melvin

Dear Viji,

Yes, Lord Visnu should always be remembered.

When we wake up from our slumber, we should

remember Him as if He were sleeping with us

in bed all through the night. You see, this

realization came upon me when I saw the Lord

next to my pillow. I had a rough day before.

Problems here and problems there. And I

thought that it would never end, like a

nightmare. As my habit, however, I always

try to read before bedtime until the sandman

from the neitherland sends me off to dream-

land. And I did slept well inspite of some

ER (emergency) calls in the dead of the

night. Thus, when I finally made up my bed

when the sun came up, there I realized that

I have slept with the Lord, or with a hard-

bound book, so to speak, entitled The Tea-

chings of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. After

having gone through a horrible time when I

saw the Lord, it made me cry.

How good and all-merciful is the Lord. He

is Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, my worshipa-

ble Lord Visnu.

 

Hare Krishna

-------------

YES! your absolutely correct, my dear Viji.

This Krishna virus is most beneficial to

all who are concerned. You see, during those

times when I was still contributing articles

to The Freeman about Krishna consciousness,

many weired events had occurred days before

and after I sent those transcendental

articles which I copied from the purports of

Srila Prabhupada in the book Srimad Bhagava-

tam. Journalism and newspapering is a field

where it involves almost everything, from

politics, economics, religion, sports, arts,

education, medicine, environment, and etc.

It has something to do with Quantum Physics,

that the results of the Olympic games may

affect a decision on a particular case or

jurisprudence, outside of what is supposed

to be just an entertainment. The Olympic

games and any other sports for that matter

affects the people`s way of thinking. That

the country who earns the most number of

golds may actually can be considered the

most powerful nation in the world, isn`t it?

So that was how I observed everytime I sub-

mit a Krishna conscious article to a publi-

cation, hoping the editor would have it

published for all to read and hear Govin-

da`s(Krishna) name and His pastimes.

At first, when I started to have those ar-

ticles of Swami Prabhupada printed, the

Freeman readers thought that it was me who

wrote them. The fact is that I copied these

purports or commentaries of His Divine

Grace approriate enough to answer a particu-

lar issue in that newspaper for the entire

week. The impact was spectacular because

even the Bishops of the Catholic Church had

no way of defeating those arguments written

by Prabhupada himself. What a way to go be-

cause they thought I was the one of wrote

those commentaries.

Thus, everytime, a Krishna conscious article

gets printed in the newspaper, everyone

thinks it`s somekind of an alien or virus,

afraid of being infected if they continue to

read and follow its instructions. Having

linked it to the HIV virus, the owners and

stockholders of The Freeman therefore had

no choice but to totally ban its publica-

tion for fear there might be a howl of pro-

tests from the religious.

Hence, when they finally cremated my column,

a Grain of Devotion, my make believe world

came to an end. I was no longer Naradadeva

Bhagavan but the Melvin, the plagiarist.

A person treated as if he was infected with

Hansen`s disease(Leprosy).

It`s really a sad story, and everytime I

thought about it, my dear Viji, my heart

aches of knowing that people do not really

care about God, Lord Govinda(Krsna). They

would rather worship the Abstract instead

of the paying attention to the beautiful

smiling face of Lord Visnu.

 

Hare Krishna

-----------

 

my dear viji,

i`m not really feeling well today. i`m

caught with a respiratory infection

three days ago. everytime i have this

problem, i immediately remember the erup-

tion of Mt. Pinatubo, a dormant volcano

located in the northern Philippines which

erupted in the `90s considered to be the

largest blast in the history exploding

volcanoes. The ash that was spewed by Mt.

Pinatubo into the air even reached the

uppermost layer of the sky, distributing

its product from the earth`s core through-

out the world, therefore, thining further

the earth`s ozone layer, thus, leaving a

big hole on the earth`s atmosphere.

everytime i therefore cough, " Ubo..ubo.."

i`m reminded of Mt. Pinatubo, seven days

after i wrote an article to The Freeman

about a symptom, Cough, and that it`s

caused by a virus. and all along i had been

telling them that the word, Krishna, is

the virus and i had been infected with It.

and that the moment one loads the article

into anybody`s file, anything goes.

P.S. i`m sorry for the mistake. true, Maha-

raja Pariksit`s mother was Uttara. but the

word Kuntidevi could also be correct if

Uttara was a maidservant of Queen Kunti.

thus the name, Kuntidevi, Radhadevi, Sita-

devi, etc.

 

Hare Krishna

------------

Maharaja Pariksit, in Srimad Bhagavatam,

is The Examiner because he was always

looking for that Supreme Person he saw

while he was still inside the womb of his

mother, Kuntidevi. That Supreme Person

protected Maharaja Pariksit from the heat

unleashed from the Brahmastra weapon re-

leased by Asvatthama, the son of Drona-

carya. This nuclear weapon(Brahmastra) was

directed at Maharaja Pariksit while still

inside his mother`s womb. To prevent Maha-

raja Pariksit from being aborted from his

mother`s womb because of this powerful

Brahmastra weapon released by Dronacarya`s

son, Kuntidevi- Pariksit`s mother there-

fore prayed to Lord Krishna, the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, for protection.

