krsna

Srila Prabhupada encouraged us to be pessimistic about material life (meaning life with no spiritual practice), yet with Krishna consciousness we are meant to have a attitude of great hope and positive expectancy. There are many quotes in Srila Prabhupada’s translations and purports to this effect: The Six Principles of Surrender: “When a person becomes firmly convinced about the importance of devotional service, he surrenders unto the Supreme Lord. There are six symptoms of surrender: (1) One should perform only those actions favorable for devotional service to Krishna. (2) One should give up everything unfavorable for discharging devotional service. (3) One should firmly believe that Krishna will protect one in all circumstances and that no one is a better protector than Krishna. This conviction should be distinct from the monistic philosophy that one is as good as Krishna. Rather, one should always think that Krishna, or God, is great and that one is always protected by Him. (4) One should have the conviction that Krishna is one’s maintainer, and one should not take shelter of any demigod for maintenance. (5) One should always remember that one’s activities and desires are not independent. In other words, the devotee should feel completely dependent on Krishna, and thus he should act and think as Krishna desires. (6) One should always think himself the poorest of the poor and feel totally dependent on the mercy of Krishna.” (From Sutra 12 of the Narada-bhakti-Sutra) “The strong conviction that one will certainly receive the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called in Sanskrit asa-bandha. Asa-bandha means to continue to think, “Because I’m trying my best to follow the routine principles of devotional service, I am sure that I will go back to Godhead, back to home.” In this connection, one prayer by Rüpa Gosvami is sufficient to exemplify this hopefulness: “I have no love for Krishna, nor for the causes of developing love of Krishna—namely, hearing and chanting. And the process of bhakti-yoga, by which one is always thinking of Krishna and fixing His lotus feet in the heart, is also lacking in me. As far as philosophical knowledge or pious works are concerned, I don’t see any opportunity for me to execute such activities. But above all, I am not even born of a nice family. Therefore I must simply pray to You, Gopijana-vallabha [Krishna, maintainer and beloved of the gopis]. I simply wish and hope that some way or other I may be able to approach Your lotus feet, and this hope is giving me pain, because I think myself quite incompetent to approach that transcendental goal of life.” The purport is that under this heading of asa-bandha, one should continue to hope against hope that some way or other he will be able to approach the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord.” (From NOD chapter 17 on Character of One in Ecstatic Love pg 137) And lastly one of our favorite versus is found in Brahma’s prayers in the 10th Canto of the Bhagavat. The expressed attitude is meant to be one our guiding principles: “My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.” PURPORT Srila Sridhara Svami explains in his commentary that just as a legitimate son has to simply remain alive to gain an inheritance from his father, one who simply remains alive in Krsna consciousness, following the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga, automatically becomes eligible to receive the mercy of the Personality of Godhead. In other words, he will be promoted to the kingdom of God. The word su-samiksamana indicates that a devotee earnestly awaits the mercy of the Supreme Lord even while suffering the painful effects of previous sinful activities. Lord Krsna explains in the Bhagavad-gita that a devotee who fully surrenders unto Him is no longer liable to suffer the reactions of his previous karma. However, because in his mind a devotee may still maintain the remnants of his previous sinful mentality, the Lord removes the last vestiges of the enjoying spirit by giving His devotee punishments that may sometimes resemble sinful reactions. The purpose of the entire creation of God is to rectify the living entity’s tendency to enjoy without the Lord, and therefore the particular punishment given for a sinful activity is specifically designed to curtail the mentality that produced the activity. Although a devotee has surrendered to the Lord’s devotional service, until he is completely perfect in Krishna consciousness he may maintain a slight inclination to enjoy the false happiness of this world. The Lord therefore creates a particular situation to eradicate this remaining enjoying spirit. This unhappiness suffered by a sincere devotee is not technically a karmic reaction; it is rather the Lord’s special mercy for inducing His devotee to completely let go of the material world and return home, back to Godhead. A sincere devotee earnestly desires to go back to the Lord’s abode. Therefore he willingly accepts the Lord’s merciful punishment and continues offering respects and obeisances to the Lord with his heart, words and body. Such a bona fide servant of the Lord, considering all hardship a small price to pay for gaining the personal association of the Lord, certainly becomes a legitimate son of God, as indicated here by the words daya-bhak. Just as one cannot approach the sun without becoming fire, one cannot approach the supreme pure, Lord Krsna, without undergoing a rigid purificatory process, which may appear like suffering but which is in fact a curative treatment administered by the personal hand of the Lord.” SB 10.14.8 “According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krishna. By the mercy of both Krishna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.” Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya 19.151

'Audarya' means being an instrument, a real krsna das in giving out Sriman Mahaprabhu's mercy and sweetness indiscriminately to one and all. <B><BIG><BIG>Prayer to the Holy Dhama</BIG></BIG></B> <B><BIG><BIG></BIG></BIG></B> <B><BIG><BIG></BIG></BIG></B> Navadvipa-pranama navina-sri-bhaktim nava-kanaka-gaurakriti-pati navaranya-shreni-nava-sura-saridvat valitam navina-sri-radha-hari-rasa-mayotkirtana-vidhim navadvipam vande-karunamadyan nava-rucim I bow down to Sri Navadvipa, the transcendental land which is filled with forests ever colled by fresh breezes from the Ganga, where newly born devotion manifests by the unprecedented mercy of the Lord of golden complexion, and which bestows the ever-fresh mellow [rasa] of loud glorification of Radha-Krishna in Their highest ecstasy [maha-bhava].

Suddha-nama needs a suddha-guru (nama tattva-vit spiritual master)preceptor acarya who can bestow it on the deserving disciple who desires to do nama-bhajan: "Concerning the need for such a preceptor, Sri Mahäprabhu says that though formal initiation may not be necessary, still a guide is essential in näma-bhajana.":pray:

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KRSNA is always so kind!!!

