jeffster

The issue for me has become quite simple: discerning Reality from illusion and moving towards Reality. jeffster/AMd

I got way too heavily into motorcycles from May '03 onward. My spiritual life nearly disappeared. On 4 April 2008, I had a major crash, necessitating emergency surgery. While hospitalized, they started giving me morphine. I am the kind of personality that should have no meds whatsoever, legal or otherwise. I had a bad reaction to the morphine (this is quite common), and started seeing hellish places. I saw thousands of dead animal carcasses. To this day, I am not sure if these visions were from within my own consciousness or were external. Even though I tried to clean up the visions through my yoga experience (and I did clean them up a bit), I knew I was trapped. Then Krishna literally saved me, and from that time on I have been somewhat more serious. I quit taking meds immediately, quit drinking coffee, and started writing a book before I left the hospital, which is now nearly completed. I just need to print it. An abbreviated version is running on Amazon.com, called Journey to Ecstasy. It is only for the Kindle book reader, however, which few people have. I also now chant my rounds more seriously and have begun reading the books more. But I did buy another motorcycle in Dec., a Suzuki, and I have just started riding again, but I must be careful not to let this form of maya carry me away. Here in this country, motorcycles are for the most part a hobby, not generally used as transport, except by a few commuters and tourers. jeffster/AMd

Lotusflower, You are already ahead of me, by offering these nice MP3 files. I have no direct KC service that I do, although I am still working on a KC (hopefully) book. I am old already, and I still haven't gotten serious yet. Please stay the course, maintain your service, associate with your Gurudev and godbrothers, keep chanting and hearing, and you'll be fine. jeffster/AMd

Hari Bol, Lotusflower, In my own case, fighting maya and battling my own mundane desires is pretty much the same thing. Not that we have to fight maya so much, for she is stronger than we are, being a pure servant of Krishna. We have to sincerely strive for Krishna by chanting His name, offering service, doing some or all of the nine processes of devotional service, or perfecting our practice of at least one of the nine processes. Sravanam, kirtanam, and these are listed first, for a reason, as they are the primary processes designed to free us from material misconception in this present kali age. I was listening to Prabupad chanting on some website that was linked to another devotional site just yesterday, and I had forgotten how powerful this simple process of hearing really is. Just listening to Prabhupad chanting japa. Amazing !! Submissive oral reception. The whole process is really quite simple, we just have to take it. And we must have a firm basis in the philosophical understanding and that comes from reading the books and discussing the issues as is done on this, and other, websites. Hope this helps. jeffster/AMd And Lotusflower, you are also saving me from the maya of motorcycle websites !!

Sometimes, during the course of a long war, the soldiers lose heart, particularly if their general has fallen in battle and become lost to their vision. Also, the stress of continuous assault/defense takes its toll on the very best of fighters. But soldier on we must. You wouldn't have come this far if you were not sincerely desiring factual spiritual life. We must simply encourage each other and understand that we are not alone in the battle, although ultimately we must each "fly his own plane." No one can do this for us, but by standing fast together we can become like a bundle of sticks that is stronger together than any separate stick is on its own. Know that we are truly not alone, and that we will meet Krishna and see guru again when we finally win the war. Then we can relax. And win we must, for what other alternative is there ? Or, if your guru is still on the planet, perhaps more association with him would be a source of encouragement for you. jeffster/AMd What, me relax ? I never laxed in the first place.

Also, we must become genuinely afraid of maya, knowing full well that reaction will come if we step out of line. I have been kicked hard for stepping out of line, as I was not intelligent enough to learn just by hearing, so I had to learn from cruel experience. You may know that Prabhupad said that his western disciples were not afraid enough of maya. jeffster/AMd

Being a home practitioner of sanatana dharma is more difficult than being a congregational member or resident of a temple for the simple reason that you have far less association and far more temptation from external distractions. However, it is possible to practice successfully if you are determined to make spiritual advancement. I have been a home practitioner since leaving temple life in 1980. Follow the regs, chant your mantras, read the books, associate when you can by visiting this forum and going to temple occasionally. As Srila Sridhara Maharaj said, we follow our ideals. So if we can hold to the ideal of suddha-bhakti, than we shall gradually advance to that stage. Make your home into a temple, but more importantly, make your heart into a temple by realizing that the most important thing you can offer Krishna is your self. Good luck !! jeffster/AMd