Thus, Lord Krishna, immediately appeared

inside Kuntidevi`s womb in order to protect

Maharaja Pariksit from the blast of Asvat-

thama`s nuclear weapon, the Brahmastra.

While Lord Krishna was busy deciminating

the heat of the Brahmastra to prevent Ma-

haraja Pariksit from being burned, the

latter saw Him, Lord Krishna, in His Visnu

form showing His four hands carrying res-

pectively, a conchshell, mace, lotus flower,

and a disc. It was therefore this Visnu-

form of Lord Krishna which Maharaja Parik-

sit couldn`t forget from the time he was

inside the womb of his mother until the

time he was cursed by the son of a Brahmana,

that he would die after seven days after

being bitten by a poisonous snake. Because

of this, Maharaja Pariksit fasted for seven

days without taking in any food or water,

using this opportunity to hear Srimad Bhaga-

vatam from a pure devotee of Lord Krishna,

whom we know as Sukadeva Goswami, the son

of Sri Vyasadeva, the compiler of the Vedas.

Srimad Bhagavatam was written by Vyasadeva

because Srila Narada Muni wanted the great

author to do so. The great sage Narada Muni

took compassion on Vyasadeva because the

latter was not satisfied after he wrote the

book Mahabharata.

Maharaja Pariksit therefore is called The

Examiner because it was from Sukadeva Gos-

wami that he finally found the Supreme Per-

son whom he saw while inside the womb of

his mother, Kuntidevi.

We should, in other words, follow Maharaja

Pariksit`s footsteps if we want to see, face

to face, Lord Krishna, the Supreme Person-

nality of Godhead.

May all of you, devotees of God, pass the

test. So, good luck in your exams.

 

Hare Krishna!

 

-------------

 

my dear devotees of Krishna,

I`m so sorry to have brought up this

topic. It would have been best if it

was taken lightly. You see, this idea

came upon me after I read in the news

of a Russian nuclear powered submarine,

Krusk, that sunk 108 meters deep in

the Artic Ocean last month. It was a

metaphor to someone I know after he

gave a reaction to what I wrote.

Of course, Lord Kapila, the Son of Deva-

huti is my worshippable Lord. He is

Krishna who taught the Sankya philosphy

in order to equalize the Mayavada phi-

losophy of the Abstract taught by the

atheist Kapila( Sankarakarya).

 

----

 

my dear jndas,

i`m so glad of you to be back

sharing to us your devotional

instructions about the Lord.

I realized He is always with

us in this very wonderful web

site. He`s present in the e-

mail page. You see, the letters

I wrote in it during the past

days regarding my present situa-

tion had been favorably answered

by Him. I don`t know how our

worshipable Lord Krishna does

these things but I have always

observed around me His works of

protecting the devotee who is

fully surrendered unto Him. The

results are so Divine that one

never forgets His lotus feet in

every step His devotee makes just

to please Him. I have never seen

anything like Lord Krishna`s e-

mail. It`s the topmost e-mail in

cyber space. Hence, anyone who

uses It goes home, back to Krishna.

How I wish to see you there.

 

------

 

 

Dear Viji,

If and when you have the time and logis-

tics to visit my place: 21 Habagat Street,

Gentle Breeze Subdivision, Banilad, Cebu

City, Philippines 6000, Tel. No. 344-0576,

then I would take you to that losts sites

of Narayana. It`s here. It`s only that my

people doesn`t know this because they

don`t have the transcendental eyes to see

the Lord HImself(Krishna-Balarama) in His

original forms.

You see, I had been asking myself why my

people go to Rome or other sites of pil-

grimage just to see the Lord, when all the

time, He`s here with us since time immemo-

rial.

There had been stories of His keepers try-

ing to smuggle Him to Vatican by placing

Him inside a safe and shipped to Rome.

But when His keepers arrived, they were

shocked as they opened the safe that the

Lord was no longer there. Thus, when they

got back, they found the Lord, smiling,

in His rightful place. Again, they attem-

ted to ship Him again to Rome. This time,

they cut His legs and feet, and hid Him

inside a big leather box, wrapped around

with big chains. When His keepers arrived

to their destination, the Lord was not

inside, when they opened the big leather

box for the nth time.

That`s why the Lord wears golden boots

because of this incident.

There are countless of stories about the

Lord`s inconceivable pastimes being told

repeatedly by my people. The only error

is that they do not know He is Krishna.

All of us know that He is our Little Boy

Saint, the Sr. Santo Nino.

