructed the Madana-mohana temple, and Rupa Gosvami constructed the Govindaji temple. Similarly, their nephew Jiva Gosvami constructed the Radha-Damodara temple, Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami constructed the Radha-ramana temple, Sri Lokanatha Gosvami constructed the Gokulananda temple, and Syamananda Gosvami constructed the Syamasundara temple. In this way, many temples were gradually constructed. For preaching, construction of temples is also necessary. The Gosvamis not only engaged in writing books but also constructed temples because both are needed for preaching work. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted the cult of His sankirtana movement to spread all over the world. Now that the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has taken up this task of preaching the cult of Lord Caitanya, its members should not only construct temples in every town and village of the globe but also distribute the books that have already been written and further increase the number of books. Both distribution of books and construction of temples must continue side by side in parallel lines. Adi 7.164 We see that the Gosvami’s by there preaching work also gave facility for those who they had convinced to become God Conscious a focal point to share, to praise, to sing and dance, to worship Sri Krishna. The value of preaching is not only the number of books but that we develop the congregation; that we concentrate our book distribution in areas were we have or are wanting to set up a centre. That our focus in not the good book score or amount of money we raised, but that of follow up. I look at the book scores and myself wonder, why if so many books (and by Krishna’s mercy they are higher than that of the Witnesses) how come so few come end up coming to our centers. It is this as we give a book do we give contact details? Does it give the times for the outreach classes? The question is this, does it appear that we are interested in them taking the book, or are we interested in them? As we go out on book’s are we looking to make devotees? This should always be our focus, not the high book scores or the money, then our centers will be full.
  8. Was it at the wrestling arena in Mathura that Krsna and Balarama were seen differently according to the different gradations of rasa that each person had towards Them? from KRSNA Book:
  9. Ok, just kidding...so you've finally got a black man in the white house. Now what?!
  10. http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/news/10-08/news2295.htm http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/news/10-08/news2295.htm
  11. True Beginner BY: JAGABANDHU DAS Oct 26, FORT WHITE, FLORIDA (SUN) — "All persons of this world are really superior to us in every way as far as this world is concerned." -- L'Envoi, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada Sometimes it seems that the first thing I learned in an organized religious context was to demonize and think ill of all with apparently inferior divergent ideological viewpoints. But I'm so tired of learning to think ill of others regardless of what they may think, say or do. Aren't you all tired of it too? In my sojourn through this life I am inevitably bound to encounter many ideas and instances with which I may beg to differ. Certainly intelligent discernment should be sought and encouraged. But why must disagreement become dislike (or possibly even hatred)? If I think ill of others, how will I be able to follow Mahaprabhu's Third Beautiful Precept of always giving honor to them? How can I be humbler than the grass if my heart is afflicted with dislike and hatred of the "inferior," less intelligent and "impious" from amongst ignorant, "infidel" unbelievers? What could possibly be of any real spiritual benefit from such condescending "compassionate" outreach? How can love grow in a heart full of hate and ill-will? If I can carefully consider and imbibe the essence of Srila Rupa Goswami's and Srila Haridas Thakur's own moods of extreme self-abnegation; my heart will be filled with genuinely scathing shame in my feeble approach to the Supreme Divinity of Absolute Affection. This will cause me to reflect that I am myself an infidel of the infantile pretender class. And I wouldn't know true devotion proper if it hit me like a brick between my "eyes of hate." Srila Saraswati Thakur tells us that rather than feel ourselves superior to others, we must in fact consider ourselves inferior by comparison. In every way. Because of this, I think of myself as a mleccha really. Mere vegetarian white trash. A soul at best. Even Buddhists, Christians and Muslims are above me. From this true inner beginning, I might then truly pursue a positive life eternal, devoid of condescension, ill-will and sectarian party spirit. And enthused with a genuine respectful affection for all souls combined with the tolerant endurance of trees. By the Grace of Sri Guru and the True Vaishanavas, Sri Nam Prabhu may then finally soar from the empty depths of my lowly soul and consume all my existence, all the time. At last.