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountaintop, then you shall begin to climb. And when the Earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance. Should we all confess our sins to one another, we would all laugh at one another for our lack of originality. Should we all reveal our virtues, we would also laugh for the same cause. Saint Kabir (1440-1518)

God/KRSNA has appeared/manifested in this age of Kali as the Hare KRISHNA Movement! :namaskar: :namaskar: :namaskar: :namaskar:

Are we not all encouraged to be like the honey-bee that is constantly looking for the nectar in the field of wild flowers and NOT be like the house-fly that always looks for the stool in the dirty place???

The following literary piece is good thoughtful writing by our friend Jagat...is that enough???: Jagat This is a blog dedicated to the concept of prema-prayojana. I want to explore the meaning of this simple motto, which states that Divine Love is the goal of life. <DL class=profile-datablock><DT class=profile-img> <DD class=profile-data>Name: Jagadananda Das <DD class=profile-data>Location: Rishikesh, Uttaranchal, India </DD></DL> <!-- Begin .post -->Bhaktivinoda Thakur's meat eating and Lalita Prasad Thakur When I see a discussion starting that deals with questions I was deeply involved in 10 or 20 years ago, or even more recently, I do not feel tempted to get involved again. One moves on, I guess. Rocana Prabhu has recently published an editorial on the Sampradaya Sun wherein he struggles to make sense of Bhaktivinoda Thakur's avowal that he engaged in meat eating. In the context of this article, he makes a few disparaging comments about my diksha guru, Sri Lalita Prasad Thakur. It is unfortunate that there is no one but me to currently come to the defense of my guru, and for me to do so means exposing myself to involvement in disagreeable disputes, which is certainly not appealing to me. Nevertheless, it seems to me that I am under some obligation to say at least a few words. Poor Rocana seems to have just discovered that Bhaktivinoda Thakur admitted eating meat and fish in his memoirs. He worries about "the potential this has to disturb the minds of many readers," who would consider such practices "abhorrent." This is in fact the realization that this admission plays havoc with his own idea of what it means to be a "nitya-siddha" or a "sampradaya acharya." Although he compliments Bhaktivinoda Thakur for his "extreme honesty," he does not seem to have grasped the real significance of such admissions. Rocana bandies about with comparisons to Ramachandra and Bhima's meat-eating and how "they" are different from "us" and that therefore the same standards cannot apply. And woe be to those who compare their own sinful pasts to the comparatively less objectionable, historically forgivable actions of Bhaktivinoda Thakur. But all this solves nothing and simply muddies the waters and reveals the general confusion about Guru Tattva that is rampant in the Krishna consciousness movement. A million quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books, unfortunately, do little to clarify the issue. Rather, they go on urging us to erase the human aspects of the Guru in order to see him as a God, and to sacrifice all capacity for individual self-realization in submission to the guru's orders and guru-created institutions. I feel deeply that these kinds of exhortations have resulted in a huge imbalance in emphasis in the general understanding of Krishna consciousness. They diminish our humanity instead of lifting it to the heavens. How could this ever have been the intention of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? The importance of the human aspect of the Guru Though I have, as mentioned above, already written about these issues, it is perhaps time to repeat myself again. Currently the Prema Prayojan site is closed temporarily, so I cannot not refer to the numerous times I have gone over the question. Indeed, the first time I publicly wrote on this subject was in letters to Rocana on his Garuda listserve, at the very beginning of my internet engagement with devotees. In connection with the Bhaktivinoda meat-eating question, I wrote on Audarya forums in 2003: I think that we should be extremely indebted to Bhaktivinoda for having pierced the hagiographical balloon so that we can surmount the superficial understanding of guru-tattva and nitya-siddha and all the rest of the terms that we bandy about in order to blind ourselves to possible flaws in our guru vargas. I have written about this before in relation to the controversy over the Prabhupada-lilamrita . How much more inspiring and glorious it is to have a human guru who has shown the way by struggling with the negative aspects of material entanglement and succeeding! This is, as far as I am concerned, a crucial point of transcending the kanishtha adhikari stage. It is really the same question as that of guru omniscience and infallibility. There is much confused thinking on this issue... The arch-conservative and reactionary side tries to discredit the Sva-likhita-jivani itself. These people readily accept statements from this book when it suits their purposes, but refuse to accept those that contradict their idealized image of Bhaktivinoda Thakur . Even so, the SLJ is still the primary source of information on BVT's life as we know it--including Rupavilasa's book and all other Gaudiya Math publications on his life--with the appropriate expurgations, of course. I take a much more liberal and, I believe, enlightened view that attempts to reconcile the humanity of the guru with his divinity rather than obliterate his humanity altogether in a cloud of mystification. While I was thinking about whether I would write this article or not, I had the radio on and happened to hear an interview with Thomas Merton scholar Michael Higgins. Higgins spoke of the source of Merton's appeal and inspirational power as being anchored in his insistent search for truth and holiness. This comes out especially in the collection of diaries that he kept diligently and in which he spoke of things like a longstanding affair with a nurse and other "unsaintly" activities. But rather than diminishing his stature, and I hope that this is abundantly clear, people's appreciation for Merton's true worth only grows, to the point that though he spoke emphatically and repeatedly against "the cult of personality", he has ironically become the subject of an entire Merton industry. Mahatma Gandhi, in his "Experiments with Truth," had the same modern approach to saintliness. None of this means that they are any the less saintly, but it is their saintly ambition, it is their honest, self-examined determination to attain the impossible goal of human perfection, that makes them admirable, and indeed worthy of being followed. As an aside, Satsvarupa Maharaj has been, I believe, influenced by Thomas Merton to some extent and so he also approaches spiritual life quite openly. Without entering into a critique of the degree of personal honesty, mystical or theological profundity that goes into his writings, there is a certain modern sensibility that is beyond the comprehension of the ordinary devotees and their obsession with "nitya-siddhas." My reproach of Satsvarupa is rather that he lacks courage and has made something of a career of retreating: He tempts fate by chanting extra rounds ("Japa Notebook") and then retreats; he visits Narayan Maharaj, and then retreats; he has a sexual escapade, and then retreats; he decides to take face questions about sexuality head on, and then retreats--each time caving in to Iskcon criticism. No wonder the man is suffering so terribly from migraines! If he could just once follow his instincts and break away from the terrible subjection to the Institution that holds him in its grip--a grip that is tattooed with the words "Iskcon acharya." With him, the problem is not so much a belief in the value of honest self-reflection as the lack of courage to follow through on his intuitions. Recently I mentioned on these pages an interview with John Kain, who in a new book called A Rare and Precious Thing talks about a number of spiritual teachers in a variety of traditions. His opening statement was that all of these teachers have in "one way or another embraced the new paradigm." By this he meant that these spiritual masters made no attempt to pass themselves off as "nitya siddhas," but nevertheless had a powerful and lasting effect on their followers. It is almost axiomatic to speak of today's spiritual leaders in Krishna consciousness as flawed. We have been so conditioned to accepting that the spiritual master must be a "realized soul", which we associate with some kind of unattainable superhuman status, that we end up absorbed in a kind of faultfinding exercise that makes us incapable of acknowledging even the considerable merits of another devotee except in the most begrudging manner. Demonstrating that another person is imperfect is not a hard job: Ramachandra Puri showed us all that it is possible to find fault even with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So, is there any problem in finding fault with a sadhaka who confesses his imperfections? The question here is: From whom can we, as sadhakas ourselves, learn more? From the person who exhorts us to be impossibly perfect while pretending to conform to this same, entirely corrupting attitude, or from the one who sincerely admits his flaws and reveals his strategies, etc., in dealing with them? Evidently, adopting this kind of strategy will result in a sanguine attitude, even a distrust, of personality cults of all kinds. George