 

------

 

Asuri Brahmana is the atheist Kapila

who taught his disciples meditational

yoga by letting them meditate on the

abstract features of the Absolute Truth,

Sri Govinda.

Asuri Brahmana`s philosophy is related

to Sankarakarya`s philosophy of imperso-

nalism, whose disciples are taught, if

they want to achieve mukti(liberation),

to concentrate their thoughts on an object

that have no life. It`s like looking at

Picasso`s abstract paintings. I`d rather

watch that`s real. That way, it makes my

mind more relax, instead of watching at

somebody that`s fractured and twisted.

Orthopedic surgeons know this. A broken

bone should never be allowed to heal

without being restored to its proper lo-

cation or place.

Asuri Brahmana, in other words, is like

a quack doctor trying to restore a broken

bone without using an x-ray to make an

accurate diagnosis.

----

 

Dear Viji,

Thanks for the encouragement for me to go

on chanting this most sublime bendiction,

the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra, given to us

by the Lord Himself, Sri Krishna Chaitan-

ya Mahaprabhu. Your pleasing words make

my heart swell. I guess, I have to take a

diuretic to restore it back to normal

again.

 

Haribol!

--------

My dear Krishna,

I may not be around to celebrate your day

together with Your devotees. But You know

that I`m always with You.

I LOVE YOU, my dear Lord.

 

Melvin

------

 

Dear Maram,

Krishna is the Supersoul within every

one`s heart. If you chant Hare Krishna

always, He will protect your delicate

and sensitive heart from failing because

of so many factors, such as: stress, high

blood pressure, fatigue, bad cholesterol,

bad metabolism caused by unhealthy diet,

hormonal imbalance, etc.

Trust me on this. Always chant the Hare

Krishna Maha-Mantra: Hare Krishna Hare

Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare

Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. There

is no greater medicine than this PRANAVA

OMKARA, a prescription to cure any disease

in this age( quarrel and hypocrisy)highly

recommended by the great Physician Himself

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

 

Haribol!

-------

I know I should have not raised this topic

but Asuri Brahamana`s name was associated

with Lord Kapila, the propounder of the

Sankya philosophy, a branch of devotional

yoga that inspires a yogi to meditate on

the smiling face of the Supreme Person Sri

Krishna.

From Srimad Bhagavatam(3.28.33), It says

that with devotion steeped in love, the

yogi should meditate within the core of

his heart upon the laughter of Lord Visnu.

The laughter of Lord Visnu is so captiva-

ting that it can easily be meditated upon.

When the Supreme Lord is laughing, one can

see His small teeth, which resembles jas-

mine buds rendered rosy by the splendore

of His lips. Once devoting his mind to

this, the yogi should no longer to desire

anything else.

By following this course, the yogi gra-

dually develops pure love for the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, Hari(Krishna). In

the course of his progress in devotional

service, the hairs on his body stand e-

rect through excessive joy, and he is con-

stantly bathe in a stream of tears occa-

sioned by intense love. Gradually, even

the mind, which he used to attract the

Lord, as one attracts a fish to a hook,

withdraws from material activity.

When the mind is thus completely freed

from all material contamination and de-

tached from material objectives, it is

just like the flame of a lamp. At that

time the mind actually is dovetailed with

that of the Supreme Lord and is expe-

rienced as one with Him because it is

freed from the interactive flow of material

qualities. Thus, situated in the highest

transcendental stage, the mind ceases from

all material reaction and becomes situated

in its own glory, transcendental to all

material conceptions of happiness and dis-

tress. At that time the yogi realizes the

truth of his relationship with the Supreme

Personality of Godhead. He discovers that

pleasure and pain as well as their inter-

actions, which he attributed to his own

self, are actually due to the false ego,

which is a product of ignorance.

The body of such liberated yogi, along

with the senses, is taken charge of by the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, and it

functions until its destined activities are

finished. The liberated devotee, being a-

wake to his constitutional position and

thus situated in samadhi, the highest per-

fectional stage of yoga, does not accept

the by-products of the material body as his

own. Thus he considers his bodily activi-

ties of a body in a dream.

In other words, whatever situation you`re

in, whether you are sick with cancer or in-

fected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS

( Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), it

is best if you can still find to get a good

laugh at yourselves with the Supreme Lord

Sri Krishna. That way, you will all be

freed from diseases and old age.

 

Haribol!

--------

 

 

Pranava Omakara

---------------

 

AUM is the transcendental sound where all

the other sounds manifest because it re-

presents GOD whose name is KRISHNA.

Then IT multiplied into unlimited forms,

sar, ga, ma, pa, da, ni, or do, re, mi,

fa, sol, la, ti, etc.

In the COSMOS, these various, unlimited

sounds, as GOD desired, entertwined to

form a specific kind of sound which when

arranged with the others formed a speci-

fic kind of sound, unique in itself but

not independent from its original sound,

AUM.