  12. How to get yourself killed. How to get yourself killed over and over again. <CITE></CITE> <CITE></CITE> <CITE></CITE> <CITE></CITE> <CITE></CITE> <CITE></CITE> <CITE></CITE> <CITE></CITE> <CITE></CITE> <CITE>Chaitanya-charitamrita</CITE> Madhya-lila 24.251, text & purport: "Narada Muni continued, 'All the animals that you have killed and given unnecessary pain will kill you one after the other in your next life and in life after life.' PURPORT This is another authoritative statement made by the great sage Narada. Those who kill animals and give them unnecessary pain—as people do in slaughterhouses—will be killed in a similar way in the next life and in many lives to come. One can never be excused from such an offense. If one kills many thousands of animals in a professional way so that other people can purchase the meat to eat, one must be ready to be killed in a similar way in his next life and in life after life. There are many rascals who violate their own religious principles. According to Judeo-Christian scriptures, it is clearly said, "Thou shalt not kill." Nonetheless, giving all kinds of excuses, even the heads of religions indulge in killing animals while trying to pass as saintly persons. This mockery and hypocrisy in human society bring about unlimited calamities; therefore occasionally there are great wars. Masses of such people go out onto battlefields and kill themselves. Presently they have discovered the atomic bomb, which is simply waiting to be used for wholesale destruction. If people want to be saved from the killing business life after life, they must take to Krishna consciousness and cease sinful activity. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness recommends that everyone abandon meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling. When one gives up these sinful activities, he can understand Krishna and take to this Krishna consciousness movement. We therefore request everyone to abandon sinful activity and chant the Hare Krishna mantra: In this way people can save themselves from repeated birth and death and from being killed like the animals in slaughterhouses.
  13. Change in the direction of eternal time Maharaja Yudhisthira began to observe many inauspicious omens that indicated a change in the direction of eternal time and caused fear to penetrate his heart. There were disruptions in seasonal regularities, and the people in general became noticeably proud, greedy, angry and deceitful. Many citizens had adopted abominable means of livelihood, and ordinary transactions had become polluted with cheating, even among friends. There was a constant strain of misunderstanding between husband and wife, parents and children as well as between brothers and well-wishers. The disappearance of Lord Krishna - Canto 1
  14. I received a lot of interesting feedback from my last post, "Secret GBC Resolution Revealed." Most readers thought it was funny and really enjoyed it. Satire exaggerates and highlights the shadows of reality to the point where you gotta laugh at it. One old friend and godbrother wrote me: "too funny 'maws.' we won't make it to the pisswall at this rate, but at least we'll die laffin on the way there..." Another godbrother commented that he read half-way thru the post before he suspected it might be a farce. He still wasn't sure if it was true or not, so he looked up the word "Maws" in a dictionary, because English is not his native language. Well, English is my native tongue, but i also looked it up when i was creating an acronym for the Mayapur Perpetual Worship Scheme: maw |mô| 1. the jaws or throat of a voracious animal like a wolf hound. 2. the mouth or gullet (stomach) of a greedy person. Do i really think the GBC body should be compared to the jaws of a wolf? The short answer: yes. Because what Srila Prabhupada gave to each and every one of his disciples was his mercy and his love. He deputized the GBC to administer this love on his behalf. How do you administer love? There's only one way: by creating TRUST. Love cannot exist without trust. Trust is always the foundation for love in any relationship. And what has the GBC done since the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada? From practically the moment he left this world, the zonal acaryas used their power, manipulation, deceipt and despotism to create DISTRUST amongst and between their godbrothers and godsisters. Now that the years have gone by, the zonals have been replaced by the reformers. But have they brought back the spirit of love and trust to Iskcon? If they have, then why are 95% of Prabhupada's disciples-- his spiritual children-- still unwelcome and missing in action? (To any idiots who want to know if this percentage has been verified by a "survey," no it hasn't, But Prabhupada initiated around 5,000 disciples. How many do you see hanging around Iskcon these days? In most temples, none or very, very few. That means 95% or more are missing. And it's not because they're all "in maya.") Does anyone in Iskcon's leadership ever ask why those