krsna

Quote from gHari: Whatever Gets in the Way of Krsna, Must be Destroyed 07/23/04 If the 'cult' gets in your way, then Krsna will destroy that hold on you, whether that means destroying the organization or destroying your position in the organization. <font color="red"> Krsna will not let you continue to cheat yourself forever. </font color> /images/graemlins/blush.gif

Once upon a time, seeing that her maidservant was engaged in different household duties, mother Yasoda personally took charge of churning butter. And while she churned butter, she sang the childhood pastimes of Krsna and enjoyed thinking of her son. The end of her sari was tightly wrapped while she churned, and on account of her intense love for her son, milk automatically dripped from her breasts which moved as she labored very hard, churning with two hands. The bangles and bracelets on her hands tinkled as they touched each other, and her earrings and breasts shook. There were drops of perspiration on her face, and the flower garland which was on her head scattered here and there. Before this picturesque sight, Lord Krsna appeared as a child. He felt hungry, and out of love for His mother, He wanted her to stop churning. He indicated that her first business was to let Him suck her breast and then churn butter later. Mother Yasoda took her son on her lap and pushed the nipples of her breasts into His mouth. And while Krsna was sucking the milk, she was smiling, enjoying the beauty of her child's face. Suddenly, the milk which was on the oven began to boil over. Just to stop the milk from spilling, mother Yasoda at once put Krsna aside and went to the oven. Left in that state by His mother, Krsna became very angry, and His lips and eyes became red in rage. He pressed His teeth and lips, and taking up a piece of stone, He immediately broke the butter pot. He took butter out of it, and with false tears in His eyes, He began to eat the butter in a secluded place. In the meantime, mother Yasoda returned to the churning place after setting the overflowing milk pan in order. She saw the broken pot in which the churning yogurt was kept. Since she could not find her boy, she concluded that the broken pot was His work. She began to smile as she thought, "The child is very clever. After breaking the pot He has left this place, fearing punishment." After she sought all over, she found a big wooden grinding mortar which was kept upside down, and she found her son sitting on it. He was taking butter which was hanging from the ceiling on a swing, and He was feeding it to the monkeys. She saw Krsna looking this way and that way in fear of her because He was conscious of His naughty behavior. After seeing her son so engaged, she very silently approached Him from behind. Krsna, however, quikly saw her coming at Him with a stick in her hand, and immediately He got down from the grinding mortar and began to flee in fear. Mother Yasoda chased Him to all corners, trying to capture the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is never approached even by the meditations of great yogis. In other words, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, who is never caught by the yogis and speculators, was playing just like a little child for a great devotee like mother Yasoda. Mother Yasoda, however, could not easily catch the fast-running child because of her thin waist and heavy body. Still she tried to follow Him as fast as possible. Her hair loosened, and the flower in her hair fell to the ground. Although she was tired, she somehow reached her naughty child and captured Him. When He was caught, Krsna was almost on the point of crying. He smeared His hands over His eyes, which were anointed with black eye cosmetics. The child saw His mother's face while she stood over Him, and His eyes became restless from fear. Mother Yasoda could understand that Krsna was unnecessarily afraid, and for His benefit she wanted to allay His fears. Being the topmost well-wisher of her child, mother Yasoda began to think, "If the child is too fearful of me, I don't know what will happen to Him." Mother Yasoda then threw away her stick. In order to punish Him, she thought to bind His hands with some ropes. She did not know it, but it was actually impossible for her to bind the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mother Yasoda was thinking that Krsna was her tiny child; she did not know that the child had no limitation. There is no inside or outside of Him, nor beginning or end. He is unlimited and all-pervading. Indeed, He is Himself the whole cosmic manifestation. Still, mother Yasoda was thinking of Krsna as her child. Although He is beyond the reach of all senses, she endeavored to bind Him up to a wooden grinding mortar. But when she tried to bind Him, she found that the rope she was using was too short--by two inches. She gathered more ropes from the house and added to it, but at the end she found the same shortage. In this way, she connected all the ropes available at home, but when the final knot was added, she saw that it was still two inches too short. Mother Yasoda was smiling, but she was astonished. How was it happening? In attempting to bind her son, she became tired. She was perspiring, and the garland on her head fell down. Then Lord Krsna appreciated the hard labor of His mother, and being compassionate upon her, He agreed to be bound up by the ropes. Krsna, playing as a human child in the house of mother Yasoda, was performing His own selected pastimes. Of course, no one can control the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The pure devotee surrenders himself unto the lotus feet of the Lord, who may either protect or vanquish the devotee. But for his part, the devotee never forgets his own position of surrender. Similarly, the Lord also feels transcendental pleasure by submitting Himself to the protection of the devotee. This was exemplified by Krsna's surrender unto His mother, Yasoda. Krsna is the supreme bestower of all kinds of liberation to His devotees, but the benediction which was bestowed upon mother Yasoda was never experienced even by Lord Brahma or Lord Siva or the goddess of fortune. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as the son of Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja, is never so completely known to the yogis and speculators. But He is easily available to His devotees. Nor is He appreciated as the supreme reservoir of all pleasure by the yogis and speculators. After binding her son, mother Yasoda engaged herself in household affairs. At that time, bound up to the wooden mortar, Krsna could see a pair of trees before Him which were known as arjuna trees. The great reservoir of pleasure, Lord Sri Krsna, thus thought to Himself, "Mother Yasoda first of all left without feeding Me sufficient milk, and therefore I broke the pot of yogurt and distributed the stock butter in charity to the monkeys. Now she has bound Me up to a wooden mortar. So I shall do something more mischievous than before." And thus He thought of pulling down the two very tall arjuna trees. ----Krsna Book