Hello Sambya 1, I am not an Iskcon apologist; I left Iskcon in 1980 and have been living independently ever since. I only used the Food for Life program as an example. I also don't live in India, so I am not aware about the many other charitable programs that exist there. I am sure that they are valuable, perhaps, as you suggest, more valuable than Iskcon's program, but it is not my place to judge anyone's program. My statement was only made to assure Mr. Kaiserose that transcendentalists have compassion and are not interested in only their own liberation while the rest of the population suffers. But, of course, everyone suffers, due to ignorance, whether they are well fed or not. The best cure for ignorance is knowledge and the best knowledge is that by which we can vanquish samsara. And, yes, we should not preach to the faithless, it is offensive to do so. On the other hand, four kinds of people surrender to Krishna, so perhaps some of these needy people are sincere and can be preached to without offense. jeffster/AMd

Are you attempting to reach Hridayananda Swami ? I believe sometimes he stays in San Luis Obispo, CA, or at least he used to. I am out of touch with what he does currently, but if you are attempting to reach him, please PM me, and I can put you in touch with a couple of devotees in SLO, CA who may know his current whereabouts. jeffster/AMd

Hari Bol, Mahak & AM, If you're not directly listening to kirtan or bhajans, try choiceradio.com in their New Age section. Although not directly spiritual (actually occasionally it is), it is nevertheless quite sattvic in tone. jeffster/AMd

My point was only that by mundane calculation, Srila Prabhupad's occupation as a householder was nothing remarkable. It was Prabhupad's purity and personal sacrifice that moved us. What must have been remarkable was his personal bhajan, and what became even more remarkable, world-shaking even, judging by the result, was his preaching mission, because it could only have been fully sanctioned by the Lord to be so extremely successful in such a short period of time. "Hare Krishna" became a household word, even in the mleccha lands. jeffster/AMd

Kaiserose, You keep missing the point about personal responsibility. We have only ourselves to blame for this excursion through the mayic realms. Whether you like it or not, that's the reality of the situation. Perhaps you should start a mission to Congo, preaching that they should all chant Hare Krishna to ultimately end their suffering by winding down their sojourn through samsara. You can also get purified, then take the issue up directly, face-to-face with Krishna. Paradoxically, if you became purified, you wouldn't have to ask Krishna this question. jeffster/AMd

Theist, you nailed it again with post #80 !! Yes, we love Prabhupad because he is purely loving Krishna, not because of any mundane talent or lack thereof. Remember, as a householder, he was a chemist or what we now call a pharmaceutical manufacturer. Meanwhile, Bhakta Ian has probably perfected his life and already gone back to Godhead. jeffster/AMd

I "blooped" in 1980, after living through part of the Hansadutta era at Berkeley, CA Iskcon. It just got crazier and crazier, although Hansadutta now is mostly O.K. Temple devotees must still think I'm a blooped devotee. Recently, after kirtan and prasad at an Iskcon temple, I was asked to go on Harinam the next day. I told them that we (wife and I) were going back to our "maya world." They kind of believed it, although I was (1/2) jesting. But not to be critical of them, as many in the rank and file are sincere. I am still not exemplary in many ways myself, so I don't believe in being a muck-raker, as the muck, or worse, will often get thrown back in the face of the muckors by the muckees. jeffster/AMd

Bija, that's cuz yer mostly a brahmana ! Brahmanas like liberries. Let's start our own rural ashram !! jeffster/AMd

Well, sir, I reckon that that's a whole 'nuther issue. Since they feel such a need to alter Prabhupad, for, shall we say less than completely pure reasons, usually something to do with establishing authority, often their own, and since some of them have gone back to skool to git their PHDs, ostensibly for preaching purposes, and since Prabhupad said that PHD means "plow department," therefore they should be happy to start rural agrarian ashrams, if for nothing else than survival purposes, as the cities WILL fall, and there may no longer be a place to "pick." Their gurus should man the plows for awhile to set a good example for the rank and file and to practice what they preach by example - PHD - plow department. See ya'all on the farms !! Actually, I'd be stoked to go. jeffster/AMd Dang it, now I've done and gone off topic.