The AUM sound KRISHNA therefore is the

CAUSE of why the UNIVERSE or COSMOS is

filled with unlimited, individual sounds

called the LIVING ENTITIES.

Since each living entity invokes a unique

sound not independent of the original ONE

did it pleased GOD because He can now use

this specific sound for His musical com-

position that would make the universe

dance in ecstasy.

There were, however, living sounds which

wanted INDEPENDENCE from GOD AUM or

KRISHNA because of wanting to sound like

KAMSA, HIRANYAKSA, RAVANA, HIRANYAKASIPU,

PUTANA, ASURA, MAYA DANAVA, SISUPALA,

and so many others in its fold. The result

therefore was disastrous because when GOD

wanted to play His favorite tune, the

sounds which took shape became the sound

called NOISE. And because of it, the move-

ment of the universe became chaotic, the

planets collided because of the TRAFFIC,

orbits or pathways obliterated.

NOISE in other words is the cause of the

disease called CANCER.

Lord Krishna Chaitanya`s SANKIRTANA-YAZNA

movement of chanting unoffensively this

great musical composition: HARE KRISHNA

mantra is the only way to restore harmnoy

in the universe because it eliminates

the NOISE which causes ONE to acquire the

disease called CANCER.

I`m therefore inviting you all in this

forum to sing with me this very beautiful

musical sound. One... two... ready.......

HARE KRISHA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA

HARE HARE/ HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA

HARE HARE... OK... again.... louder.....

please.. HARE KRISHNA... HARE KRISHNA....

KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE... HARE RAMA..

HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE... HARE. Again.

.... HARE KRISHNA.. HARE KRISHNA........

...JAYA PRABHUPADA... HARE KRISHNA... JA.

JAYA PRABHUPADA... HARE KRISHNA....OK..

slowly... slowly... humm... AUM NAMO BHA-

GAVATE VASUDEVAYA... STOP!

Then together we chant: ALL GLORIES TO SRI

CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU`S Sankirtana Yazna

Movement because IT`s the ONLY cure for

the disease called NOISE or CANCER....hum

a very nice tune... UHMMMM...uhmmm..

THAT`s IT! THAT IS THE FORMULA TO CURE

CANCER. Need not experiment or have IT ap-

proved by the FDA to get a license. IT`S

for FREE... Yehey...!

May all the pharmaceutical companies manu-

facturing anti-cancer drugs go bankrupt..

tee..heee. like ME.

HARIBOL!

 

-------

 

KAPOSI`S SARCOMA

----------------

 

I came to know about Kaposi`s sarcoma,

or cancer of the muscle, when it was

also discovered in patients with AIDS

( Human autoimmune defeciency syndrome).

Although not all AIDS patients have Ka-

posi`s sarcoma, I was interested on it

because of its sound that I came to be

familiar with.

First, there`s this demon, Hiranyakasipu,

the father of Prahlada Maharaja, who was

ultimately killed by Nrsimha, the half-

lion half- human incarnation of Krishna,

when Prahlada was about to be killed by

his demon-father, Hiranyakasipu.

Second, there`s the four Kumara brothers,

who are liberated souls but ultimately

became Krishna`s pure-devotees after they

were attracted to the smell of the tulasi

leaves offered to the Deity of the Lord

in the temple.

Now, think of Kasipu in relation to Kapo-

si and Kumara in relation to Sarcoma.

What picture does these entail in your

minds? Answer: Kasipu`s kumaras, right?

In other words, to cure Kaposi`s sarcoma,

we must cut, with Nrsimha`s nails, the

influence of Kasipu on the Kumara bro-

thers by letting the latter, so to speak,

smell the tulasi flowers offered to the

Deity of Krishna and Balarama in the tem-

ple. Or in medicine, amputate the leg by

surgery, the leg of an AIDS victim with

Kaposi`s sarcoma.

What do you think?

----

 

CANCER

---------------

 

CANCER in the horoscope is represen-

ted by a sea animal in the form of a

crustacean which we all know as the

CRAB, a six or four-legged living en-

tity possessing two well-developed

claws or pinchers used in killing or

holding a captured meal, enemy, or

prey. I have been fascinated with the

animal not only because it tastes

good when cooked in boiling water but

also when it`s an object of study.

In the field of MEDICINE, the word

crab may denote a tiny parasitic ani-

mal that infests on the skin of an in-

fected mammal whose sites of inhabita-

tion can be located on the pubic re-

gion. Those who engaged in promiscuity

usually gets infected by these parasi

tic tiny animals that usually inhabit

the hairs and skin of an infected in-

dividual.

There are many whys you can attri-

bute to the CRAB, but the most horri

ble of all is when you get it as CAN-

CER.

I had been delighted with the CAN-

CER word that sometimes I pronounced

it in my mind this sound, KANSIR, or

KANSR.