Orwell said "saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent" (in Reflections on Gandhi), especially if they set themselves up as such. Of course, I am the first to admit that the currents of hypocrisy run deep, and no public self-reflection is entirely void of manipulative goals. Nevertheless, let it be stated as an axiom, which like all axioms will seem bland and obvious, that all people, including saints, are human beings. As such, they are subject to all the flaws of humanity--weakness and temptation, error and illusion. It is not freedom from humanity that a saint achieves, nor even the perfection of an ideal humanity; I would say rather that the saint is one who has consecrated himself to the pursuit of holiness and has made that ideal real to others. The acharya is someone who in the depths of his realization has found jewels that are of inestimable value to other humans who seek life's meaning in God. Those who are addicted to the idea that "God speaks to the Acharya; his words are therefore the words of God himself," patati patata, are missing several huge points. Lalita Prasada Thakur, my Prabhu Of course, the paragraph in Rocana's article that really inspired me to write anything at all was the following: We also have to keep in mind that the Svalikhita-jivani is actually a long letter written to his son, Lalita Prasada. As history tells it, in due course Lalita Prasada became a real adversary to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. In fact, he started a separate movement that is considered asiddhantic, and criticized Srila Bhaktisiddhanta extensively. So we should consider how that plays into our understanding this particular circumstance with Srila Bhaktivinoda's meat eating. Who knows whether Srila Bhaktivinoda intended that his letter to his son be published and made into a book? He might also have been trying to send a direct message to Lalita Prasada, it's hard to tell. Svalikhita-jivani is certainly a very unusual, honest depiction of a great Sampradaya Acarya's early life. How Lalita Prasada - or any of us, for that matter - choose to interpret this information is of the utmost importance. After all, love is always tested. This candid written narrative might simply have been designed by the father as a test for the son. And as history shows, the son failed the test. Whether or not his publication of this autobiographical letter was part of the failure, we can't know. This paragraph is so full of half-truths, misunderstandings and plain nonsense that it is hard to know where to begin. I have indeed already begun to do so above, as the root of the error is in Rocana's magical idea of the "Sampradaya Acharya." It is furthermore an unworthy and cynical attempt to deflect the problem onto a saintly person of whom Rocana knows nothing other than the parampara propaganda he now so condescendingly perpetuates. Rocana's concept arose at least in part from reflection on the now generally well-known fact that Siddhanta Saraswati and Lalita Prasada Thakur were in profound disagreement on the issue of diksha, the position of Bhaktivinoda Thakur's diksha guru Bipin Bihari Goswami, raganuga bhakti practices, the nature of Gaudiya Vaishnava institutions, sannyasa, and many of Saraswati Thakur's innovations. I have written about these things at length and, I believe, with a certain amount of detachment. However, if we can draw one conclusion from the Sva-likhita-jivani, it is that Bipin Bihari Goswami played a significant role in Bhaktivinoda Thakur's life, something that is a bit of an inconvenient truth with most of Bhaktivinoda Thakur's putative followers. And this lesson has a connection with the meat-eating issue. It is this: after taking initiation from his guru, Bhaktivinoda Thakur stopped all flesh consumption. Indeed, he highlights this as a miraculous result of being initiated. This in itself shows the Thakur's appreciation of a significant transformation in his life as a result of coming into connection with his guru. How does this square with those who are on the right side of history and have consigned Bipin Bihari Prabhu to the rubbish heap? This avowal by Bhaktivinoda Thakur on its own seems sufficient truth to me to discard Saraswati Thakur and to follow Lalita Prasad Thakur, everything else be damned! Since Bhaktivinoda Thakur initiated Lalita Prasad and gave him the same pranali that he received from Bipin Bihari. We may well ask what kind of test he was giving Lalita Prasad in telling him these things about his guru and whether Lalita Prasad failed that test or not. Certainly, in my eyes, since he stayed on this earth long enough to pass this same pranali on to me when he was already 99 years old, he did not. Through all that time he did not swerve in his commitment or his determination to preserve Bhaktivinoda Thakur's heritage as he had received it. If Saraswati Thakur did not receive the same gifts from his guru, or received other ones, does this somehow put him on the right side of history? What kind of discourse about history is this anyway? It is easy to buy into the fallacy that so-called success and virtue are the same thing when so clearly they are not. If there is anyone who should know this, it is Rocana himself, since he, as an outsider, is engaged in a discourse of resistance to a particular course of history. I am sure he thinks of himself on the side of truth and history, but one day, if Iskcon does not find itself on that rubbish heap, it will certainly throw him on it. Rather than make rash comments about the fickle judgments of history, let us seek the truth. Orwell summarized the cynical ideological manipulation of history in 1984, "He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future." Fortunately for us, neither Rocana, nor Iskcon and the Gaudiya Math and their followers, yet have complete control over the Gaudiya Vaishnava world's present, whatever illusions they may have. Lalita Prasad Thakur will always be a hero of the resistance against those who have run roughshod over the history of the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya. Siddhanta and sadhana (Dogma and Ritual) There are, if anything, two major contributions made by Bhaktivinoda Thakur to the history of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, two contributions that blissfully stand in apparent contradiction to one another. The first of these, which we can place in the early part of his life, is the principal message of Shukavak's milestone marking book. It is his work as a rational analyst of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. It was as an inheritor of an aspect of the Enlightenment, someone who had read European philosophers and was able to come up with the concept of the saragrahi. I cannot tell you how significant this concept is. Perhaps Rocana has a little inkling of it, but only to a point, because he cannot exercise his rational function when it comes to his so-called Sampradaya Acharyas. The whole point of being a saragrahi, however, is that it must be applied to one's gurus themselves. The sara element of the Guru is the Truth that he has been able to connect his disciple to. That Truth is not the management directions of Iskcon, or the final order of succession, or instructions about who to associate with and when. The sara is "Love Krishna and do whatever is necessary to attain that goal." He may say, "I have done such and such myself; these are my gurus, my tradition, this is what they have done to get there, but I am only the door. Pass through this door and into Goloka Vrindavan. Illuminated by this guiding light of identity as a servant of Krishna, take the world I give you." The Chaitanya Charitamrita tells us that Krishna is the Guru. He appears in the form of the teacher and initiator, but he is also present in the heart. It is Krishna in the heart who says "yay" or "nay" to his presence externally. When the truth comes as a blinding light accompanied by the imperative to act in the service of Krishna, that is Guru. But this does not mean that your relationship with God in the Heart is finished. It simply means that the relation with the Soul of your soul is mediated through a particular cultural and literary tradition, a symbol system, a religious language, a history of ideas and archetypal models. As such, we are not meant to blindly follow anyone or anything, but rather to enter into the discourse that centers around this tradition, a discourse that developed over the centuries and to which Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and Bhaktivedanta Swami have all made significant contributions, but which none of them has thankfully terminated in some Fukiyamian "end of history." The second aspect of Bhaktivinoda Thakur's contribution consists in his discovery, approval, acceptance and continuation of the essential element of Gaudiya Vaishnava teaching, namely manjari bhava. I had left this essay untouched for several days until I saw a pretentious little article by Rasarani Devi called Poor Bhagavat Das in which she mocks this practice and goal cherished by Bhaktivinoda Thakur and then passed on to his son, through whom it has come to a few other fortunate individuals. I am afraid that the baby has gone out with the bathwater here--perhaps we should go looking on the rubbish heap of history for manjari bhava as well, for it seems that this is where these self-righteous judges of Gaudiya Vaishnava history, looking through their narrow prism, have placed it. Anyway, this article is getting stale, after sitting here unfinished for several days. I will not let it ripen or grow any further. So here it ends for today (August 6, 2007)