The Golden Stone Pot A wealthy landlord called upon a goldsmith in his village and requested him while giving him a lump of pure gold, You are to make a nice pot for my milk with this gold. You should not make it in any way impure by mixing any kind of alloy in it. The goldsmith agreed, Yes sir, and went away with the gold-lump. Thus getting a lump of pure gold in his possession, the goldsmith was tempted to steal it. However, he apprehended that he would be punished by the landlord if he cheated him entirely, so he made up a plan to prepare a stone-pot and gold-plate it so that he would not be accused of stealing the gold. When the goldsmith took the gold-plated stone pot to the landlord, the landlord asked him in great astonishment, What is this thing you have brought? The goldsmith replied, O sir! This is a golden pot. I have made it with hard labour. The landlord said, Are you joking? This is a stone pot! The goldsmith told him, O sir, this is a 'golden' stone pot. PURPORT Those who consider casteism among the Vaisnavas, classifying them as brahmana-Vaisnavas, ksatriya-Vaisnavas, vaisya-Vaisnavas, sudra-Vaisnavas, or as candala-Vaisnavas, simply indulge in a speculative inference as "golden" stone pot. Either one should be considered as `Vaisnava', or as brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, or sudra. Either one should call it a `golden pot', or a `stone pot.' Mango-cake (amsatva) must be prepared from mango itself, and no one can call something `mango cake' if it is made of `jackfruit' (knathaler amsatva). Similarly, it would be wrong terminology to ascribe the quality of a sudra to a Vaisnava. Whenever one is accepted to be a `Vaisnava', then it is confirmed that he does not belong to any mundane social classification such as brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra or low-born candala and the like, nor even Hindu or non-Hindu. Any terminology such as `Hindu-Vaisnava' or `Yavana-Vaisnava' is utterly absurd and also offensive.

DISTRIBUTING SRI CAITANYA CARITAMRTA The pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu are the topmost of jewels. They have been kept in the storehouse of Svarüpa Dämodara Goswami, who has explained them to Raghunätha däsa Goswami, who has repeated them to me. Whatever little I have heard from Raghunätha däsa Goswami I have described in this book, which is presented to all devotees The direct disciple of Srila Krsnadasa Kaviräja Goswami was Srila Narottama däsa Thakura, who accepted Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti as his servitor. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura accepted Srila Jagannätha däsa Babaji, who initiated Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who in turn initiated Srila Gaurakisora däsa Babaji, the spiritual master of Om Vishnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvati Goswami Mahäräja, the divine master of our humble self. Since we belong to this chain of disciplic succession from Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu, this edition of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta will contain nothing newly manufactured by our tiny brains, but only remnants of food originally eaten by the Lord Himself. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu does not belong to the mundane plane of the three qualitative modes. He belongs to the transcendental plane beyond the reach of the imperfect sense perception of a living being. Even the most erudite mundane scholar cannot approach the transcendental plane unless he submits himself to transcendental sound with a receptive mood, for in that mood only can one realize the message of Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu. What will be described herein, therefore, has nothing to do with the experimental thoughts created by the speculative habits of inert minds. The subject matter of this book is not a mental concoction but a factual spiritual experience that one can realize only by accepting the line of disciplic succession described above. Any deviation from that line will bewilder the reader's understanding of the mystery of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, which is a transcendental literature meant for the postgraduate study of one who has realized all the Vedic scriptures such as the Upanishads and Vedanta-sutra and their natural commentaries such as Srimad-Bhägavatam and the Bhagavad-gita. This edition of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta is presented for the study of sincere scholars who are really seeking the Absolute Truth. It is not the arrogant scholarship of a mental speculator but a sincere effort to serve the order of a superior authority whose service is the life and soul of this humble effort (CC Madya-lila 2:84-87) If one patiently hears about the glories of Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu, Sri Nityänanda Prabhu and Sri Advaita Prabhu-and Their devotees, devotional activities, names, fame, and the mellows of Their transcendental loving exchanges-one will learn the essence of the Absolute Truth. Therefore I have described these [in the Caitanya-caritamrta] with logic and discrimination. Praying at the lotus feet of Sri Rüpa and Sri Raghunätha, always desiring their mercy, I, Krsnadasa, narrate Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, following in their footsteps. (Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami- CC Adi-lila 1:108-110) Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

Politically Correct Holiday Greetings "Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or the secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious or secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. "May you have a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2005, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped to make the World great and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, political belief, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee. "By accepting this greeting you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or himself or others, is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and the warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher."