In the scripture, The Bible, it

tells us of the WORD that became flesh

ang dwelth amongst us. CHRIST or KRSNA

the WORD became flesh and dwelth a-

mngst us as the SAKTYAVESA-AVATAR, the

empowered indirect incarnation of Sri

Govinda, the Primeval Lord.

Thus, it was only when the condi-

tioned soul became rebellious of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead that

he was cursed with the WORD " KANSR "

within his heart. A person therefore

who wants to be cured of his CANCER

or KANSR should start as soon as pos-

sible to chant Govinda`s holy names

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Kri-

shna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare. I believe in the

power of this Maha-mantra that anyone

who chant IT within his mind and heart

in this age of Kali-yuga shall be libe-

rated by this dreaded WORD named CAN-

CER or KANSR.

 

HARE KRISHNA!

-------------

 

I think we can stop this exploitation from

false teachers in the Kali-yuga age by al-

ways distributing Prabhupada`s works to

a great number of people by publishing them

on newspapers with credible reputation. In

fact when Prabhupad was struggling to have

his Back to Godhead published in the news-

paper, nobody criticized him if these were

not read. Prabhupada did not said that it

was offensive to have his works published

in the newspaper. If we could therefore

publish Prabhupad`s English translation and

the purports in his book, Srimad Bhagavatam

and Bhagavad-gita As It Is, say, in the New

York Times, then I feel it`s worthwhile

that the mission of distributing Krishna

consciousness to everyone has been served.

Just think of the possibilities if all the

daily newspapers get to publish Prabhupad`s

works on a weekly basis, then Bhaktivinoda

Thakura`s mission of inundating Krishna

consciousness to the whole world would have

been served. Isn`t this invigorating to

know we have a great task ahead to make it

work?

I had been doing this task since 1988 when

I started writing a column, " A Grain of

Devotion" in The Freeman, a daily newspaper

in our area where I am one of its subscri-

bers. But this column was stopped when they

later found out that I was not a member of

ISKCON, Inc. And they thought I was a char

latan. When that column written by a pseu-

donym, Naradadeva Bhagavan, was erased, I

then found other things to do with writing

when I went into writing articles just any

thing under the sun. Although from time to

time I get to write about Krishna but this

time using my real name: Dr. Melvin G.

Mabalay. By writing my name on my articles

which got published in The Freeman about

Krishna consciousness, everyone who read

my articles kept questioning me what is

truly the kind of religion I had been prac

ticing, whether I was practicing Catholi-

cism or what not. Then I responded by tel-

ling them that the Patron Saint, Sr. Sto.

Nino, or the Holy Child we had been wor-

shiping since time immemorial is no other

than Govinda Himself, based on the discrip-

tions which I showed them Prabhupad`s book,

Srimad Bhagavatam. All along I have been

trying to sell them Krishna who as the Sr.

Sto. Nino is my people`s worshipable Lord.

But they would not listen. So, I just had

to look for another place where people

might accept this idea. Like a salesman, I

was taken to this venue, where I was very

sure poeple would accept this idea, that

our Patron Saint in Cebu, Philippines, the

Sr. Sto. Nino is no other than Krishna.

I had been trying to convince anyone to

please conduct a research on this issue so

that, at last, I will have that peace of

mind I had been longing to obtain. That my

friend, relatives, parents, and everyone

in our place would finally think I`m not

crazy after all. If only I can have my pu-

blication in The Freeman back once again,

then that would be the day when the Angels

in Heaven would finally sing.

 

---------

dear viji,

thank you so much for the message. i

was just venting out my pent-up emo-

tions to you and everyone on this fo-

rum. in fact, God Krishna knows this

already even if i have not started

posting this emotions of mine on the

bulletin board. God in His thinking

form is manifstd as Vasudeva. in His

emotional form, God is represented

as Sankarsana, and God in His acting

form is representd as Balarama. God

therefore is a cognizant Person and

very much an individual, like us.

Only, He, as Krishna or Govinda, is

the greatest amongst us. He is one

without a second and that`s why we

refer to Him as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

(Supreme Living Force) because of

His being the Cause of all causes.

May our Supreme Guru have mercy on

us all. As always, hare krishna.

my dear viji,

to be honest with you, i have a son, marco

nino, 16 years old, who is graduating in

high school next year in pope john xxiii

seminary, a school designed to those who

want to become priests, as a vocation for

persons who want to serve God. before this,

marco`s elder brother, matthew, 18 yrs. of

age, wanted to become a priest but later

changed his mind before his graduation in

the seminary to the consternation of his

parents, his priest-responsible, and the

referral of good passage to the college

level, san carlos seminary, from the minore

seminary director himself, monsignor elias

matarlo. matthew now is taking up electro-

nics communication engineering at the uni-

versity of san jose recolletos. thus, i

have two sons, marco nino and matthew, who

are both schooled in the seminary. i don`t

know with marco if he wants to proceed but

he confided to us that he`s planning to go

to med school after his graduation in the

seminary.

