krsna

Sri Caitanya-caritamrita: one of the wonders of literary history Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami, the author of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, was a great saint and confidential disciple of Raghunatha dasa Goswami, the renowned ascetic saint who was one of the most intimate disciples of Sri Krishna Chaitanya. Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja began work on the text at a very advanced age and in failing health, as he vividly describes in the text itself: “I have now become too old and disturbed by invalidity. While writing, my hands tremble. I cannot remember anything, nor can I see or hear properly. Still I write, and this is a great wonder.” That he completed the greatest literary gem of medieval India under such debilitating conditions is surely one of the wonders of literary history.

Become happy. "Almost everyone. Ninety-nine point nine percent (99.9%) people, they want to become happy within this material world. Therefore they are poor, very, very poor. And the mahatmas, they give the knowledge that 'This is not life. This is a temporary platform.' Asasvatam, duhkhalayam asasvatam [bg. 8.15]. This is confidential knowledge. You are trying to be happy... Suppose Brahma. He lives for many millions of years. Still, it is duhkhalayam asasvatam. That life is also temporary. What is millions of years' duration of life in comparison to the eternal life? So beginning from Brahma down to the small ant, whoever is within this material world, it is to be understood their understanding is very poor. And the mahatma, being kind upon these poor souls, they deliver the same knowledge as Krishna gives. Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam.. [bg. 18.66]. This is guru's business. Do not manufacture anything. There is no question of... There is no need of manufacturing anything. Simply you speak to the suffering humanity the same thing which Krishna says. Saksad bhagavata uditam. This is the business of guru." (Srila Prabhupada lecture, Vrndavana, August 11, 1974)

<TABLE class=storycontent cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>'Witch' family killed in India </TD></TR><TR><TD class=storybody><!-- S BO --><!-- S IBYL --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=466 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=bottom>By Subir Bhaumik BBC News, Calcutta </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <!-- E IBYL --> <!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=226 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> 'Witch killings' are common among some tribespeople </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --><!-- S SF --> Four members of a family have been stoned to death by angry villagers in India's north-eastern state of Assam on charges of practising witchcraft. Police said that the four, including two women, were possibly buried alive. The killings in a remote village involved Santhal tribal people, known popularly in Assam as the 'Tea Tribes'. Such killings are common among immigrant tribespeople whose ancestors were brought to work the tea gardens in West Bengal and Assam by the British. <!-- E SF --> They are mostly common in the communities of Santhal, Oraon and Munda tribespeople. 'Evil spell' One of the victims, Lakhan Majhi, 65, was asked to face a "public trial" on Tuesday evening at Koilajuli Milanpur village in Assam. Hundreds of his neighbours blamed him for casting an evil spell on a villager who died after getting sick. <!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=226 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --> Then Majhi, his wife, son and daughter-in-law were brutally attacked with stones and bricks. Police said the four were dragged to a nearby jungle and buried alive. More than 500 people have been killed in Assam - and half as many in neighbouring West Bengal - in the past few years because their neighbours thought they were witches. A study on these killings by a Bengal police officer, Asit Baran Choudhury, suggests that most of those accused of practising witchcraft and then killed are "isolated families" with some landed property. He says most of those killed are widows. "Powerful people in the community target them to acquire the land," says the study. But in some cases, whole families are killed because they have challenged the authority of the community elders. Police say that was perhaps the motive behind the attack on the Majhis in Assam's Milanpur village on Tuesday. Villages such as Milanpur have little education and healthcare provision, lack electricity and safe drinking water, and face rampant disease.<!-- E BO --> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Only a pure Vaisnava Guru can give the pure Holy Name suddha-nama.

Great statements cutting through all mis-conceptions...

Diksa is how Krishna reveals Himself to the sincere devotee. That's a nice clear succinct definition!

Best to put shvu on your ignore list! Also report him to the admin 5 for bad posts. Pray for him that Krsna may take away his burning hatred and envy of the Vaisnavas.

Origin Of The Soul Of Alfred "Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) people assembled here on these forums ; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be."