Swami philosophical about amputation by Bhakti Tirtha Swami Posted December 26, 2004 Some of the devotees have written and called me inquiring about what my present existence looks like at this time. I guess they are reflecting on how I used to maintain a schedule of having four to six preaching engagements in a day, I rarely ate more than once in a day and rarely slept up to six hours. Anyway, that's another lifetime ago. Now I try if possible to eat three times in a day; most times I do not have much appetite because of underlying nausea. I think I now have a handle of what works best with my sugar diabetes. Now I eat twice and have a light snack in the evening. As far as sleeping, I doze and wake up every hour or so, either from the shaking and pain from the cancer in the foot, the high fever at night, or from my accelerated prostate problem, which has got worse since the cancer. Now I find myself painfully passing urine every hour and a half. Most nights, due to high fever, I am constantly wiping my body off to avoid lying in a puddle of sweat. In the mornings, getting to the bathroom is most difficult, since I am not able to walk now, but I bounce on a walker. Doing things like brushing my teeth, shaving and showering is so tiring that I have to constantly pause to catch my breath to avoid seemingly fainting. On another note, each morning I receive great blessing through the mercy of H.H. Purusottama Maharaja. Several months ago when he was in Washington, D.C, he gave me the most sublime package that included a very special cloth, oils, prasadam from Mayapur Deities and rice directly from Jagannatha Puri. I especially take one grain of rice each day to remind me that all the other medicines and treatments are secondary to Lord Nrsimhadeva and Jagannatha's mercy. I chant my japa; of course, this is later in the morning. Each day I try to listen to a tape of one of the leaders as a way to get your association and to feel like I am still in the battlefield with you, then I start my IV's which go on and off during the day, in addition to other medications. Most of the day I am lying on my back in bed; later in the day I am also on my back, but reclining on the couch. During the day, I have different devotees to read to me. I do very little reading and answering of emails, and of course when I can, I am receiving your phone calls. Every moment that I can grab, I pray to Srila Prabhupada (even though my discomfort seems more than I can bear) that he please continue to allow me to experience whatever is necessary for my own purification and for the benefit of the Society. Now that I have taken time to explain about my situation, when we communicate on the phone or other means there will be little need to talk about my bodily condition, but we can look deeper to discuss our realizations and ways that we can better serve each other in the mission of Srila Prabhupada. I have no idea what the near future holds for me, but I am simply praying that, with all of your prayers, the ultimate outcome of my present situation will be for Srila Prabhupada's satisfaction and pleasure. Sometime after the amputation when I am more stabilized I will send a personal update. Again I must thank all of you for moving with me through this difficult journey. I guess this is a part of what real Spiritual Community is for. The amputation was scheduled for Thursday, December 23rd at a hospital in Washington, D.C. As always, your prayers are very much appreciated. I am most grateful for all your encouraging and loving letters. Many years ago at the Mayapur festival, Srila Prabhupada called the leaders to his room and asked them to pray for me. Jayapataka Maharaja wrote about this in his congregational preaching magazine. At that time I was Ghanashyama brahmacari; I was distributing Srila Prabhupada's books and taking many risks in Communist countries. Jayapataka Maharaja mentioned that the leaders said: "Srila Prabhupada, your prayers and blessings are more than sufficient." Srila Prabhupada replied, "No, Krsna will respond to the prayers of the Vaisnavas." Obviously this was Srila Prabhupada's humility. My understanding was that Srila Prabhupada was also empowering the leaders as they came together to do service. As everyone knows, I am a utilitarian as well as an opportunist, so I am seeing an opportunity here. I will be praying to Srila Prabhupada and Krsna to allow this amputation to help me to deepen my own spiritual life, and to free me of unnecessary attachments. I will also ask Srila Prabhupada to please allow the pain from all the hurt and disappointments that I may have caused any devotee, including ISKCON leaders, to go into the foot that will be amputated. I hope this will allow us to open up a bright chapter in our spiritual lives. This prayer particularly includes the Gurukulis. Actually, I am requesting that we all see how to forgive those who have hurt us, not to forget, but to learn from the past, while we look forward to a brighter future. This is also a special time for me to ask forgiveness from those whom I have offended or agitated by my style of serving Srila Prabhupada. We do not know the outcome of this operation, whether it will be successful, or how many months or years it wlll add to my life. Some of the present astrological evaluations from the devotees, are suggesting that I will probably get better for a while, but up and down for sometime, then later this year I will most likely depart. Of course we all know that ultimately the final decision is up to Srila Prabhupada and Krsna. Srila Prabhupada himself said, "Krsna considers the prayers of His devotees." Personally, I am prepared to accept any outcome as an expression of Srila Prabhupada's love.

What a classic !!! : Here's a story from Fiji, recounted in Bhurijana prabhu's "My Glorious Master": Guru-kripa Swami sat a Prabhupada's feet and asked Prabhupada a pointed question: Prabhupada, what about some devotees who are not intersted in book distribution? These devotees don't seem to be carrying the mood of their spiritual master. They are not into preaching, but instead get into other projects, like farms." Prabhupada replied firmly, <font color="blue"> "Do you think the spiritual master is a dumb stone who cannot instruct different disciples in different ways?" </font color> /images/graemlins/blush.gif

Do we each need to go out and get a cow in order for us not to be hypocrites? Do as I say but don't do as I do? That is:Preach Cow Protection but continue to support the modern dairy industry directly or indirectly? Of course ,we are are not advocating that the ISKCON temples are supporting cow slaughter by continuing to purchare milk from the shop. What we should be doing is plan a way that there be ahimsa milk more readily avaiable for the temples. I think a few temples in ISKCON are self-sufficient in that regard,at least for the milk that is offered to the Deities on the altar.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4125481.stm

Arafat had millions in global investments Interests included tech groups, bowling alley Posted: Dec. 24, 2004 In 35 years as Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat raised billions of dollars. He spent the fortune to wield power, to pay militants who attacked Israel and to invest in the United States and the Middle East. Advertisement Arafat used a holding company to buy stakes that ranged from $285 million in Egyptian mobile-phone company Orascom Telecom Holding SAE and its affiliates to some $30 million in private equity, mostly in the U.S. These included $3.2 million in Simplexity Inc., of Herndon, Va., which makes electronic-commerce software; $2.1 million in Vaultus Inc., based in New York and Boston, which makes software for wireless computers; and $1.3 million in Strike Holdings LLC, which owns the Bowlmor Lanes bowling alley in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Arafat, who died Nov. 11 at age 75, disclosed $799 million of investments in documents the Palestinian Authority has released over the past two years that show he didn’t just invest in building basic services in the West Bank and Gaza. At a time when the authority was starved for funds, Arafat’s money managers placed bets from Tel Aviv to Silicon Valley on venture capital funds, software start-ups and telecommunications companies. “Arafat was notoriously secretive, and he spread the money all over,” says Rachel Ehrenfeld, director of the American Center for Democracy and author of “Funding Evil: How Terrorism Is Financed and How to Stop It.” “He didn’t give the public a view of the investments until the donor community protested about corruption.” Venture capital investments Arafat and his money managers invested abroad through Palestine Commercial Services Co., a holding company owned by the Palestinian Authority. Arafat controlled PCSC through his financial adviser, Mohamed Rachid, according to Palestinian legislators Hanan Ashrawi and Azmi Shuaibi. Arafat appointed Rachid as PCSC’s chairman, a June 2004 World Bank report shows. In 2002, Arafat handed control of Palestine Commercial Services to a new Palestine Investment Fund, which then hired Standard & Poor’s, a New York division of McGraw-Hill Cos., to value the investments. In May 2004, the fund released its first annual report, which covered 2003 and was audited by the Amman, Jordan, office of Ernst & Young, a member of New York-based Ernst & Young International. The report showed the Palestine Investment Fund had net income of $40.1 million in 2003 on revenue of $85.1 million. The report also revealed Palestine Commercial Services held a $6.8 million account of venture capital investments at New York-based Citigroup Inc. “Citigroup does not have any accounts for Yasser Arafat, and we never have,” company spokeswoman Shannon Bell said in a Nov. 19 statement. Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Charles Prince, 55, declined to answer questions about the account. There is no indication that Citigroup was aware that Arafat controlled Palestine Commercial Services. As chairman since 1969 of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Arafat controlled another set of investments and bank accounts, valued in 2002 at $500 million by Israeli army intelligence. In the U.S., Arafat’s money managers set up Delaware holding companies for the sole purpose of making investments for Palestine Commercial Services, says Zeid Masri, 38, an American of Palestinian heritage who handled some of the investments and is managing partner of SilverHaze Partners LLC. Palestinian connection McLean, Va.-based SilverHaze manages an undisclosed amount of money for wealthy families, says Masri, who’s distantly related to two of the seven directors on the Palestine Investment Fund’s board. To invest in Strike Holdings, which owns Bowlmor Lanes in Greenwich Village and bowling alleys in Miami, Bethesda, Md., and New York’s Long Island, Masri says he created a holding company called Onyx Funds LLC. Onyx, which is 100% owned by Palestine Commercial Services, was incorporated on June 1, 2002, in Delaware. Its only holding is the $1.3 million of Strike Holding shares. Masri says the investment came about because he was a classmate of Strike Holdings founder Thomas Shannon at the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. SilverHaze Partners has also invested in Strike Holdings, Masri says. Shannon didn’t return phone calls requesting comment. “We were shocked,” Marcia Horowitz, a spokeswoman for Strike Holdings and Bowlmor Lanes, said in a statement about the investment. “This information was never disclosed to us previously. Had we known the source of these funds, which represent approximately two percent of our company’s equity, we would never have accepted them. We have instructed our attorneys to sever the relationship with SilverHaze immediately and return the money.”