devotees--their godbrothers and godsisters-- have gone away? Or how Iskcon could make them welcome or encourage them? The answer to that question is an all-pervasive silence. Or, if anyone is preaching and criticises the GBC, they pass a resolution to gag that person. Will a war criminal ever call for his own trial? Does a greedy, voracious politician ever give up his position? Can a moron sit down and write poetry? Maws was an attempt to satirize the characters within Iskcon who act more like caricatures than acaryas. If i had written such a piece 25 years earlier, clearly my life could be endangered. Even now, some fundamentalist disciple might read these posts and seek me out to avenge his guru's honor. So let me clarify (if only to presevere my own life). I'm not saying the GBC men and women are inherently evil. Most if not all are dedicated devotees. But i am saying that they have failed the basic test and responsibility given to them by Srila Prabhupada. That is the duty of the GBC to set the example for love and trust between devotees. Either by comission or by omission, the leaders of Iskcon have miserably failed Srila Prabhupada on this most fundamental issue. They have acted not as brahmanas but as kripanas (misers) and even worse, not as servants but as oligarchs who lord over others. Does anyone claim that the spirit of trust can be found in Iskcon? Or that there is a social model anywhere in Iskcon where artificial hierarchies of haves and have nots does not exist? Let me know, because i haven't seen it, and i've been around a long time. I see the opposite wherever i go. In a few places there is a standard of etiquitte being practiced, but even there, the mentality of "us and "them" predominates. And "us" usually translates to no more than the "I, me and mine" of a respective leader and his surrogates. OK, but where's the oxymoron i mentioned in this post's title? oxymoron a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Greek oxumōron, neuter (used as a noun) of oxumōros ‘pointedly foolish,’ from oxus ‘sharp’ + mōros ‘foolish.’ The sharply foolish meme here is the notion that the GBC equals Srila Prabhupada's spirit of love and trust. Yes, that is the GBC's reason for existence-- to represent and apply Prabhupada's spirit justly and wisely in the society of devotees. But when you put the words together-- Prabhupada's spirit of love and trust is shown by the GBC -- you get an absolutely perfect oxymoron. It makes for a terribly nauseating condition. The GBC produces mistrust, the opposite of what it was created to produce. It is imcompatible with the spirit of love and trust. It is a living contradiction of Prabhupada's spirit. The credibility that was invested in the GBC by Srila Prabhupada has become so devalued that only its own members take themselves seriously. Even many of their own disciples see thru their incompetence. After more than 30 years of negligent, often abusive, and always abysmal leadership, the best offering the GBC could now make to Srila Prabhupada is to resign en masse. Let them call a general meeting of all devotees, especially the disciples of Prabhupada who left or were forced to leave Iskcon but who still honor and worship Prabhupada in their own hearts. Let them sit together and somehow find a way to deconstruct the legal, corporate, religious labyrinth that the GBC concocted with their own ideas and desires. And let them hope to rediscover and reconnect to the original purpose Srila Prabhupada had in his pure heart when he brought Krishna consciousness from Vrindavan to Second Avenue. That's the spirit of love and awareness of Krishna and mutual trust and respect for each other. Love and trust. Without them, Iskcon is just another intolerant religion that promises the truth and delivers lies. Maws, morons and oxymorons. by jauvana (noreply@blogger.com) at August 03, 2008 10:56 PM
  15. <TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top noWrap width=100 bgColor=whitesmoke> atmarama <SMALL>Administrator of isvara.org</SMALL> </TD><TD vAlign=top width="100%" bgColor=whitesmoke colSpan=2><TABLE height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Posted - 01/08/2008 : <HR noShade SIZE=1></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top height="100%">Vegans are our best allies in helping us be more pleasing to the Lord, who in His eternal pastimes, protects cows with as much love as one gives to family members. Not only the Lord engages in giving pleasure to mother cow, but all His dear associates do as well. How can we hope to one day be among them, when in this life we have engaged in giving pain to her, by supporting places where she is ruthlessly exploited? The question of drinking milk is best answered not in an anaesthetic forum, but on a visit to the slaughterhouse where the by-products of milk production- the unwanted calves- are routinely slaughtered. I strongly encourage Mayesvara and others who view veganism as somewhat of a threat to the service of Govinda, to take this step. The only way to stop this slaughter