“We are neither renouncer nor enjoyer, we are simply servitor of Krishna. Please follow this principle and you will be never disturbed in any frightened condition offered by the maya.” - Srila Prabhupada, letter to Gargamuni, November 22, 1968

Save me “I surrender. You may do whatever you like with me. I am the worst of sinners. What to do with me now is in your hands. You, Savior, I have come to you. If there is any possibility—save me. This is my open appeal, my one-sided appeal.” This sort of self-abnegation will automatically cleanse our hearts. By this attitude of saranagati, or surrender, we invite the greatest attention from above. Saranagati, surrender, is the only way to be reinstated in our lost prospect.” ~ from Sri Guru and His Grace by Swami B.R. Sridhar

The Service of the Holy Name The service of holy dham frees one from the jaws of Illusion, the terribly wrong theory that a jiva or creature is himself God and Master, and that there is no existence, except in the human imagination, of the holy Name, Form, Attributes, Pastimes and Paraphernalia of Godhead. The service of Krishna's Desire saves one from the hand of the great foe of hankering for one's own sensuous gratification. One is thereby freed from serving the earthly passions and may be installed in the service of the Desire of the Transcendental Despot, in the singing of the saving hymn of transcendental love. ~ from Testimony of Love by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada

[Question:] How does a disciple relate with his guru once he has entered in aprakata-lila (the guru's entrance into the eternal pastimes of Krsna in the spiritual world)? Like Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's disciples, those who took initiation when he was still physically present. How can they relate with him since he is now in aprakata-lila?

<HR style="COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message --> In Jaiva Dharma Chapter 20 Prameya: -Abhidheya-Vaidhi sadhana bhakti on page 482: Vijaya: "What does it mean to perform guru seva with faith?" Babaji: One should not consider Sri Gurudeva to be a mortal or an ordinary jiva. Rather one should understand him to be the representative of all the devas (sarva-devamaya). One should never disobey him, and one should always know him to be Vaikuntha-tattva. on p.479: Babaji:"The qualities of a sad guru (bona fide guru) and the sat-sisya (bona fide disciple) are given in detail in the Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa. (1.23.64. the essence is that only a person with pure character and sraddha is qualified to become a sisya, and only that person who is endowed with suddha-bhakti,who knows bhakti-tattva, and is of spotless character, simple, without greed, free from mayavada philosophy, and expert in all devotional activities is qualified as sad-guru."

Initiation ceremony on Nrsimha-caturdasi 2008 in New Vraja-dhama, Hungary given by HH Sivarama Swami Maharaja Initiation doesn’t mean we join a personality cult: it represents the disciplic succession, Krishna, and the institution of ISKCON. The inclusion of the institution is not a modern addition: the spiritual master represents the guru parampara, but here the additional aspect is the institution that Srila Prabhupada founded. Spreading the Krishna conscious message obviously wasn’t going to happen in a village: it only spread throughout the world with the cooperation of the guru-parampara. Jiva Goswami is the siddhanta-acarya, and he wrote that an institution was necessary for spreading Krishna consciousness. The varna-asrama system has degraded due to the absence of kings to maintain it. A religious institution doesn’t have as much power as it had in the hands of the kings. Structure means rules, regulations, goals, and heirarchy: on this basis, the movement can spread. Srila Prabhupada showed that even mlecchas, within the shelter of an institution, can achieve more than the great brahmanas. This institution represents the only formula for success for preaching Vaisnavism in Kali-yuga. Initiation means we become official “card carrying members” of the Krishna consciousness movement. We should not bring the institution down to our material vision but appreciate it’s transcendental nature. As devotees take more and more responsibility for spreading Krishna consciousness, it becomes more and more manifest to them. What is our responsibility to this movement? Tamal Krishna Goswami used to say that we should think that “maybe everyone else might leave this movement and I’m the only one left, but I will still continue Srila Prabhupada’s mission.” Srila Prabhupada said if you work selflessly for Krishna, even if you can’t remember Him at that time, He will remember you.