"THE BEST SERVICE TO OUR BROTHER IS TO AWAKEN HIS KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS" It is so kind of you that you are interested in the publication of Srimad-Bhagavatam for the good of the entire human society. May Krishna bless you for your magnanimous philanthropy for the human society. There are many philanthropists and humanitarianists, but the best philanthropist is he who can award the people in general Krishna Consciousness. Actually the sufferings of the whole world or the entire universe in the material condition, is due to lack of Krishna Consciousness. Therefore, the best service to our brother is to awaken Krishna Consciousness. Your judgment is that because you think that you cannot take part in the translation work, therefore, you have decided to contribute for its publication. This dictation from within your heart from Krishna is quite in order. For serving the Lord, we require to sacrifice our life, our wealth, our intelligence, and our words. One can serve the Lord with these four possessions; if not, with three, if not, then with two or even one, and that is sufficient to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I wish that you can utilize your best talents in business organization and the result utilize for Krishna's satisfaction. That is on the absolute platform. To make the idea more clear, if I am translating Srimad-Bhagavatam, and if you are contributing for its publication and helping for its distribution, this means there is no difference between your service and my service. In the absolute platform there is no such distinction. And service is always on the absolute platform. One has to make the best use of his talent for the service of Krishna. That is wanted. I am pleased also that Bhavananda, Palika Dasi and Prabhavati Dasi are all working so sincerely and steadfastly to promote this Sankirtana Movement, and surely Caitanya Mahaprabhu will bestow His full blessings upon all of you. This is a qualification of activities in Krishna Consciousness that if one renders even a small amount of sincere devotional service, Krishna becomes obliged to elevate such person; and what to speak of one whose entire life and soul has been dedicated to Krishna's service. So continue to push on as you are now doing and as far as possible distribute our books and magazines. Now that our press is ready in Boston, we have more than one dozen books which are ready to be printed, so with your help I wish to overflood the marketplaces with our literatures. Now people are reading all kinds of nonsense books, and thus their reading capacity is helping to pave their way through the circles of birth and death. If they will simply take to reading this transcendental literature we are presenting, the same reading capacity will elevate them to the highest perfection of spiritual life. So this is a very important task we are doing, and all of you push forward in Colorado with increased enthusiasm. (Letters from Srila Prabhupada 6/7/68, 11/6/69) The innumerable, glorious followers of Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu brought a constant flood to the desertlike hearts of the unfortunate with an inundation of ecstatic love. All glories to Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahäprabhu, the most merciful incarnation! All glories to Lord Nityänanda, whose heart is always compassionate! (Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami- CC Antya-lila 9:1,2) Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

"The killing of cows by human society is one of the grossest suicidal policies, and those who are anxious to cultivate the human spirit must turn their attention first toward the question of cow protection." SB 10.5.7 Purport -------------------------- So this is the point :neglect the cow means to neglect your spiritual life. Think: Every time you drink milk from the dairy industry that mistreats and slaughters cows. You are ,in fact, willingly commiting suicide. And then there is no wonder that we cannot provide a peaceful, hamonious alternative to community living when we are not willing to put mother cow in her proper place: next to Krsna. "For the cowherd men and the cows, Krsna is the supreme friend. Therefore He is worshiped by the prayer namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca. His pastimes in Gokula, His dhama, are always favorable to the brahmanas and the cows. His first business is to give all comfort to the cows and the brahmanas. <font color="red"> In fact, comfort for the brahmanas is secondary, and comfort for the cows is His first concern </font color> ." /images/graemlins/blush.gif Srila Prabhupada purport