of our innocent friends and mothers is to stop supporting it by drinking slaughterhouse milk, and to encourage others to do the same. It has been argued that veganism may be dangerous for health, which is curious in this age, when the consumption of animal fats has been linked to many lethal diseases such as cancer and heart disease. All the nutrients found in meat and milk are there in plant foods- for where else does the animal get them from? -but without the risk of saturated animal fats. The propaganda by the dairy industry that lack of milk is a cause of osteoporosis is false, as in very poverty stricken areas of the globe where milk is rarely consumed, osteoporosis is virtually unheard of. The reason is these people labour hard to earn their living, whereas we earn it by sitting at a desk all day. Studies conducted on astronauts have found that the risk of weightlessness-induced osteoporosis is extremely high. Thus, it is stress on our bones through supporting our body weight that keeps them strong. We know this to be true of our muscles- that stressing them regularly is the best method to keep them strong and fully functional. It is also true of our immune system, hence the value of immunization...The greatest risk to our skeletal system is lack of its use, and the greatest risk to our cardio-pulmonary system is the consumption of animal fats, for which our bodies are not designed. (Yet due to inorganic methods of farming, even our plant foods lack nutrients- especially trace elements, so a good supplement with trace elements may be necessary where access to organic fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains is not possible). It has also been argued that Srila Prabhupada recommended milk drinking. First point is that Srila Prabhupada was attempting to convert people away from meat eating, at a time when most people believed that you could not survive without animal protein. They believed that plant protein was inferior- this has since been proven wrong.. Second point is that after setting up vegetarian temples and restaurants, he arranged for the purchase of numerous cow-friendly dairy farms so that milk and milk products could be taken without compromising cow protection. It is there in his conversations, that he specifically wanted these farms to produce milk not just for their own consumption, but to supply the temples and restaurants as well. We haven't done this. We have strayed so far away from his instructions, yet we have no qualms about using him to justify cruelty to mother cow. In respect to diet, the only difference between lacto-vegetarians and vegans is that the latter love cows to the point that they sacrifice their addictions. What hypocrisy it is to call out "jaya Govinda" and yet support the killing of the innocent creatures which He loves most of all. Krishna loves cows so much that His planet is called Goloka Vrindavan. As we would not allow the destruction of a forest of sacred tulasi bushes (Vrinda), we should not allow the destruction of a herd of dairy cows (Go) through modern methods of exploitation for milk, followed by meat. At the very least we should not support it. We should not view vegans as a threat or even as outsiders, as they are pleasing Govinda in their own way, and may even be more pleasing to Him than we who call on His name without integrity of action. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
  16. krsna

    oh, Bama

    There was an article that posted to the Sampradaya Sun earlier this past week admonishing devotees for siding with the Republican party in America. I couldn’t agree more with that. How some devotees support ideas like intelligent design is mind-boggling. We clearly do not believe the same thing that Christians do when it comes to creation. The only similarity is that they are both God-centered. The Christian believe is that the world was created in six literal days and that the earth has only been around for 8,000ish years, barely longer than our Kali-yuga. Yet some devotees side with them due to the dangerous philosophy of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” However, the article in question is a thinly veiled defense of Barack Obama. Previously, a devotee published an article ripping apart Obama for his unvaisnava qualities. Rightly so, I suspect, since Obama isn’t a vaisnava. But this most recent article, while claiming the left wing (democrats, etc) to be “bad,” actually defends Obama. He references Obama stating that Christ’s Sermon on the Mount should guide American policy. Now, I’m a rather large fan of the Sermon on the Mount. You know, “blessed are the peacemakers, meek, etc.” And while it’s definitely a good idea to use these principles to manage your life, there is certainly no way in hell that America (or any other government, for that matter) would use them to guide policy. And if you believe that, you are being duped in some pretty nasty ways. I’m very sick of devotees following the Republican party. But I’m equally sick of devotees following the Democrats (possibly more sick, to be honest). In Aprilish, a devotee blogger even compared Obama to Brahma. Yeah, Lord Brahma. There were other postings gushing about how super awesome Obama was and how Krishna is blessing us with him. Someone certainly drank the Kool-Aide on this one. He was the same devotee who gave the Obama “Hope” poster vaisnava tilaka, marking Obama as a devotee of Lord Caitanya. It is hard for me to think of something more lame than that. I’ve tried, not possible. So will someone please tell me why so many devotees find it necessary to affiliate themselves as members of some political party? Aren’t we supposed to be above that? And fine, if you want to be a democrat or a republican and vote for “the lesser of two evils,” go for it. But why in all that is holy do you try to co-opt them and “make” them part of Krishna consciousness? Seriously, cut it out. We are devotees. We are above this. Governments in Kali-yuga are corrupt through and through. However, the Bush administration was no more corrupt than Clinton or Grant (back in the 1870’s) or George Washington’s for that matter. The government is made up of cheaters. The followers of either party are the cheated. We are devotees, followers of Lord Caitanya. We are not the cheaters, nor are we the cheated. We have a higher purpose. Even our Srila Prabhupada has said, “This democracy is a demon-crazy. It has no value. It is simply waste of time and effort and no feeling, demon-crazy.” He said this many times in reference to American democracy. So why should we support it? And so, dear vaisnavas, how about we stop wasting time supporting this demon-crazy government, or any government, and start focusing on spirituality, ok? Srila Prabhupada has given us everything we philosophically need. Why would we want to support some politician whose views cannot possibly be our own? Why settle for the “lesser of two evils” when we have Krishna consciousness? Through this we can help society, spiritually and materially, much more than lofty and soon-to-be-broken campaign promises. Revatinandana: The symbol of the Democrat party in America is the ass. Prabhupada: Oh, yes. Because they are asses. - Room Conversation — December 13, 1970, Indore by eric at July 31, 2008 01:07 PM
  17. krsna

    oh, Bama

    :outta: :outta: sri visnu:pray:
  18. krsna

    oh, Bama

    Obama is Not Evil BY: MARK PTULNEY Jul 30, USA (SUN) — It really is appalling that so many people who proclaim "I am a devotee of Krishna" think that the political ideology of America's Republican Party is somehow connected to Krishna and Bhakti. In his recent article, "The Charlatan Obama", Syamakunda dasa opposes Barack Obama. He sees Obama as a politician who is pro-abortion, left-wing, anti-intelligent design, pro-homosexual, pro-Big-Government, etc. Lets think about this, then. And let's consider also whether the promotion of "American Republicanism" is ever going to be helpful for the promotion of Krishna Bhakti in this world. Maybe we shouldn't support Obama but should we support the Republicans? The Republican base claims to support the principle of "right to life". But when the Republican controlled American armed forces invaded Iraq to get control of Iraq's oil they didn't show much respect for the right to life of Iraq's citizens. Women and children and men living in their own homeland were killed in tens of thousands. The war the American forces waged from the sky was like the merciless fighting of "un-kshatriya-like" fighters in the Israelite armies that invaded Palestine long ago, when the invaders exterminated its residents, killing babies, mothers and men - everyone. Even the cows and goats (1 Samuel 15:2-3). Estimates of the number of people killed in this pointless war in Iraq do vary greatly. But let's just agree that a lot of innocent people have been killed by the Christian-led invaders that have waged a futile war on the false premise that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Why hasn't Bush been imprisoned for sending his army into a war on the basis of false "intelligence" and lies? Mr. Syamakunda, please answer that question if you will. This war America is losing or has lost has been a disaster for nearly everyone involved. Except of course the oil companies, the American weapons manufacturers, and Al Queda and its leader, the reclusive Bin Laden. Bin Laden is living a quiet life these days. But we may think he is enjoying his life immensely. All the things he wanted to achieve in life are being gradually achieved, day by day. After Bin Laden finished his previous American sponsored business fighting the godless Russians in Afghanistan, he began his next project called Al Queda. This Al Queda really prospered! It is like an American multi-level franchise business - especially in Iraq. This venture has become a focal point for Muslims opposed to what many Muslims see as the "invader crusaders", the foreigners who are plundering the wealth of their lands. Indeed, it needs to be pointed out that the President of Iraq approves of