my wife, cecil, is a devout catholic and

the family hears mass on sundays whenever

i`m not on duty at the hospital, minglanil-

la district hospital, where i work as a

resident physician for almost seven years

now. we have a daughter, melsa reina, 9

years of age, who is on her 3rd grade of

study at st. joseph`s academy. my wife

is a full time housewife, thus it`s hard

for us, nowadays, because my income($400

per month) is just not enough to make both

ends meet. with the many debts piling up

i guess you`d say i`m in death row, wai-

ting for the grim reaper to appear before

me. because of this, i have fully surren-

dered myself to God. He can do what He

likes with me. I don`t mind. All I desire

is render service to Him life after life

by writing articles about His pastimes

and His mission: Krishna consciousness. I

don`t want anything from God but at least

He should be more merciful to the children.

You see, I have lost credibility, when I

couldn`t pay the monthly dues from my cre-

ditors. the cardnetwork is so effective

that everytime i have attempted to apply

for a visa card, i always get this message,

" sorry, we can`t accomodate you at this

time." i know that God Hari, takes from

you inauspicious things and leave you what

is essential for your spiritual progress.

my dear friend viji, i`m telling you this

because you understand human nature. i`m

no superperson. i too have weaknesses the

body sometimes can`t refuse. my lord, i`m

nothing and in my deepest melachonly, i

hope you will always be there for me. as

always, hare krishna. i love you and take

care.

 

----

my dear viji,

the lost sites of narayana are there, one

which in my conviction is actually here

in the island, cebu, of my birth. once

this is realized, everything will follow.

like swami prabhuapada, when asked by a

utility worker while sitting alone on a

bench in new york that the temples of

lord jagannatha were there, and it was

only time that separated them from beco-

ming real. between this interim, a pure-

devotee of vasudeva should go from one

door to door hoping the residents would

agree with him that they, too, render de-

votional service to the supreme lord and

become krishna conscious. there`s nothing

impossible with the supreme living force,

lord chaitanya mahaprabhu, because if all

would take to chanting the holy names of

god with pure love and devotion, those

lost sites of lord narayana, in time,

would automatically be revealed. please

do assist me on this mission. i can`t do

it on my own. an anthropologists can`t un-

cover the lost tomb of a great pharoah

without the help of an egyptian curator

and his men. so is this journey. a jet

pilot can`t fly his aircraft without his

navigator and so are we, if there`s no

local native to guide us through the fo-

rest, mountains, or desert where these

lost sites of narayana are located. thank

you very much therefore for your concern.

as always, hare krishna.

----

 

my dear viji,

you are a pure-devotee of god. thank you

so much for the association. i hope that

we continue to post each other god`s

messages he has sent us for us to share

with our brothers and sisters in krishna.

take care, my friend. we only pass this

way once and getting to know you out of

the billions of living being inhabiting

this planet is no coincidence. we have

met before and lord krishna by his in-

conceivable power have united us to this

post. good speed my good friend.

 

---

my dear viji,

first of all i would like to greet you

a happy day. may the good lord, hari,

bless you today in whatever you do. may

he protect your family, parents, relat-

ives, community, co-workers, and friends

from harm. and may your health be sound

and fit to tackle each day lord vasude-

va have tasked you to do: preach the

good news to all men and women of good-

will that they should come down from

their peaceful nests and go where the

battle of good and evil has manifest,

putting on their bodies the armour of

love, devotion and care as each embraces

the wounded, enemy or friend, by clean-

sing the wounds and repairing the gaps

of those who have experienced the pain

of being hit by a bullet, sword, and

shrapnels of an exploding bomb or gre-

nade. let us be thankful therefore that

we are not one of them who have suffered

so much just to defend a principle they

since time immemorial have practiced to

their best of ability to have this

principle protected and nurtured even if

the dignity they sought to maintain has

been taken away from them because of

this mindless war where almost everyone

are trying to outdo each other just so

they could plunder and steal what they

do not own.

everything is owned by the supreme per-

sonality of godhead, sri krishna, and it

is only right that he takes it back from

us those that we don`t need for our de-

votional service to him.

to a pure devotee of lord narayana, no

one is christian, muslim, or hindu, nor

an atheist, agnostic, buddhist, etc.

since all from his point of view are

but part and parcel of the supreme

whole, sri govinda, the primeval lord.

it is not for me, therefore, to judge

who is who, or which is which, or what

is what. it`s only krishna who has the

final say in all of these paradoxes of

life. so, let us be comrades one but

simultaneously different although the

mission is the same: to help those who

have fallen stand up again, preach, in

action and words, the good news of

chrisna jesus, " come and follow me. "

krishna prabhupada jesus is the only

way, the truth, and life( a mantra for

all ).