F YOU DEDICATE YOUR LIFE TO THE SERVICE OF KRSNA, DON'T YOU THINK THAT LORD JESUS CHRIST WILL BE PLEASED? ...I am very glad to learn that you are feeling very strongly for Jesus Christ. You have already mentioned the exemplary character of Lord Jesus Christ that he sacrificed everything for God. This example should be taken. The process should be to follow the example, not to imitate the exact activities. For example, Lord Jesus Christ wanted to preach amongst some persons who were practically against the principle of accepting God as the Supreme, and the result was that these people crucified him. At the present moment, the world situation is more dangerous than before. People have become actually Godless. So if you follow the footsteps of Lord Jesus Christ to preach God-consciousness against Godlessness and dedicate your life in that way, that will be the real purpose of following Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ revealed that he was the son of God, and Krishna revealed that He is God Himself, the Supreme Father of all living entities. So if you dedicate your life to the service of Krishna, the Supreme Father, don't you think that Lord Jesus Christ will be pleased with this? At the present moment we have to preach in an enlightened society. So Krishna Consciousness has got inexhaustible treasurehouse of philosophy, logic and science to convince people about God-consciousness. So if you are actually serious about following the footsteps of Lord Jesus Christ, you should take advantage of the great philosophical background of this Krishna Consciousness Movement and make people God-conscious, dedicating your life. One should try to make progress. One should not try to remain satisfied at a point which awaits further advancement. For example, the Commandment says ``Thou shalt not kill''. This means one should be non-violent. This is a good principle, but in the actual field, for want of sufficient knowledge, even this Commandment is being misinterpreted and misused. In the Bhagavad-gita you will find there are 20 items for advancing in knowledge. Perhaps you have read in the 13th Chapter. Out of the 20 items, this non-violence items is one. But devotional service is so potent, that if one is engaged in devotional service to Krishna, automatically all good qualifications are there. Thus, from the practical point of view you can see the distinction between our disciples and any other group of religious faith. We do not indulge in illicit sex-life, which includes not to covet with another's wife or daughter; We do not eat meat, and that means automatically we are non-violent. We do not indulge in intoxication, and that means we are sane in considering things in their true perspective. So you have got advantage of reading our many books for advancement of knowledge. The best thing will be for you to engage your time more in Sankirtana Party and reading our Krishna Consciousness literature... I know you are a sincere, so try to understand everything very clearly. (Letter from Srila Prabhupada 12/8/69) O best of the great personalities, I am not at all afraid of material existence, for wherever I stay I am fully absorbed in thoughts of Your glories and activities. My concern is only for the fools and rascals who are making elaborate plans for material happiness and maintaining their families, societies and countries. I am simply concerned with love for them....I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Krsna consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy. Therefore I wish to bring them back to shelter at Your lotus feet. (Prahlada Maharaja- SB 7:9:43-44) Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

Text of Pope's Christmas Day message Saturday, December 25, 2004 Posted: 6:43 AM EST (1143 GMT) Pope John Paul II delivers his Christmas homily in which he stresses reconciliation and peace. VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -- Here is the official English translation of Pope John Paul's "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) Christmas message on Saturday. The message was the shortest it has been in his 27 Christmas seasons, a concession to the Parkinson's disease which makes it difficult for him to speak. 1. "Christus natus est nobis, venite, adoremus!" Christ is born for us: come, let us adore him! On this solemn day we come to you, tender Babe of Bethlehem. By your birth you have hidden your divinity in order to share our frail human nature. In the light of faith, we acknowledge you as true God, made man out of love for us. You alone are the Redeemer of mankind! 2. Before the crib where you lie helpless, let there be an end to the spread of violence in its many forms, the source of untold suffering; let there be an end to the numerous situations of unrest which risk degenerating into open conflict; let there arise a firm will to seek peaceful solutions, respectful of the legitimate aspirations of individuals and peoples. 3. Babe of Bethlehem, Prophet of peace, encourage attempts to promote dialogue and reconciliation, sustain the efforts to build peace, which hesitantly, yet not without hope, are being made to bring about a more tranquil present and future for so many of our brothers and sisters in the world. I think of Africa, of the tragedy of Darfur in Sudan, of Ivory Coast and of the Great Lakes Region. With great apprehension I follow the situation in Iraq. And how can I fail to look with anxious concern, but also invincible confidence, towards that Land of which you are a son? He who bestows the Kingdom of heaven does not take away human kingdoms. Hasten to meet him; he comes to teach us the way of truth, peace and love."

THE BETTER PROGRAMMER Jesus and Satan were having an argument as to who was the better programmer. This went on for a few hours until they agreed to hold a contest with God as the judge. They sat at their computers and began. They typed furiously for several hours, lines of code streaming up on the screen. Seconds before the end of the competition, a bolt of lightning struck, taking out the electricity. Moments later, the power was restored, and God announced that the contest was over. He asked Satan to show what he had come up with. Satan was visibly upset, and cried, "I have nothing! I lost it all when the power went out." "Very well, then," God said, "Let us see if Jesus did any better." Jesus entered a command, and the screen came to life in vivid display, the voices of an angelic choir poured forth from the speakers. Satan was astonished. He stuttered, "But how?! I lost everything, yet Jesus's program is intact! How did he do it?" God chuckled, "Jesus saves"

THE LORDS PRAYER During a Papal audience, a businessman approached the Pope and made this offer: Change the last line of the Lord's prayer from "give us this day our daily bread" to "give us this day our daily chicken" and KFC will donate 10 million dollars to Catholic charities. The Pope shook his head and said no to the offer. Two weeks later the businessman approached the Pope again, this time with a 50 million dollar offer. Again the Pope declined. A month later the man offers 100 million, and this time the Pope accepts. At a meeting of the Cardinals, the Pope announces his decision. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, we have 100 million dollars for charities. The bad news is, we lost the Wonder Bread account."

GOD THE COMPUTER PROGRAMMER You know, many important theological questions are answered, if we think of God as a Computer Programmer: Q: Does God control everything that happens in my life? A: He could, if he used the debugger, but it's tedious to step through all those variables. Q: Why does God allow evil to happen? A: God thought he eliminated evil in one of the earlier versions. Q: What causes God to intervene in earthly affairs? A: If a critical error occurs, the system pages him automatically and he logs on from home to try to bring it up. Otherwise things can wait until tomorrow. Q: Did God really create the world in seven days? A: He did it in six days and nights while living on cola and candy bars. On the seventh day he went home and found out his girlfriend had left him. Q: How come the Age of Miracles Ended? A: That was the development phase of the project, now we are in the maintenance phase. Q: Who is Satan? A: Satan is a MIS director who takes credit for more powers than he actually possesses, so people who aren't programmers are scared of him. God thinks of him as irritating but irrelevant. Q: What is the role of sinners? A: Sinners are the people who find new an imaginative ways to mess up the system when God has made it idiot-proof. Q: Where will I go after I die? A: Onto a DAT tape. Q: Will I be reincarnated? A: Not unless there is a special need to recreate you. And searching those tar files is a major hassle, so if there is a request for you, God will just say that the tape has been lost. Q: Am I unique and special in the universe? A: There are over 10,000 major university and corporate sites running exact duplicates of you in the present release version. Q: What is the purpose of the universe? A: God created it because he values elegance and simplicity, but then the users and managers demanded he tack all this senseless stuff onto it and now everything is more complicated and expensive than ever. Q: If I pray to God, will he listen? A: You can waste his time telling him what to do, or you can just get off his back and let him program. Q: What is the one true religion? A: All systems have their advantages and disadvantages, so just pick the one that best suits your needs and don't let anyone put you down. Q: How can I protect myself from evil? A: Change your password every month and don't make it a name, a common word, or a date like your birthday. Q: Some people claim they hear the voice of God. Is this true? A: They are much more likely to receive email. *************************** I've found Jesus. He was behind the sofa the whole time.