Yes - "harmonize." As much of an art as yoga itself, considered the art of living. jeffster/AMd

Hello Narasingh, Yes, to have exactly the correct response is extremely difficult. I was actually thinking of starting a post about this, but I feel somewhat removed from this forum by virtue of its being internet only. There is no face-to-face tangible association, no prasadam, no kirtan, only this remote form of interaction. It is a little dry and it is easy to hide behind a facade of anonymity. I never did get to actually see Srila Prabhupad in person (isn't that called vapi ?), but in 1986 I travelled for the first time to India for parikram and did manage to sit about 3 or 4 meters away from Srila Sridhara Maharaj and hear him on several occasions. I didn't speak with him personally because I didn't feel that it would have been my place to do so under the circumstances, and I am somewhat shy anyway. Normally, during the course of human interaction, a person either says or does or says and does something inappropriate, but I never saw that in Sridhara Maharaja. His every word and gesture always seemed timely and appropriate. As for the rest of us, we are not always so timely and appropriate. So perhaps our reactions to Mr. Ian may not have been spot on. But we simply didn't feel that Mr. Ian's apparent lack of respect for Prabhupad as a mere "commentator" was appropriate either, especially not for us, many of whom are Prabhupad's disciples. We certainly cannot legislate how other people feel about Prabhupad, but they also may want to consider how their statements affect others like us who are not only favorable to Prabhupad but also eternally indebted to him. But, in general, your point about bible-thumpers is likely warranted. I have been writing a book, and I come up against this issue all the time. How to present Bhagavat philosophy that doesn't sound like hell-fire and brimstone is quite an art, but I am becoming convinced that if we attempt to be too accomodating (sp) to modernists, then something is lost. Yet, at the same time, we must present forceful arguments without seeming too stern. Regards, jeffster/AMd

Hello Kaiserose, Since the jiva has minute independence, he can choose his own course. That is the definition of free will. The wise jivas chose to serve in the kingdom of God. The unwise jivas chose to attempt to dominate, to be false lords, within the confines of matter, or within the confines of misconception, if you prefer. The concomittant distresses within the confines of matter you know from your study of Bhagavat philosophy to be janma, mrityu, jara, vyadi - birth, death, old age and disease. The choice was ours, therefore how can we blame God if we made a wrong choice and are now suffering because of it? Krishna cannot demand our love because love demanded is not love. Love must be freely given. Therefore He endowed us with free will, with minute independence, with the ability to choose to love and serve Him or to serve maya. Either way, serve we must. The choice is still ours; therefore if we choose to end the suffering, we can surrender. You are attempting to blame God for suffering, but if blame must be placed, I blame you and me for our own suffering. We have caused our own suffering through our own ignorance and foolishness. We must accept personal responsibility for it, surrender, and do what we know we must to become reinstated in Krishna's grace and return to His loka. Regards, jeffster/AMd

Kaiserose, I think you may be just playing devil's advocate to get us fired up. Actually, I believe, from previous threads, that you are not actually an atheist, but more of a monist. God does play a role in our daily lives, and we need only read Gita to understand it. I forget the verses, but Krishna says He is the light of the sun and the moon, the taste of water, etc. We need sunlight for the heat and light of our existence and we need sun and moon to help crops grow for our very sustenance (sp?). We need water on a daily basis for our survival, also. So how can we not directly see the hand of God in our daily lives ? How can you possibly say "he is not lifting a finger to help," when, in fact, He certainly is, by maintaining (indirectly) this entire universe. If some soul is not receiving his due share of maintenance (starving kids in Africa, for example), than we can understand that they are lacking something in punya, or sukriti (piety), if you prefer, causing them to suffer some lack. Is that God's doing, that someone has committed some type of sinful activity and they are suffering because of it ? The blame must be placed squarely where it belongs, not on God, but on the errant jiva. Of course, there are other verses for those who are really in denial about the supremacy of Krishna, and they are Gita 9:11-12, which state: "Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be. Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demonic and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities, and their culture of knowledge are all defeated." Regards, jeffster/AMd