SIMILES AND METAPHORS Similes 1. As bold as brass. 2. As hard as nails. 3. As bright as a button. 4. As daft as a brush. 5. As dry as a bone. 6. As proud as a peacock. 7. “The desires of the heart are as crooked as corkscrews.” (W. H. Auden.) 8. “…as happy as the grass was green.” (Dylan Thomas, “Fernhill.”) 9. “…love is like a ghost.” (Coventry Patmore.) 10. “motherhood peels me bare like a willow wand some small child scrapes in the road or throws in the pond.” (Glenda Beagan.) Metaphors 1. “Property is theft.” (Proudhon.) 2. Computers are the vehicles of tomorrow. 3. “All the world’s a stage.” (Shakespeare.) 3. It’s a dog’s life. 4. “The parks are the lungs of London.” (William Pitt.) 5. “I’m deep in a goldfish bowl.” (Stereophnics, “goldfish bowl.”) 6. Life’s a bitch. 7. God is love. 8. “Man is Nature’s sole mistake.” (W. S. Gilbert.) 9. “Home is the girl’s prison and the woman’s workhouse.” (G. B. Shaw.) 10. “My heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.” (Fiona McLeod.)

Hindu Council UK White Paper on Caste Source: http://www.hinducounciluk.org/newsite/report/hcuk_thecastsystemreport.pdf LONDON, ENGLAND, June 9, 2008: An informative paper has been produced by Raj Pandit Sharma for the Hindu Council UK. It is available as a PDF file at the URL above. Following is the introduction. The caste system or varnashram has been one of the most distorted, perplexing, misunderstood, exploited and maligned aspects of Hinduism. This report is not a justification of the abuse of caste system; rather it is a factual account of the subject, a systematic analysis of how it has become adulterated and the reparative measures necessary to correct such distortion in the social arena, thereby eliminating unjustified discrimination and abuse. The inequalities of the modern caste system and the fissures in Hindu society resulting from it are too well known to elaborate. The caste system is so pervasive that it has become a feature in the life of all religious groups living in India. This report will investigate the following five mistaken assumptions commonly made in connection with the Hindu caste system: - 1. Caste is an institution of the Hindu religion, wholly peculiar to that religion alone 2. Caste consists primarily of a fourfold classification of people in general under the heads of Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, and that Dalits are not even part of this system 3. Caste is perpetual and immutable, having been transmitted from generation to generation throughout the ages of Hindu history without the possibility of change 4. Dalit Hindus who convert to other faiths become emancipated, experiencing equality and social mobility 5. The Hindu caste system is akin to hidden apartheid and slavery and should be abolished To learn why all these points are misconceptions, above.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada Speaks out: "Krsna is most compassionate and one day He will shower His mercy upon us. We have to pray to the holy name, and He will certainly bestow His mercy on us.":pray:

The Holy Name Incarnation, the Hare KRSNA Maha Mantra, is truly a great wonder. How does Sri KRSNA wonderfully manifest Himself as Sri Hari NAMA? Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada Speaks out: "Krsna is most compassionate and one day He will shower His mercy upon us. We have to pray to the holy name, and He will certainly bestow His mercy on us."

This is the nectar of life! More, please give me more. Only such words of hope of everlasting freshness possible by the holy utterances coming from the lotus lips of pure bhaktas of Lord Sri KRSNA can we know of anything coming from KRSNA's spiritual realm.

"Why pretend there is some mystery that one needs an embodied guru to explain it to you." O My God! What a statement from our dear old friend Theist! Isn't this throwing out the baby with the bath water? Have we bought into this becasuse we live in the so-called modern era that we can dismiss the eternal sad-guru who appears in front of our eyes and senses as conditioned souls to impart tattva-jnana? Is not the knowledge of KRSNA confidential, mystical and hence a mystery to the conditioned soul who needs a embodied (spiritualized body) Guru to reveal the truth of KRSNA to him?

Know it that I am eternally your guide, but if you don’t accept me as your guide what can I do? Unfortunately, if my disciples do not take my guidance, what can I do? By bad association it so happens, so I remain silent. I see the pricks of maya. You mentioned that your pathway has become filled with stumbling blocks, but there are no stumbling blocks, I can kick out all those stumbling blocks immediately, provided you accept my guidance. With one stroke of my kick I can kick out all stumbling blocks. (letter to Krishna das - September 9, 1972)