THE ATHEIST An atheist was taking a walk through the woods, admiring all that the "accident of evolution" had created. "What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!", he said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes behind. As he turned to look, he saw a 7-foot grizzly charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing in on him. He tried to run even faster, so scared that tears were coming to his eyes. He looked over his shoulder again and the bear was even closer. His heart was pumping frantically as he tried to run even faster, but he tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up and saw the bear right on top of him raising his paw to kill him. At that instant he cried out "Oh my God!" Just then, time stopped. The bear froze, the forest was silent, the river even stopped moving. A bright light shone upon the man, and a voice came out of the sky saying, "You deny my existence all of these years, teach others I don't exist and even credit my creation to a cosmic accident and now do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?" The atheist, ever prideful, looked into the light and said "it would be rather hypocritical to ask to be a Christian after all these years, but could you make the bear a Christian?" "Very well", said the voice. As the light went out, the river ran, the sounds of the forest continued and the bear put his paw down. The bear then brought both paws together, bowed his head and said, "Lord I thank you for this food which I am about to receive.

A man came into a shop with a 'Salesman Wanted' sign in a window. He went up to the owner and said, "I-I-I w-w-waannn-t the j-joooob-b." "I don't know if this job would suit you because of your speaking impediment," said the owner. "I h-h-havvve a w-wi-wiiiife and s-s-s-six k-kkkids, iiii-I re-really neeeed thi-thi-this j-j-job!" said the man. "O.K. Here are three Bibles. Go out and sell them." said the owner. So the man went out and came back an hour later. "H-here-sss your m-m-money." said the man. The owner was impressed, so he gave the man a dozen more Bibles and sent him out. The man came back in two hours and said, "Her-ers y-yooour m-m-money." The owner said, "This is fantastic. You sold more Bibles in three hours than anyone has sold in a week. Tell me, what do you say to the people when they come to the door?" "W-welllll," said the man, "I r-r-ring the d-door bell, a-a-and s-s-say 'H-Hel-Hello, M-m-maaaaddam, d-d-do you w-w- want t-t-t-to buy thi-thi-this B-B-Bible, oooor d-d-do y-you w-w-want m'me t-toooo read it t-t-t-t-to you?"

Bill Gates Dies Bill Gates died in a car accident. He found himself in Purgatory being sized up by God. ... "Well, Bill, I'm really confused on this call. I'm not sure whether to send you to Heaven or Hell. After all, you enormously helped society by putting a computer in almost every home in the world and yet you created that ghastly Windows 95. I'm going to do something I've never done before. In your case, I'm going to let you decide where you want to go!" Bill replied: "Well, thanks, God. What's the difference between the two?" God said: "I'm willing to let you visit both places briefly if it will help you make a decision." "Fine, but where should I go first?" asked Bill. God said: "I'm going to leave it up to you." Bill said: "OK, then, let's try Hell first." So Bill went to Hell... It was a beautiful, clean, sandy beach with clear waters. There were thousands of beautiful women running around, playing in the water, laughing and frolicking about. The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect. Bill was very pleased. "This is great!" he told God. "If this is Hell, I REALLY want to see Heaven!" "Fine" said God and off they went. Heaven was a high place in the clouds, with angels drifting about playing harps and singing. It was nice but not as enticing as Hell. Bill thought for a quick minute and rendered his decision. "Hmm, I think I prefer Hell" he told God. "Fine" retorted God, "as you desire". So Bill Gates went to Hell. Two weeks later, God decided to check up on the late billionaire to see how he was doing in Hell. When God arrived in Hell, he found Bill shackled to a wall, screaming amongst the hot flames in a dark cave. He was being burned and tortured by demons. "How's everything going, Bill?" God asked. Bill responded, his voice full of anguish and disappointment: "This is awful, this is not what I expected. I can't believe this happened. What happened to that other place with the beaches and the beautiful women playing in the water?" God says: "That was the screen saver."

Christmas Prayer Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts. May the Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen. - Robert Louis Stevenson

from Umapati Swami: There are a lot of letters coming about Gay Monogamy, and I haven't had time to answer the ones that have problems, so I'd like to put down a few ground rules for the discussion. The question is, Should we encourage homosexuals to renounce promiscuity and take up monogamy, not as a facility for illicit sex but as a step toward eventual renouncement, just as we encourage heterosexual people to take up monogamy for the same reason? Everyone agrees that homosexual sex is illicit sex, so there is no need to write articles trying to prove that point. Nor is there any need to write articles describing the sexual things that homosexuals do or to say that homosexuals are incapable of monogamy unless you know every homosexual in the world. Srila Prabhupada disapproved of same-sex marriage, but are there other ways to encourage same-sex monogamy without going against the letter or the spirit of his instructions?