Obama's withdrawal timetable! Even the puppets and stooges are looking ahead to the time when the Americans withdraw - they want the Americans out of their country. Left-wing is bad? Maybe. But is right-wing good? Bush's big oil connections and Cheney's military industry cronies have made millions since the war began. Meanwhile the little people are paying more of their money every time they go to the gas station. To deny that the war against Islamists is the cause of high fuel prices is simply stupid. Bush was/is an oilman and he went after more oil. You are stupid if you don't recognize that fact. Freedom? Does America promote freedom of thought and freedom of religion? Numerous court cases are running right now, where men and women in uniform are saying the US Army is controlled by Evangelical Christians who are believers in the doomsday philosophy of Armageddon. Many people are concerned that the US armed forces are a danger to true democracy. What is more, if a few individuals in American uniforms in Iraq are telling people about Krishna is that really the sort of preaching that Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu would approve of? Read the Caitanya Caritamrta to see what Sri Caitanya felt about Islam. It is very clear. Don't fight Islam. Be humble, tolerant, offer respects to others. This is Sri Caitanya's teachings. It is dishonest and deceptive to say that the Gaudiya Vaisnava Acaryas support any sort of militarism. The armies of radical Islamism have already done their worst work in India hundreds of years ago (yes the Islamists are evil, demonic!). But India and Vaisnavism survived. Nothing can kill the soul of pure religion, for the soul is everlasting and immortal. When Kamsa's demons are roaming about they are not killed by the devotees - God kills all the sinners who persecute his devotees. And by the way, contrary to the popular belief that the "kshatriya mentality" is a mindset that is somehow included in the "Bhakti religion", if we read Caitanya Caritamrta and the discussion of Sri Caitanya with Ramananda Raya we see that Sri Caitanya himself said that devotees need to leave all the varna-ashrama mentalities behind and become REAL DEVOTEES. Materialistic people who enjoy power, playing with weapons and obedience to "Caeser" or Mammon may think they are devotees but real Bhakti is something that a gun lover remains totally unconscious of. Intelligent design? For the benefit of Iskcon devotees and related groups of individuals who think this Intelligent Design theory is somehow related to Vaisnavism, may I point out that most Vaisnavas in the world today do not believe in Intelligent Design. Indeed most Vaisnavas in the world today are Srivaisnavas and according to the greatest Srivaisnava Acarya, Sri Ramanuja Acarya, who is most certainly a Vaisnava and an Acarya (not an atheist), it is useless to try and argue with materialists and proclaim "God Exists", using logic or science or "physical evidence" or Intelligent Design theories. Ramanuja stated that even if it were possible to prove a god had created the universe, it is also possible that there are other universes created by other gods. Indeed the Srimad Bhagavatam says that there are many universes created by many gods (brahmas) and not all of these "universe creator gods" are actually favourable and devoted to Krishna. Thakura Bhaktivinode prayed, "kita-janma hau jatha tuwa dasa, bahir-mukha brahma janme nahi asa", i.e. "I want to be born as a worm in the home of a bhakta, rather than be born as a Brahma looking outwards at the world he has made". Is my point clear? The creator is an instrument of God and the creator of a universe may not necessarily be a totally divine person. Obama has spoken about religion, and expressed his view of the Christian tradition, a tradition that is the base ideology of American society. Americans in general believe in a Creator God and follow along in the Judeo/Christian tradition. But this tradition is far from divine. It is a much lower layer of spirituality than the religion of pure love that Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught. In many ways, it will be good if deep thinking people challenge the basic assumptions of Judeo/Christian beliefs. Those ancient beliefs are in many ways opposed to the teachings of the Vedas, and Sri Caitanya. Let us consider Barack Obama. Barack Obama asked, which passages of scripture should guide American public policy? Obama asked, "Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount?" Obama also said, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount was "a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our Defense Department would survive its application." I myself think Jesus was right when he said, "Blessed are the peacemakers". But will America's people and its leaders at the Defense Department ever be able to accommodate the radicalism Obama is promoting? God only knows! In conclusion: 1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  19. Saudi religious police ban pet cats and dogs <CITE class=auth>AFP - Wednesday, July 30 02:45 pm</CITE> RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's religious police have announced a ban on selling cats and dogs as pets, or walking them in public in the Saudi capital, because of men using them as a means of making passes at women, an official said on Wednesday. </NOSCRIPT> Othman al-Othman, head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in Riyadh, known as the Muttawa, told the Saudi edition of al-Hayat daily that the commission has started enforcing an old religious edict. He said the commission was implementing a decision taken a month ago by the acting governor of the capital, Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz, adding that it follows an old edict issued by the supreme council of Saudi scholars. The reason behind reinforcing the edict now was a rising fashion among some men using pets in public "to make passes on women and disturb families," he said, without giving more details. Othman said that the commission has instructed its offices in the capital to tell pet shops "to stop selling cats and dogs". The 5,000-strong religious police oversees the adherence to Wahabism -- a strict version of Sunni Islam, which also forces women to cover from head to toe when in public, and bans them from driving.
  20. krsna

    oh, Bama

    "fools electing the biggest fools to lead them straight to hell.":smash:
  21. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia... Saudi Arabia's 'aid' has contributed to the spreading of a uniform and puritanical form of Islam
  22. <table class="storycontent" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2">'Opium financed British rule in India' </td></tr><tr><td class="storybody"><!-- S BO --> <!-- S IIMA --><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="226"><tbody><tr><td> 'India was the largest opium exporter for centuries' (Photo: Sanjoy Ghosh) </td></tr></tbody></table><!-- E IIMA --> Leading Indian writer Amitav Ghosh's critically acclaimed new novel Sea of Poppies is set during a time when opium trade out of India was flourishing during British rule. The novel spans three continents and close to two centuries and is the first in a planned historical trilogy set in the 19th century. Ghosh, a trained anthropologist and historian with a doctorate from Oxford University, spoke to the BBC's Soutik Biswas on the colonial opium trade. Sea of Poppies is a historical novel. Is it the fact that the British were the world's biggest opium suppliers two centuries ago that led you into this story? I should correct you. It was not two centuries ago. Under the British Raj, an enormous amount of opium was being exported out of India until the 1920s. And no, the opium story was not really the trigger for the novel. What basically interested me when I started this book were the lives of the Indian indentured workers, especially those who left India from the Bihar region. <!-- S IBOX --><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="231"><tbody><tr><td width="5"></td><td class="sibtbg"> Before the British came, India was one of the world's great economies. For 200 years India dwindled and dwindled into almost nothing <!-- S IANC --><!-- E IANC --> <!-- S ILIN --> <!-- E ILIN --> </td></tr></tbody></table><!-- E IBOX --> But once I started researching into it, it was kind of inescapable - all the roads led back to opium. The indentured emigration [out of India] really started in the 1830s and that was [around the time of] the peak of the opium traffic. That decade culminated in the opium wars against China. Also all the indentured workers at that time came from all the opium growing regions in the Benares and Ghazipur areas. So there was such an overlap there was no escaping opium. When and how did you end up researching and learning more about the British opium trade out of India? I was looking into it as I began writing the book about five years ago. Like most Indians, I had very little idea about opium. I had no idea that India was the largest opium exporter for centuries. I had no idea that opium was essentially the commodity which financed the British Raj in India. <!-- S IIMA --> 'Opium accounted for a large part of India's economy' Photo courtesy: Wellcome Library <!-- E IIMA --> It is not a coincidence that 20 years after the opium trade stopped, the Raj more or less packed up its bags and left. India was not a paying proposition any longer. What did you discover in the course of your research? How big was the trade? Opium steadily accounted for about 17-20% of Indian revenues. If you think in those terms, [the fact that] one single commodity accounted for such an enormous part of your economy is unbelievable, extraordinary. In fact the revenues don't account for entire profits generated [out of opium trade] -there was shipping, there were so many ancillary industries around opium. How and when did opium exports out of India to China begin? The idea of exporting opium to China started with Warren Hastings (the first governor general of British India) in 1780. The situation was eerily similar to [what is happening] today. There was a huge balance of payments problem in relation to China. China was exporting enormous amounts, but wasn't interested in importing any European goods. That was when Hastings came up with idea that the only way of balancing trade was to export opium to China. In the 1780s he sent the first shipment of opium to China. It was a small shipment and they could hardly get rid of it. There wasn't much demand. [but], within 10 years, demand for opium increased by factors of magnitude. It was incredible - within a period of 10-30 years how much the opium trade spread and increased. <!