"When thou art living still in sound!" - Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura "Such transcendental literatures, even though irregularly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest." (Srila Prabhupada's Srimad Bhagvatam, Preface) "The potency of transcendental sound is never minimised because the vibrator is apparently absent." (Srila Prabhupada, S.B. 2.9.8, purport) "Reception of spiritual knowledge is never checked by any material condition. (Srila Prabhupada, S.B. 7.7.1, purport) "I will live forever from my books and you will utilise." (Srila Prabhupada, 17/5/75, Berkeley USA) "...and these books will do everything." (Srila Prabhupada, 18/2/76) "These are not ordinary books. It is recorded chanting. Anyone who reads, he is hearing." (Srila Prabhupada, 19/10/74, Letter to Rupanuga Das) "Physical presence is immaterial. Presence of the transcendental sound received from the Spiritual Master should be the guidance of life." (Srila Prabhupada, 19/1/67, Letter to Brahmananda and other students) "So we should give more stress on the sound vibration, either of Krsna or Spiritual Master. Never think that I am absent from you. Physical presence is not essential; presence by message (or hearing) is the real touch." (Srila Prabhupada, 2/8/67, Letter to students) "Krishna and his representative are the same. Similarly, the spiritual master can be present wherever the disciple wants. A spiritual master is the principle, not the body. Just like a television can be seen in thousands of place by the principle of relay monitoring." (Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Malati, 28/5/68) "Whatever I had to say, I have already said in my books... Whether I am present or not does not matter." (Srila Prabhupada, 17/5/77, Vrindavan) "In my books the philosophy of Krsna Consciousness is explained fully..." (Srila Prabhupada, 22/11/74, Letter to Brahmarupa Dasa) "Diksa is the process by which one can awaken his transcendental knowledge and vanquish all reactions caused by sinful activity." Srila Prabhupada's Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya, 15.108, purport Srila Prabhupada : "Even a moment association with a pure devotee - all success!" Revatinandana : "Does that apply to reading the words of a pure devotee?" Srila Prabhupada : "Yes" (Srila Prabhupada, 13/12/70) "So although a physical body is not present, the vibration should be accepted as the presence of the Spiritual Master, vibration. What we have heard from the Spiritual Master, that is living." (Srila Prabhupada, 13/1/69, Los Angeles) "Every one of you must regularly read our books..., and automatically all questions will be answered." (Srila Prabhupada, 24/01/70, Letter to Randhira) "...you should always read my books daily and all your questions will be answered..." (Srila Prabhupada, 22/11/74, Letter to Hugo Salemon) "So utilise whatever time you find to make a thorough study of my books. Then all your questions will be answered." (Srila Prabhupada, 7/1/76, Letter to Upendra) Devotee : "Srila Prabhupada when you are not present with us, how is it possible to receive instructions? For example in questions that may arise..." Srila Prabhupada : "Well the questions are answ...answers are there in my books." (Srila Prabhupada, 13/5/73, Los Angeles) "If there is no chance to serve the spiritual master directly, a devotee should serve him by remembering his instructions. There is no difference between the spiritual masters instructions and the spiritual master himself. In his absence therefore, his words of direction should be pride of the disciple." (Srila Prabhupada, C.c. Adi 1.35, purport) "Anyone who has developed unflinching faith in the Lord and the Spiritual Master can understand the revealed scripture unfolding before him. I am sure that even if I am not physically present before you, still you will be able to execute all spiritual duties in the matter of Krsna Consciousness, if you follow the above principles." (Srila Prabhupada, 29/9/67, Letter to Subala) "As far as my blessing is concerned, it does not require my physical presence. If you are chanting Hare Krsna there, and following my instructions, reading the books, taking only Krsna prasadam etc., then there is no question of your not receiving the blessings of Lord Caitanya, whose mission I am humbly trying to push on." (Srila Prabhupada, 30/6/74, Letter to BalaKrsna) "You write that you have desire to avail of my association again, but why do you forget that you are always in association with me? When you are helping my missionary activities I am always thinking of you, and you are always thinking of me. That is real association. Just like I am always thinking of my Guru Maharaja at every moment, although he is not physically present, and because I am trying to serve him to my best capacity, I am sure he is helping me by his spiritual blessings. So there are two kinds of association: physical and preceptorial. Physical association is not so important as preceptorial association." (Srila Prabhupada, 18/8/69, Letter to Govinda dd) Paramananda : "We are always feeling your presence very strongly, Srila Prabhupada, simply by your teachings and your instructions. We are always meditating on your instructions." Srila Prabhupada : "Thank you. That is the real presence. Physical presence is not important." (Srila Prabhupada, 6/10/77, Vrndavana) "I am always with you. Never mind if I am physically absent." (Srila Prabhupada, 16/9/67, Letter to Jayananda) "It is sometimes misunderstood that if one has to associate with persons engaged in devotional service, he will not be able to solve the economic problem. To answer this argument, it is described here that one has to associate with liberated persons not directly, physically, but by understanding, through philosophy and logic, the problems of life." (Srila Prabhupada, S.B. 3:31:48, purport) "Therefore we should take advantage of the vani, not the physical presence." (Srila Prabhupada, 4/11/75, Letter to Suci dd) "I shall remain your personal guidance, physically present or not physically as I am getting guidance from my Guru Maharaja." (Srila Prabhupada, Vrindavan, 14/7/77) "Although according to material vision His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarsavati Thakura Prabhupada passed away from this material world on the last day of December 1936, I still consider his Divine Grace to be always present with me by his vani, his words. There are two ways of association - by vani and by vapuh. Vani means words and vapuh means physical presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but vani continues to exist eternally. Therefore, one must take advantage of the vani, not the physical presence." (Srila Prabhupada C.c. Antya, concluding words) "But always remember that I am always with you. As you are always thinking of me, I am always thinking of you also. Although physically we are not together, we are not separated spiritually. So we should be concerned only with this spiritual connection." (Srila Prabhupada, 13/11/69, Letter to Gaurasundara) "So we should associate by vibration, and not by the physical presence. That is real association." (Srila Prabhupada, 18/08/68, Lectures SB) "There are two conceptions, the physical conception and the vibrational conception. The physical conception is temporary. The vibrational conception is eternal. ...When we feel separation from Krsna or the Spiritual Master, we should just try to remember their words or instructions, and we will no longer feel that separation. Such association with Krsna and the Spiritual Master should be association by vibration not physical presence. That is real association."(Srila Prabhupada, Elevation to Krsna Consciousness, chapter 4) Devotee : "...so sometimes the Spiritual Master is far away. He may be in Los Angeles. Somebody is coming to Hamburg Temple. He thinks "How will the Spiritual Master be pleased? Srila Prabhupada : "Just follow his order, Spiritual Master is along with you by his words. Just like my Spiritual Master is not physically present, but I am associating with him by his words." (Srila Prabhupada, 18/08/71) "We are not separated actually. There are two - Vani or Vapuh - so Vapu is physical presence and Vani is presence by the vibration, but they are all the same." (Srila Prabhupada, 22/6/70, Letter to Hamsadutta)