 

------

 

The word Prabhupada is a term of ut-

most reverence in Vedic religious cir-

cles, and it signifies a great saint

even amongst saints. The word actually

has two meanings: first, one at whose

feet(pada) there are many Prabhus( a

term meaning "master" which the disci-

ples of a guru used in adressing each

other). The second meaning is one who

is always found at the lotus feet of

the Supreme Master, Krishna. In the line

of disciplic succession through which

Krishna consciousness is conveyed to man

kind there have been a number of figures

of such spiritual importance as to be

called Prabhupada.

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhupada execu-

ted the will of His master, Sri Chaitan-

ya Mahaprabhu, and therefore he and his

associate Goswami are called Prabhupa-

da. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saravasti Go-

swami Thakura executed the will of Sri-

la Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and therefore

he is also addressed as Prabhupada.

My spiritual master, Om Visnupada

108 Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Ma-

haraja, has in the same way executed

the will of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sara-

vasti Goswami Prabhupada in carrying

the message of love of Krishna to the

whole world through his books, Srimad

Bhagavatam and Srimad Bhagavad-gita,

which he urged everyone, from Brahma

down to the sudras, to at least, deve-

lope an interest in reading his pur-

ports, explaining each and every sans-

krit verse the way how a Prabhu should

teach his disciples.

When Abhay Charan de Bhaktivedanta

Swami Prabhupada left for Vaikunthaloka

where Lord Narayana resides, he told one

of his disciples, Satsvarupa dasa Gos-

mi, that he is spiritually present in

his books(vani) and he who gradually de-

velopes the unconditional love for stu-

dying and reading his books surely will

be united with him, the words spoken

by Prabhupada becoming animated in the

disciple`s mind. Thus as, vani, His Di-

vine Grace becomes alive within one`s

heart and mind when his book is read.

In other words, there`s no need to

look for Srila Prabhupada outside since

he is transcendentally present inside

his books as Srimad Maha-Bhagavatam Swa-

mi Prabhupad, the Kalki-avatar for this

so-called New Age.

Yes, it`s true that chanting the Hare

Krishna maha-mantra is the only way to

purify one`s self from the contamination

of this Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy,

but finding a spiritual teacher to teach

him about the science of Krishna cons-

ciousness is hard to do. That`s why it`s

recommended that one who is interested

in going home, back to Godhead, to just

read Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada`s

books with sincerity and devotion. Even

if one is just a sudra, Prabhupada will

always finds him a window by which the

purports in his books, Srimad Bhagava-

tam and Bhagavad-gita As It Is, could

be understood.

Kali-kali nama-rupe Krishna Avatara:

Krishna, the Supreme Personality of God-

head, has now appeared as an incaran-

tion by His holy name, Sri Prabhupada.

 

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya Sri Prabhu-

pada Swami Bhaktivedanta Guru Maharaja.

 

-----------------------------

It was about 12 years ago when I star-

ted promoting Krishna consciousness to

my people because I was firmly convinced

that the Senyor Sto. Nino was Krishna Him-

self, the Holy Child enshrined at the Ba-

silica Minore del Santo Nino in Cebu City,

Philippines, after offering to my people

evidences of His discription from Srimad

Bhagavatam. But they have none of it be-

cause the Church thinks otherwise.

Like a salesman in Og Mandino`s book, the

Greatest Salesman, I was bound to be the

opposite of what it was supposed to be.

It`s like wanting to own a new pair shoes

desperately until, one day, while walking

along a busy street, he saw his old bud-

dy on a wheelchair without his feet.

Similarly, Dhruva Maharaja wanted to pos-

ses some land, but when he saw Lord Ke-

shava living on water, little boy Dhruva

eventually refused to accept the Lord for

any benediction.

I, too, wanted a Visa so that I could tra

vel to places in order to find the Lord,

but when, one day, I went inside the Basi

lica Minore del Santo Nino, I found out

that the Lord , Who was actually present

before me, was indeed living in the area

where I was actually born.

Now, I`m here because I wanted to promote

to you, the Santo Nino, because I`m 100%

sure He is no other than Krishna`s twin

Brother, Lord Balarama.

I don`t know. My people rejected me when

I wanted to convince them that the Holy

Child of Cebu was no other than Lord

Krishna. Maybe, you, too, are not convin-

ced, if I declare to all of you at www.

indiadivine.com that the Lord Senyor Sto.

Nino, Whom I told to my people is Lord

Krishna, may not be good for you if I say

that He is Lord Balarama. If you reject

me with this reason, then where will I

go?

What a great mystery indeed is God, Lord

Govinda. Only a pure-devotee surrendered

to the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

Vasudeva can know him in full: Vasudeva

sarvam iti sa mahatma sudarlabha.