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"COME TO MY ETERNAL PLACE" Lord Krishna wants us to give up our rebelliousness and return to Him for a life of perfect happiness. by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness avyakto ’yam acintyo ’yam avikaryo ’yam ucyate tasmad evam viditvainam nanushocitum arhasi “It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.” —Bhagavad-gita 2.25 In so many ways Krishna is convincing Arjuna that the spirit soul is immortal. Avyakto ’yam: It is not manifest to the blunt material eyes. We cannot see it, because the magnitude of the soul is one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. Very small. Smaller than the atom. That spirit soul is everywhere. Sarva-gatah. And wherever the spirit soul lives within the material world, he has a body and a heart, and within that heart Krishna is also there. Ishvarah sarva-bhutanam hrid-deshe ’rjuna tishthati. Both of them—the soul and Krishna—are living there. Therefore, anor aniyan mahato mahiyan: Krishna can become greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest. That is God. When Krishna was playing as a child, He ate earth, and His playmates complained to mother Yashoda, “Mother, your son Krishna is eating earth.” Mother Yashoda asked for an explanation: “Krishna, why are You eating earth? I have given You sandesha [a sweet].” Krishna said, “No, Mother, I have not eaten earth.” “No, Your friends are complaining.” “No, they have become My enemies this morning. We had some quarrel. Therefore they have combined so that you will chastise Me.” Mother Yashoda wanted to solve the problem. “All right, show me Your mouth. Open Your mouth. I want to see.” When Krishna opened His mouth, His mother saw innumerable universes inside. This is Krishna. Anor aniyan mahato mahiyan. Krishna enters within the universe, but at the same time millions of universes are within His mouth. This is the explanation of “greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest.” Of course, although mother Yashoda saw Krishna’s display, she could not believe it, because she never thought that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. She always thought, “He is my tiny child.” That’s all. “I have to take care of Him.” These are called parental feelings, vatsalya-rasa. MOODS OF SERVICE Krishna is served by devotees in many rasas—transcendental mellows or humors. Someone is serving as His servant. Someone is serving as His friend. Someone is serving as His father and mother. Someone is serving as His conjugal lover. These are the five primary mellows in which a devotee is connected with Krishna. There are seven other rasas. They are secondary. For example, somebody is serving Krishna as an enemy, like the asuras, the demons. They also serve Krishna, but as His enemy. Somebody serves by giving pleasure to Krishna, another by fighting with Him. So there are twelve rasas. Akhila-rasamrita-sindhu—all the rasas we experience within this world come from Krishna. Janmadyasya yatah. The Vedanta-sutra says that everything within our experience is in Krishna. That is Krishna. He was stealing, which we generally consider not very good business. But stealing is also in Krishna. He’s famous as Makhana-chora, the stealer of butter. All our dealings in the material world are only a perverted reflection of our dealings with Krishna in the spiritual world. But the impersonalists, unaware of the spiritual world, have no information that Krishna is always busy. Because He’s a person, He’s always busy. He wants to please the gopijanas — the cowherd boys and the gopis, His constant companions. Krishna is sanatana, eternal, and His dealings with His devotees are also sanatana. And these dealings are possible not here but in the sanatana-dhama, the eternal world. We cannot have sanatana dealings with Krishna in the material world. Therefore Krishna comes to canvass the conditioned souls: “For eternal happiness, for eternal dealings, come to Me in My eternal place.” Yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama. Why not in the material world? By nature the material world is not permanent; it is temporary. Janmadi. Everything in the material world has a date of birth, and anything which has a date of birth must have a date of death also. That is the nature of the material world. Here we can practice sanatana-dharma, the eternal occupation, but sanatana-dharma is actually performed in the spiritual world. In business one is trained to become an apprentice and then he’s given a post. Similarly, Sanatana Goswami explains, devotees who are perfectly trained in devotional service are first of all given birth in the universe where Krishna is present. KRISHNA EVERYWHERE Of course, Krishna is always present everywhere, just as the sun is always present in the sky. When the sun sets, it is not within my vision, but the sun is still in the sky. Similarly, Krishna is always present. We have to make our eyes fit to see Him. How? Lord Brahma explains: premanjana-cchurita-bhakti vilocanena santah sadaiva hridayeshu vilokayanti yam shyamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami Only the devotees who have loving affection for Krishna can see Him. The propensity to love Krishna is there already. But we have transferred that loving propensity to maya, illusion. The whole process of Krishna consciousness is to transfer the loving propensity from maya back to Krishna. This is the simple definition of Krishna consciousness. We have love for Krishna, but being illusioned, being falsely positioned, we are trying to love something which is not Krishna — maya, Krishna’s maya, or illusion. Krishna says, mama maya: “maya is also Mine.” For example, the cloud is made by the sun. The sun evaporates water from the ocean, and the water becomes a cloud. The business of the cloud is to cover our eyes from seeing the sun, but actually the cloud has no separate existence, and as soon as the sun is bright, the cloud disappears. Bhutva bhutva praliyate: The cloud comes into existence, and again it disappears. Similarly, maya, illusion, is only sometimes generated. The material world is impermanent. It comes and goes. maya simply covers our eyes. But although the cloud can cover my eyesight, it cannot cover the sun. Similarly maya cannot touch Krishna. The mayavada philosophy says that when Krishna comes here He comes covered by maya. No. This is not correct. Maya cannot touch Krishna. When Vyasadeva realized Krishna before writing the Srimad-Bhagavatam, he saw Krishna and maya. Maya was in the background. Maya cannot come in front of Krishna. So Krishna is never covered by maya. It is our eyes which are covered by maya. So we, the fragments of Krishna, are covered by maya, but Krishna is not. The theory that Krishna becomes covered is nonsense. Krishna is the controller of maya. And we are controlled by maya. That is the difference. Krishna is maya-dhisha, the controller of maya, and we are mayadhina, controlled by maya. TRANSCENDING MAYA Yet we can become free. When an airplane goes above the clouds, you have immense sunlight. The clouds are below. Similarly, you can go above maya. You can transcend maya and see Krishna always. That is possible. How? Mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te: Simply surrender to Krishna, and Krishna will arrange that you are no longer under maya. Simple process. Just do as Krishna demands—sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja: “Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me.” This is sanatana-dharma. We are, after all, servants of Krishna, but artificially we are trying to become masters of the material world. We are therefore sent here. Just as those who are revolutionary, who do not care for state laws, are sometimes killed or put into the prisonhouse, those who are not voluntarily surrendering to Krishna are put into the prisonhouse of the material world. They are forced to surrender. And when you falsely think you have become free—“I have now become liberated. I have become God”—you fall into the last snare of maya. How can you become God? What capacity do you have? God has created so many things. What