Lord Nrsimhadeva stretched Hiranyakasipu across his lap and with his long nails, he ripped apart the demon. Hiranyakasipu died instantly on Nrsimhadeva's blood drenched lap. He was killed neither on the land, sea nor in the air but on the lap of the Supreme Lord. He was killed neither during the day or the night but in the twilight. He was killed by neither beast nor man, but by the lord's lotus hands and was kill with no weapons but with the nails of Lord Nrsimhadeva. Thus Hiranyakasipu's benediction from Lord Brahma remained intact and he was killed by the personification of fear, Krishna Himself in His half-man, half-lion form, Lord Nrsimhadeva.

radhayah pranaya-mahima kidrso vanayaiva svadyo yenadbhuta-madhurima kidrso va madiyah saukhyam casya mad-anubhavatah kidrsam veti lobhat tad bhavadhyah samajami saci-garbha-sindhau harinduh "Desiring to understand the glory of Radharani's love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appears from the womb of Srimati Sacidevi as the moon appears from the ocean." (Cc. Adi. 1.6)

Thx:pray: Let Us Unite To Proclaim the Glories Of Vedic India (Bharata) to the World!

Discipline of Guru means under the strict diciplinary guidance of the spiritual master, so that the diciple will forcibly give up all his bad habits and be rectified and above all purified for pure bhakti.

:smash:Just Do It!

One Does Not Find Guru... Guru Finds You!