-- S IIMA --><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="226"><tbody><tr><td> Afghanistan is now the biggest opium producer in the world </td></tr></tbody></table><!-- E IIMA --> In the period that Hastings started exporting opium in the 1780s until about 1809-1810, most of the opium in India was grown in the Bengal presidency (in eastern India). After that the Malwa region in western India began growing opium. Finally twice as much opium was growing in western India and there was a huge export from that region. What do you think the major princely states lived off? What kind of human devastation did opium growing wreak on the Indians? I can't say I have an accurate picture. Whether it was devastation or not we don't know. There is so little we know [about this aspect]. Some reformers were trying to stop the opium trade and we know from their petitions and letters that there was fair amount of resistance. There seem to have been a lot of difficulties for peasants - they were switching to an agricultural monoculture, and that was causing problems. With so much poppy being grown, didn't local people get addicted to it? It happened. One of the curious things I was not aware of was that there are many different ways of consuming opium. One of the ways was to eat it in a bowl. This was somehow the commonest way of taking opium in India - either eating it or dissolving it in water. <!-- S IIMA --><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="226"><tbody><tr><td> Sea of Poppies is Ghosh's seventh novel </td></tr></tbody></table><!-- E IIMA --> East of India and eastwards through China there was a different way of consuming it which was by smoking it. That was very much more addictive. It was not traditionally the case that people smoked opium in India. Opium also was a part of social life - it was offered during certain ceremonies. So it was a very complex picture. If there was any direct damage to India, it lay in the disruption of the agricultural timetable. But the damage that was done to China was incalculable. Both Indian and British history appear to have glossed over this part of colonial rule. Absolutely. Opium was the fundamental undergirding of our economy for centuries. It is strange that [even] for someone like me who studied history and knew a fair amount about Indian history, I was completely unaware of it. Why do you think that happened? I think the reason is some sort of whitewashing of the past. On the Indian side, there is a sort of shame, I suppose. Also, just a general unawareness. I mean how many people are aware that the Ghazipur opium factory [in India] continues to be one of the single largest opium producers in the world? It is without a doubt the largest legitimate opium factory in the world. Don't you find it ironic that the tables have turned in a sense with Afghanistan becoming the world's biggest opium producer with most of it sold in the affluent West? It is strange. But it's an irony in which no one can take any comfort. Opium is a destructive thing for anyone, anywhere. And it remains a potent driver of economies, at least in a place like Afghanistan.. And, before that in Burma. Sea of Poppies appears to be a scathing critique of British colonialism. Do you think colonialism has had a pretty easy ride in India and there is not enough examination of the extent of how it affected the country adversely? It's such an ironic thing. Before the British came, India was one of the world's great economies. For 200 years India dwindled and dwindled into almost nothing. Fifty years after they left we have finally begun to reclaim our place in the world. All the empirical facts show you that British rule was a disaster for India. Before the British came 25% of the world trade originated in India. By the time they left it was less than 1%. Lot of Indians believe that the British built institutions, the police, bureaucracy. I don't know what people think about when they say such things. When they talk about [the British building] modern institutions it amazes me. Was there no police force in India before the British came? Of course there was. There were darogas (policemen), there were chowkis (police stations). In fact the British took the word chowki and put it into English. So to say such things is absurd. </td></tr></tbody></table>
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