have you created? God has shown so many things. What have you done? Still, people falsely think, “I am God.” This is the last snare of maya. Everyone is trying to lord it over material nature. We think, “I want to become a cabinet minister.” “I want to become president.” “I want to become a business magnate.” And when everything fails, we want to become God. That is also maya. It is not possible to become God. Our relationship with God, Krishna, is that we are meant to serve Him. But we have forgotten our real position, our sanatana-dharma. Sanatana-dharma means that the living entity is a part of the whole and is therefore meant to serve the whole. Because my finger is part of my body, its business is to carry out my order, to serve the whole body. If I want my finger to come to my head, it comes at once. Similarly, our business is to serve Krishna. But when we want to become lord, independent of Krishna, we place ourselves in maya. The Prema-vivarta states, Krishna-bahirmukha hana bhoga-vancha kare/ nikata-stha maya tare japatiya dhare: “When the living entity wants to enjoy material nature, he is immediately victimized by the material nature.” As soon as we desire to imitate Krishna, that is maya. We create the situation of maya. “I want to become Krishna. I want to become God. I want to become the Lord.” This is maya. Krishna is sanatana, eternal. We are also sanatana, but when we forget to serve Krishna, we serve temporary things. And when we engage again in the service of Krishna, we return to our sanatana-dharma, eternally serving Krishna. OUR DHARMA Dharma means “characteristic.” You cannot change dharma. The characteristic of sugar is sweetness, and the characteristic of chili is pungency. Everything has its characteristic. That is called its dharma. You purchase chili, and if it is not very pungent you throw it away—“Oh, it is not good”—because the dharma of the chili is lacking. Similarly, if you take sugar and find it salty, then you say, “Oh, what is this?” So everything has some characteristic, and we as living entities have our characteristic. We are sanatana, eternal. Our characteristic is to serve God. If I don’t serve God, then the characteristic will remain and I’ll have to serve maya, thinking in illusion that I have become master. For example, a man has a motorcar. To purchase a motorcar and maintain it requires lots of money, and to get this money he has to work very hard. But then he thinks, “Now I have a motorcar. Very nice.” Still, he is serving the motorcar, that’s all. This is the position. One is actually servant, not master, but he thinks that he’s master. This is maya. When we give up the falsely prestigious claim that we are master, then we are liberated. Now we are struggling hard within the material world under the influence of maya, changing between different bodies. Sometimes I go to the heavenly planets, sometimes to the hellish planets. Sometimes I am a rich man, sometimes a poor man, a brahmana, a shudra, a tiger, a tree. In this way, everywhere within the universe the living entities are struggling for existence. Krishna says: mamaivamso jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah manah-shashthanindriyani prakriti-sthani karshati “All living entities are My parts and parcels, but foolishly, carried by mental concoction within the material world, they are struggling to become master.” This is the disease. The rascals are pulled by the ear by prakriti, material nature. Material nature dictates, “Do this,” and I have to do it. To one who has associated with the mode of ignorance, prakriti gives the body of a hog. Then prakriti tells him, “Come here. Eat the stool.” And he eats. “Oh, so nice.” This is maya. Is stool a very nice thing? But prakriti has given the hog a certain type of body, and he is relishing, “Oh, stool is so nice.” In the human form of body also, people are eating so many nonsense things in the restaurants, in the hotels. And they’re relishing, “Oh, it is so nice.” This is maya. Our business is to serve, but because we take the attitude “I don’t like to serve Krishna” or “I am Krishna,” we are placed under the clutches of maya—immediately. And under the illusion of maya, we associate with the different modes of material nature, and so we have to take birth. Sad-asad-yoni-janmasu. One becomes a hog, one becomes a dog, one becomes a human being, a demigod, a tree, a plant—8,400,000 species and forms of life. Krishna says, sarva-yonishu kaunteya . . . aham bija-pradah pita: “Of all these forms—whatever they may be—I am the father.” So if Krishna is the original father of every living entity, how has one become a brahmana, one a shudra, one a tree, one a tiger, a hog, an Indra, a Brahma? How is that? We get our births in different types of body because we associate with different modes of nature. My mind carries me to the next body. It is foolish to say, “This man is now dead. Everything is finished.” That is rascaldom. He is not finished. His life is going on. Foolish rascals say, “Now this man is dead, finished.” Big, big professors say, “Swamiji, after death everything is finished.” And they’re professors. Just see. Rascals and fools are becoming leaders, professors, politicians. How will the people be happy when they are always led into ignorance and enamored by the external feature of Krishna’s energy? KRISHNA'S TWO ENERGIES The material world is also Krishna’s energy. But we are attracted by the material energy when we should be attracted by the spiritual. As explained in the Bhagavad-gita, both energies are Krishna’s: apara (inferior) energy and para (superior) energy. But we are now attracted by the material elements of the apara energy: bhumir apo ’nalo vayuh—earth, water, fire, air. And because we are attracted by the material energy, when we construct a very nice stone house we think, “Now, yes, my life is successful. I have a very nice house of stone.” Am I stone? No. Still, my attraction is for the stone. Therefore Krishna gives me facility: “All right, take the stone and try to be happy. But you’ll never be happy. You’ll be happy when you surrender to Me.” For example, a father gives his child all facilities to play, but at the same time the father says, “My dear child, don’t play like this. It is not good.” But because the child persists, the father sometimes says, “All right, you play like that.” Similarly, Krishna does not want us to come to the material world and be attracted by earth, water, air, fire, and sky and become great scientists and make combinations of these five elements. What is this world? Tejo-vari-mridam yatha vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mrisha: This world is a mixture of fire, earth, water, air, and sky. It is a false thing. As this world is a combination of these five elements, our body is also a combination of these same five elements, and we are attracted to it. “Oh, I have such a nice, strong, beautiful body—American body, Indian body, brahmana body, this body, that body.” All maya. You’ll never be happy by this bodily concept of life. Krishna indirectly explains this point when He says, acchedyo ’yam adahyo ’yam akledyo ’shoshya eva ca: “The individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried.” Since the body is burned to ashes, how can we be the body? When a man is dead, the body is put into the fire and burned. Then how are we the body? The body is made of three elements: bile, mucus, and air. It is a bag of bones and flesh and blood. If one thinks, “I am this body,” then he is go-kharah—a cow or an ass. Anyone in the bodily concept of life is an animal. And how can you receive knowledge from a person who is an animal? You cannot get any knowledge from the cows or asses. To speak frankly, practically everyone is in the bodily concept of life. Therefore the modern civilization is an animal civilization, not a human civilization. Human civilization begins when one understands, “I am not this body. I am spirit soul—aham brahmasmi.” As long as people are under the bodily concept of life, theirs is a civilization of cats and dogs, that’s all. Thank you very much.

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