Why not practice bhakti-yoga from the beginning if you want to see Krishna? "From that great lotus flower from which Brahma is generated, certainly Brahma could not see anything else except the big lotus flower. Therefore Lord Brahma, diving within the water, executed austerity and penance for one hundred years but still could not get any trace of You. The reason is that when a seed is fructified, the original seed cannot be seen." Prabhupada: But Krishna is everywhere. Krishna... Andantara-stha paramanu-cayantara-stham [bs. 5.35]. As Krishna is being described, Visnu, within this universe, so He is not only within the universe as Garbhodakasayi Visnu; He is within your heart also. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati [bg. 18.61]. And not only within your heart, but as many atoms are there, the composition of your body, in each atom He is there. Andantara-stha paramanu-cayantara-stham. So Krishna is everywhere. But why you cannot see? Antar-bahir-avasthitam. Krishna is within and without. If He is within every atom, then atoms are there, outside and inside. So antar-bahih, He is situated. Anyone can see Him, but He cannot be seen to the nondevotee. He cannot be... Nayam prakasah sarvasya yoga-maya-samavrtah. He is not exposed to everyone. He is simply exposed to the devotee. Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayan... [bs. 5.38]. The nondevotee cannot see. Naham prakasah sarvasya [bg. 7.25]. Unless Krishna agrees to be seen, you cannot see. It is not possible. You cannot force Him to be seen by you. No, that is not possible. Svayam eva sphuraty adah. He... When He likes, He'll be seen by you, not that you can force Him. You cannot say that "Now I am qualified. Krishna must come, and I'll see Him." That is not possible. We are never qualified unless Krishna agrees to be seen by you. This is the... Naham prakasah sarvasya yoga-maya-samavrtah: [bg. 7.25] "Everyone cannot see Me." Yoga-maya-samavrtah: "I am covered, I am veiled by the yoga-maya." Yoga-maya will not allow you to see unless you are devotee. Therefore Krishna confirms this fact: bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas casmi tattvatah [bg. 18.55]. If you want to know Krishna, God, as He is, then you must practice devotional life. Then He'll be seen. Bhaktya mam, yavan yas casmi tattvatah. To know Krishna ordinarily -- "Oh, Krishna was born in India, in Mathura. He's the son of such and such, and He was very big man" -- that is not tattvatah. Tattvatah means as He is, sac-cid-ananda vigrahah [bs. 5.1]. Anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam [bs. 5.1]. So for to know Krishna, there are so many Vedic literatures. So we have to know through the mercy of the spiritual master. Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. Everything is there, just like Krishna is there in the Bhagavad-gita, but people could not understand Krishna. Now we are presenting Krishna as it is. People are understanding. They are becoming devotee. So we have to go through the right channel. Then we'll know Krishna. And as soon as you know Krishna as He is, your life is successful. That is the aim and object of Krishna consciousness movement -- simply to help the people to know Krishna. This is the only business, because as soon as you know Krishna, your life is successful in which way, eh? The success is tyaktva deham punar janma naiti [bg. 4.9]. This is success. This body should be the last acceptance of material body. That is success. Otherwise, if you continue, tatha dehantara-praptih... [bg. 2.13]. These foolish people, they do not know that dehantara, there is change of body. Change of body is there already. You are experiencing, but they do not believe that after death there is body. Why not? If you have got experience in the life -- "I have passed through so many changes of body, from babyhood to childhood, childhood to boyhood, boyhood to youth-hood, then middle age and old body" -- then what is next? Why do you finish here? It is common logic. Why should you finish here? There must be body. This is real reasoning. And Krishna confirms it. Not only your contemplation. Krishna says, tatha dehantara-praptih: [bg. 2.13] "In this way you'll have another body." The Krishna, the great authority, He says, from whom Brahma, the first creature, he learned. Tene brahma hrda adi-kavaye.Krishna, Vasudeva... Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. He... Tene brahma hrda adi-kavaye. He taught this Vedic literature to the heart of Brahma. He can teach you through the heart also because He is sitting there. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese [bg. 18.61]. A particularly mention, hrd-dese, "within the core of the heart." He doesn't say that "Isvara is situated on your finger." No. Within the heart. The particular place is mentioned. Therefore the yogis' practice, real yoga practice, means to find out Krishna within the heart. That is real yoga. Dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa pasyanti yam yoginah [sB 12.13.1]. This is yogi. Yogis meditate. What for meditation? To find out Krishna within the heart. That is yoga, not to show magic and gymnastic. No, that is not. That gymnastic yoga, that is not yoga. Real yoga is to find out Krishna within one's own heart. Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti... That yoga means you have to come to the platform of prema, love, not that simply official practice, you can see. You have to come to the platform... Without having love connection with Krishna, it is not possible to see Him. You may practice this hatha-yoga or gymnastic yoga for many, many births -- you cannot see Krishna. Krishna can be seen when you smear with love ointment in your eyes. Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena [bs. 5.38]. And that is possible: bhakti, through bhakti. So therefore why not practice bhakti-yoga from the beginning if you want to see Krishna? And that is recommended by Krishna: yoginam api sarvesam mad-gata antaratmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah [bg. 6.47] Krishna says, "He's first-class yogi." Who? "Who is always trying to see Krishna within the heart." So it is very difficult task? In our bhakti-yoga we can teach this art of seeing Krishna within the core of the heart in one minute. It is so simple. You are seeing Krishna here. You must have impression and try to keep that impression within your heart always. Then you become first-class yogi. Why so much gymnastic and pressing the nose? No. Take directly. If you are engaged twenty-four hours in the service of the Deity, you cannot see except the Deity. This bhakti-yoga practice is so simple. Therefore kanistha adhikari, those who are neophyte, they must take to Deity worship. By Deity worship he is elevated to the position of seeing the Lord within the heart. This is very important thing. You can see -- He is there -- but you have no knowledge, or even if you have knowledge, you are not competent to see Him. But if you practice Deity worship... Therefore it is the duty of guru to engage the neophyte devotee always in Deity worship. sri-vigraharadhana-nitya-nana- srngara-tan-mandira-marjanadau yuktasya bhaktams ca niyunjato 'pi vande guroh sri-caranaravindam It is the duty of the guru to engage his disciple in Deity worship, in cleansing the temple, dressing the Deity, decorating the Deity, so many engagements. So everyone should be engaged. If one is not competent to dress the Deity -- everyone is competent -- he can simply wash the temple and cleanse it. That will also help. There is no difference, that one who is cleansing the floor of the temple and one who is engaged directly in the Deity worship... There is no difference. They are all the same. Don't think that "I am engaged in cleansing the floor of the temple, and he is engaged in decorating the temple. I should be envious." No. There is no question of. Any kind of duty you are engaged... Sva-karmana tam abhyarcya [bg. 18.46]. If you cannot do something which is hard for you, you do anything for Krishna under the direction of spiritual master, you'll get perfection. It is not that "I have to do this. I have to do that." No. Krishna's service is manyfold. If one is unable to take one kind of service, the spiritual master can give him another kind of service. But both the services are accepted by Krishna. Thank you very much. . (Srila Prabhupada lecture, Mayapur, March 12, 1976)