Also, we can look at the Gita verse wherein Krishna says "All men follow My path in all respects..." Nothing is separate from Krishna; everything is within Him. It is just that some know it while others don't, and some, knowing it, accept it while others fight it. We just need to "get with the program" voluntarily. jeffster/AMd

Another way of understanding suffering is that suffering only exists in the eka-pad vibhuti (sp?), the 1/4 of the creation that is considered material. There is no suffering in the tri-pad vibhuti, the 3/4 of the creation that is the spiritual kingdom, because all the souls there are surrendered souls, in harmony with the will of the Lord. I believe Prabhupad termed the 1/4 section a "vitiated plane" of existence. I just looked up vitiated; it means "contaminated" or "debased." This is the nature of the material world. So when the renegade soul has desires for independence from the Lord, he is sent to the material world, but ultimately finds it to be a debased realm of suffering and death - martya-loka. It is paradoxical that all our desires for independence only result in suffering and death, but to surrender willingly, to become eager servitors, even willing slaves, if you like, of the Divine Lord Sri Krishna results in an eternal life of knowledge and bliss. jeffster/AMd

Kaiserrose, your questions are certainly valid. That the soul cannot remember his past lives is not the question; the point of suffering is for rectification of character, so that the soul will ultimately give up his illusory desire for independence from the Lord, surrender to the Lord, and thereby become reinstated in the grace of the Lord, in his natural constitutional position as eternal servitor of the Lord. We have simply forgotten our real position as servitor, and run amuck here within the 3 worlds falsely attempting to be the doer, controller, enjoyer, etc. Yes, I have had these questions, also. The Vaishnava idea is of a God-centered society, and that no one living within 10 km of a temple should go hungry. There is food enough for everyone, often the problem is unequal distribution of food. The poor have fewer resources for survival than do the other classes. That is why there is the Food for Life program in temples in certain sections of the world. So there is a compassionate set-up for alleviation of world hunger through prasadam distribution. But we must still understand that it is the conditioned soul's renegade activities that have caused him to be put into these temporary positions of enjoyment and suffering. Ultimately the soul needs to surrender, rather than insisting on his false independence. Upon full surrender he will become reinstated in the eternal plane, and there will be no more question of suffering. Hope this helps. jeffster/AMd

Bija, I believe that most Buddhists believe in cause and effect here within the material world, while they are in a conditioned stage. Only their goal of liberation into a kind of a void is beyond karma, no ? The defect with their philosophy is that if there is no self, who is it discussing that there is no self ? jeffster/AMd

Kaiserose, you are claiming that there "is no source and therefore no one to blame" for the troubles in the world, yet it certainly is convenient to blame God for all the problems of the world, isn't it ? The reasons for the soul's implications within the confines of materialistic misconception have been discussed on this website countless times. This explains the suffering (and enjoyment) in the world if you'd care to understand a little simple philosophy. A couple of days ago, some of my wife's friends (ritualistic Buddhists) came over and gave us a replica statue of Emerald Buddha in Bangkok, saying " I hope this brings you good luck in the new year." I said "but we've already created our luck in our past lives and earlier in this one." They laughed at that, seeing how true it is. God has undoubtedly given man free will; therefore, we enjoy and suffer based on what we do. It's just like when there is a natural disaster, in USA they call it an act of God. But they never call a bright, sunny warm day an act of God, although it is also an act of God. Atheists are just looking to exonerate themselves of responsibility for their own activities, often to rationalize their sinful activities. Spiritually-minded people, Vaishnavas and otherwise, understand the principle of karma. Karma is termed "As you sow, so shall you reap," in the bible, the law of karma for Hindus and Buddhists, the law of cause and effect for philosophers, and "what comes around goes around," in the modern parlance, but all four terms are equivalent. Anyone thinking that they can somehow circumvent karmic implications for their own activities is a fool. Understanding that we are bound BY OUR OWN ACTIVITIES for better or worse and that we are in a suffering condition may be the first step on the path of theism. jeffster/AMd As far as being an atheistic moron goes, I've always said "Be a Mormon, don't be a moron."