I might as well just chant: Hare Krishna

Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

 

End of Story

 

 

The Sto. Nino of Cebu

---------------------------

 

Spain`s golden age of discovery began after the conquest of Granada; the discovery of

the Philippines in the early 16 th century

was one more link to the glorious chain of

Iberian conquests. On Sept. 20, 1519, a

fleet of five galleons under the command of

Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator

at the service of the Spanish Crown, set

sail from Lucar de Barrameda in search of

the Spice Islands. They reached Samar, then

Leyte and finally, Cebu. It was in Cebu that

Magellan took possession of the Islands in

the name of the Spanish King, which Islands

would be named by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos in

1543.

Magellan`s otherwise glorious career was

cut short when he got involved with the

rivalry between native chieftains. On April

27, 1521, he met his tragic death in the

hands of Lapu-lapu while apparently trying

to assert the power of Rajah Humabon.

Upon his arrival in Cebu, Magellan was

said to have planted somewhere near the sea,

as regulated by the Ordenanzas, a big cross

to symbolize the begenning of the Christian

faith in the Archipelago.

The cross, traditionally known as Magel-

lan`s Cross, was encased in hollow tindalo

in 1835 upon the order of the Augustinian

Bishop Santos Gomez Maranon to prevent the

devotees from taking it home chip by chip.

The same bishop restored the present tem-

plate, or kiosk, located at the present Ma-

gellan street and Colegio del Sto. Nino( the

school where I studied from kindergarten to

second year high-school). Revered by the

Cebuanos, the Cross of Magellan is hailed

by tourists as a symbol of the beginning of

Christianity in the Philippines.

 

Finding the Image of the Sto. Nino

----

 

Thinking that the Spanish galleon carried

with them retribution for Magellan`s death,

the natives of Cebu made themselves ready

against the Spaniards. Legazpi`s efforts for

peace- he had explicit instructions from the

King to befriend the natives- failed. Legaz-

pi ordered the ship`s artillery to fire;

promptly the native`s fled to the mountains.

Legazpi`s soldiers set shore. As they

were making a house to house inspection,

soldier Juan Camus found inside a box a

wooden image of the Holy Child. The image

was taken to a provisional chapel where Fray

Undres Urdaneta said a thanksgiving mass

for the success of the expedition, the mis-

sion of which was to Christianize the last

native in the Islands.

The image, observed Fray Urdaneta, was

like those made in Flanders(Belgium)during

the 16th century. It must be the very same

image given by Magellan to Rajah Humabon`s

wife, Hara Amihan, upon her conversion to

Christianity.

The image is refuted to possess miracu-

lous power. Aware of this, King Charles III

awarded it, during the 17th century, the

Toison de Toro or the Golden Fleece. During

the rites held to commemorate the fourth

centennial of the Christianization of the

Philippines in 1965, the Prince Juan Carlos,

now Spain`s reigning monarch, gifted it

with a golden crown.

The image is wooden, covered with a coat

of paint. During the Second World War, the

church was slightly damaged due to the bom-

bings of the Americans. To the relief of

the Santo Nino devotees, their beloved image

was found hanging by its clothes, intact

and entire.

Enshrined at the Basilica Minore side

chapel, the Santo Nino image has its coun-

terparts and replicas all over the Islands.

It has played a very important role in the

conversion of the Filipinos to the Chris-

tian faith.

 

The Sinulog Dance

-----------------------------

 

The Sinulog is a dance ritual of Pre-

Spanish origin. The dancer moves two steps

forward and one step backward to the rhyt-

mic sound of the drums. This dance resembles

somewhat the current(sulog) of the river.

Thus the Cebuanos call it sinulog. The

dance was meant to honor the anitos and di-

watas.

When the Spanirds arrived in Cebu, Magel-

lan offered, as a baptismal gift, to Hara

Amihan, wife of Rajah Humabon and later

named Juana, the image of the Santo Nino.

With Magellan gone, the natives likewise

honored the Santo Nino with their sinulog.

Because the Augustinian missionaries

appreciated native culture, the sinulog was

preserved but limited to honoring the Santo

Nino. Once the Santo Nino Church was built,

the faithful started performing the sinulog

in front of the church, the devotees offe-

ring candles and the dancers shouting, "

Pit Senyor!"

During the annual feast( 3rd week of

January) of the Santo Nino, the basilica

turns into a dancing hall after the solemn

mass, with all the devotees executing the

sinulog. The dance continues during the

procession in front of the carroza(cart)

which bears the statue along the streets of

Cebu up to the late evening.

In 1980, the city authorities of Cebu

made the sinulog part and parcel of the

religious feast of the Santo Nino. A mardi

gras atmosphere was added, the innovation

becoming more colorful each year. The reli-

gious and the earthy sometimes overlap each

other but, as a whole, there is much fun

for Cebuanos and tourists alike who find in

the Santo Nino festival that part of every

one`s childhood that must stay like Santo

Claus and halloween.

To be continued.