<TABLE class=storycontent cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>Experts unveil 'Cloak Of Silence' </TD></TR><TR><TD class=storybody><!-- S BO --><!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=226 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> A working device could be used to enhance the acoustics of concert halls </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --><!-- S SF --> Being woken in the dead of night by noisy neighbours blasting out music could soon be a thing of the past. Scientists have shown off the blueprint for an "acoustic cloak", which could make objects impervious to sound waves. The technology, outlined in the New Journal of Physics, could be used to build sound-proof homes, advanced concert halls or stealth warships. Scientists have previously demonstrated devices that cloak objects from microwaves, making them "invisible". <!-- E SF --> "The mathematics behind cloaking has been known for several years," said Professor John Pendry of Imperial College London, UK, an expert in cloaking. "What hasn't been available for sound is the sort of materials you need to build a cloak out of." Sound shield The Spanish team who conducted the new work believe the key to a practical device are so-called "sonic crystals". These artificial composites - also known as "meta-materials" - can be engineered to produce specific acoustical effects. <!-- S IIMA --> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=226 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> Sound waves are channelled around an object by sonic crystals </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <!-- E IIMA --> "Unlike ordinary materials, their acoustic properties are determined by their internal structure," explained Professor Pendry. These would be used to channel any sound around an object, like water flowing around a rock in a stream. "The idea of acoustic cloaking is to deviate the sounds waves around the object that has to be cloaked," said Jose Sanchez-Dehesa of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, one of the researchers behind the new work. He believes a material that consists of arrays of tiny cylinders would achieve this effect. Simulations showed that 200 layers of this metamaterial could effectively shield an object from noise. Thinner stacks would shield an object from certain frequencies. "The thickness depends on the wavelength you want to screen," he told BBC News. Sub systems Dr Sanchez-Dehesa now wants to make and test such a material in the lab to confirm the simulations. But researchers, such as Professor Pendry, believe the initial work is already an important first step. <!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=226 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> Acoustic cloaks could be used to make soundproof rooms or buildings </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --> "It's not an unrealistic blueprint - it doesn't demand that we do extraordinary things," he said. "This is something that can easily be manufactured." If a material could be commercialised, both researchers believe it could have many applications. Walls of the material could be built to soundproof houses or it could be used in concert halls to enhance acoustics or direct noise away from certain areas. The military may also be interested, the researchers believe, to conceal submarines from detection by sonar or to create a new class of stealth ships. However, the material may need to be optimised first. "You don't want to wrap a submarine in something that is heavy and several inches thick," said Professor Pendry. "It would add quite a lot to the Navy's fuel bill, I think." Light touch The research builds on work by scientists from Duke University in North Carolina, US, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. <!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=226 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> Duke University researchers created an invisibility cloak in 2006 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --> Earlier this year, independent teams from the two institutions demonstrated the mathematics necessary to create an acoustic cloak. Other scientists have shown that objects can be cloaked from electromagnetic radiation, such as microwaves. For example, in 2006, scientists at Duke University showed how a small copper cylinder could be rendered invisible from microwaves. The technique used a metamaterial consisting of 10 fibreglass rings covered with copper elements, to deflect the microwaves around the object and restore them on the other side. To an observer it looked like the microwaves had passed straight through the cylinder. Other researchers hope to build the holy grail of cloaking: an invisibility device that would channel light at wavelengths normally visible to the eye. However, this technology is in a more primitive state, according to Dr Sanchez-Dehesa. "We believe the acoustic cloak is more feasible than a similar device for light," he said.<!-- E BO --> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Diksa is a matchless gift bestowed upon us from above, the spiritual truth of KRSNA manifesting/descending in our whole being as pure transcedental knowledge making us servants of KRSNA, and thereby eligible for pure love: KRSNA prema.

Real Religion is not Man-made by Swami B.G. Narasingha <TABLE cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=3 width=900 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle width=1758 colSpan=2> During a recent visit to Europe I had some informal discussions about religious conceptions with other Gaudiya Vaisnavas and I was surprised to hear some devotees speak about such groups as the Sufis, Whirling Dervishes, Jews, Christians, Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims as being deeply ‘surrendered’ souls. Of course, generally speaking this may be true – but surrendered to what? I would like to point out in this article that sraddha [faith], saranagati [surrender] and seva [service] are spiritual substances and activities that are only transcendental when in direct connection to Krsna and that the popular religions of today’s world are but the continuation of a Vedic heresy that began long, long ago in ancient times. The first point is that dharma [real religion] is given by God himself – dharman tu saksat bhagavat pranitam. Real religion is not man-made. Dharma is the knowledge and activities of the intrinsic relationship that exists between Krsna and all living entities eternally. This is sometimes called sanatana-dharma, eternal religious principles. In a word sanatana-dharma has been summed up as seva, or the living entities relationship of service to the Supreme Being. Therefore, so-called service to various deities or to icons that are conjured by man can never be considered seva in the true sense of the word. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura once commented on the situation of spirituality in India that, "At present many false meanings have been imported into the word devotion. Regard for one’s parents, loyalty to man, obedience to the teacher, etc, pass as bhakti.” (Sarasvati Thakura, lecture, Vrndavana 1928) In a similar way one can say about western spirituality that all sorts of misconceptions and innovations have also been passed off as spiritual practices, devotion, service, love of God, etc, when in fact they are not. In Sanskrit the root word bhaj means to serve. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has pointed out by quoting the Garuda Purana in Bhakti-Tattva-Viveka, Ch.1 as follows: “The word bhakti is derived from the root verb form bhaj. It is said in the Garuda Purana (Purva-khanda 231.3) bhaj ityesa vai dhatuh sevayam parikirtitah tasmat seva budhaih prokta bhaktih sadhana-bhuyasi “The verbal root bhaj means to render service. Therefore, thoughtful sadhakas should engage in the service of Sri Krsna with great endeavor, for it is only by such service that bhakti is born.” The basis of dharma is rooted in transcendental knowledge of the soul [atma], the Supersoul [Paramatma] and the Personality of Godhead [bhagavan]. In reality no such knowledge of the soul, the Supersoul or the Personality of Godhead exists in the world’s popular mundane religions. Therefore, intelligent human beings do not accept the popular mundane religions as transcendental. Referring to the scriptures of the world’s religions in the west, Sarasvati Thakura commented as follows: "Senselessly killing living beings simply for the purpose of pleasure is fundamental to all these religions. Unlike the transcendental words of the Vedas, none of these paths are eternal. Therefore, one who deliberates upon these scriptures will naturally develop doubt about them since they lack a solid foundation." (Sarasvati Thakura, purport, Cc. Adi 17.169) Additionally, sraddha and saranagati [faith and surrender] presuppose seva. First surrender, then serve: tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya. This surrender means far more than one’s strict obedience to a master or teacher of a particular technique or thought. Surrender means, complete obedience to the will of Krsna and not to that of anything else. First surrender [pranipatena] then serving mood [sevaya] manifests. And to surrender one must have faith, sraddha. If one believes in a particular conception or philosophy that is not a bona-fide siddhanta, or an axiomatic truth regarding the Absolute Truth, then according to sastra [laws and by-laws of dharma] such so-called belief is only a temporary state of mind fabricated under the modes of material nature. Such a mental belief system is not to be confused with sraddha. Real sraddha is not a state of mind influenced by the modes of nature. Sraddha is an influence over the heart that confirms to the living entity the path of devotional service, krsna-bhakti. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written the following in this regard in his Mahaprabhur Siksa, ch 10. The definition of sraddha is this: sraddhah sabde visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya krsne bhakti kaile sarva karma krta haya “By performing transcendental loving service to Krsna, one automatically performs all secondary activities. This confident, firm faith, that is favorable to the execution of devotional service is known as sraddha.” (Cc. Madhya 22.62) To have firm conviction that devotion to Krsna is the only means for the living entity, and that performance of karma and jnana devoid of bhakti are useless. Such a favorable inclination of the heart is called sraddha. Sraddha is a purely spiritual illumination that emanates from the internal energy of Godhead, the hladini-sakti, Sraddha-devi. This energy as it is, knows no Lord and master other than Krsna and therefore sraddha does not come to the living entities to reveal any lesser gods or masters. As Srila Sridhara Maharaja has said, “Sraddha is the halo of Srimati Radharani and saranagati is the halo of Krsna.” Sraddha reveals Krsna [Visnu] and no other. However, if one finds oneself following or appreciating man-made religions, such as those of the Abrahamic tradition, then this is due to one’s own misfortune and karma and not due to the guiding revelations of sraddha. In brief, sraddha has been described by some of Gaudiya Vaisnava’s greatest acaryas as the halo of Srimati Radharani and the firm conviction that by serving Krsna all other purposes will be served. The numerous so-called religions of the world that exist outside the Vedic system are not transcendental because they have no real connection to the Absolute Truth. Over time the proponents of these major world religions have done much harm to the world and deceived a multitude of people by engaging them in impious activities and all in the name of ‘good faith.’ If one deeply studies western theology and the history of religion one will discover that all contemporary religious thought has originated from the time of the Rg-Vedic civilization. These religious thoughts however did not come to the world as wholesome theology but rather as a Vedic heresy. The first heresy of this kind was Zoroastrianism that gained a following in the western frontiers of the Rg-Vedic civilization, namely in Iran, before the Rg-Veda was written. Zoroaster the founder of Zoroastrianism preached a doctrine of monotheism but he did not accept the monotheistic God [Visnu] of the Vedas. Zoroaster instead put forward the worship of the Asuras [demons] and proposed Ahura [Asura] Mazda as the Supreme Deity. Zoroaster also created other anti-Vedic conceptions to embellish his new religion and Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains them in Tattva-viveka: "Zarathustra [Zoroaster] is a very ancient philosopher. When his philosophy found no honor in India, Zarathustra preached in Iran. It was by the influence of Zarathustra’s ideas that Satan, an equally powerful rival to God, made his imaginary appearance first in the religion of the Jews and then in the religion based on the Koran. Then, influenced by Zarathustra's idea of two Gods, the idea of three gods, or a ‘Trinity’ made its appearance in the religion [Christianity] that had come from the Jewish religion. "At first, three separate gods were concocted in the philosophy of Trinity. Later, learned scholars were no longer satisfied with this, so they made a compromise stating that these three concocted gods were God, the Holy Ghost, and Christ." (Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Tattva-viveka 1/21) Several thousand years after Zoroaster, in approximately 500 BCE, the Persian Empire brought the Zoroastrian ideas of monotheism to Judea. In Judea the Jews abandoned their many pagan deities and adopted the idea of one God whom they called Yaweh, the tribal god of the Mountains or the god of Abraham. The idea that there is one Supreme God took hold in Judea but, as with the followers of Zoroastar, who the Supreme God was eluded them. Prior to that time all Mediterranean cultures of the ancient world had been pagan in their beliefs. From monotheism, first being introduced into Judaism by the Persians, later Christianity developed and then Islam developed along those lines. But in no case was the nature, characteristics and personality of Godhead clearly known. In some circles of western Vaisnavas, ideas abound about personalities such as Jesus Christ being an incarnation of Lord Brahma, Lord Balarama or even Srila Prabhupada being an incarnation of Jesus. These ideas have no sastric basis and devotees should be cautious about accepting ideas and conclusions that are contrary to the opinions of previous acaryas. Thus, all the so-called religions west of the Indus River can rightfully be called a heresy, of a heresy, of a heresy of the Vedic religion. This continuous unfolding of man, adding to and subtracting from real religion, is a process that continues to the present day in the name of the Protestant Church and New Age Religions. Unfortunately, none of these said heresies represent the Supreme Godhead, or do anything except deceive the living entities about the ultimate goal of life. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>