Kulapavana

for the pious Jews Israel was supposed to be the religious shangri-la, for the demonic crooks: safe cave to hide from "persecution" by goyim. Once again religious sentiment is used by evil people to manipulate others in a typical Kali-yuga fashion.

while it may be proper for a disciple to see their guru as omniscient that concept should not be stretched philosophically. some loonies in the past even concluded that Srila Prabhupada was God. in Vedic tradition it is often customary to praise the virtues or potency of certain processes or persons in a way which may seem to be an exagerration (you could call it the "extasy of praise")

Source: Herald Sun

Published: October 28, 2003 Author: N/A

MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad hit back yesterday against those who condemned him for saying that Jews rule the world but were silent when the Muslim Prophet Muhammad was called a terrorist.

"Are we not allowed to say that we are angry with the Jews? Are the Jews some kind of creature who cannot be condemned in any way?" Mahathir asked when questioned by reporters about the fierce international criticism of his remarks.

He said he knew a lot of Jewish people and was not against them, the official Bernama news agency reported.

"I am against those Jews who kill Muslims and the Jews who support the killers of Muslims," he was quoted as saying.

Mahathir said that he did not care if the Europeans, who were among his major critics, did not like him.

"I have European friends. But when they do something wrong, I am going to tell them that it is wrong.

"You say that you are not under the influence of the Jews and yet when I criticise the Jews, the whole of the European Union wants to condemn me.

"But when somebody condemns the Muslims, calls my Prophet (Muhammad) terrorist and all that, did the European Union say anything? Which shows that they are under the thumb of the Jews."

US Christian fundamentalist preacher Jerry Falwell called Muhammad a "terrorist" in a television interview in September last year, sparking outrage in the Muslim world.

More recently, a United States general has been under fire for casting the war on terrorism as a Christian struggle against Satan, but retains his post as deputy undersecretary of defence for intelligence.

Lieutenant General William Boykin recalled in a speech how a top lieutenant of Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid, Osman Otto, boasted on CNN he would never be caught because Allah would protect him.

"Well, you know what?" Boykin was quoted as saying. "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."

Mahathir regularly points to such utterances as proof of double standards applied in western countries.

Asked today why some Muslim leaders did not openly express support over his remarks about Jews, Mahathir said that possibly they were afraid that action would be taken against them.

"They are much weaker than we are. They may have more money but they are still dependent upon the Europeans.

"Because of that, they are reluctant to make their voices heard but privately of course they will support," he said.

At the weekend, Mahathir said a call by a US-based Jewish lobby group for an economic boycott against Malaysia over his remarks may hurt economically but the country would not give in to "blackmail".

The influential Simon Wiesenthal Centre last week called on investors and tourists to avoid Malaysia after Mahathir branded Jews "arrogant" and accused them of controlling the world by proxy.

Source: www.sun-sentinel.com

Published: October 24, 2003 Author: By K. Connie Kang

Next stop, the Pearly Gates ... or hell?

Nearly two-thirds think they're going to heaven, while few believe they're hell-bound, survey finds

By K. Connie Kang

Los Angeles Times

Posted October 24 2003, 10:57 AM EDT

LOS ANGELES -- An overwhelming majority of Americans continue to believe that there is life after death and that heaven and hell exist, according to a new study. What's more, nearly two-thirds think they are heaven-bound.

On the other hand, only one-half of 1% said they were hell-bound, according to a national poll by the Oxnard-based Barna Research Group, an independent marketing research firm that has tracked trends related to beliefs, values and behaviors since 1984.

"We're optimists at heart," Robert Johnston, a professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, said of the survey's results. "If you really believe in hell, you wouldn't want to be there. By definition, hell is the denial of goodness." The survey, released this week, found that 76% of Americans believe in heaven and 71% in hell — the same as a decade ago, and that 64% believe they're heaven-bound.

Among those who believe in heaven, nearly half (46%) described it as a "state of eternal existence in God's presence," and almost a third (30%) said heaven was "an actual place of rest and reward where souls go after death." One in seven said heaven is just "symbolic" (14%), 5% said there was no afterlife and 5% said they weren't sure.

Researchers found two popular perspectives of hell in the study. Nearly four out of 10 (39%) believe hell is "a state of eternal separation from God's presence," while nearly one-third (32%) believe it is "an actual place of torment and suffering where people's souls go after death." About one in 8 believe hell is just a symbol of an "unknown bad outcome after death" (13%).

The poll interviewed 1,000 adults during September in every state except Hawaii and Alaska. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Millions of Americans mix secular and various religious views to create their personal belief systems, said David Kinnaman, vice president of Barna Research Group.

"Americans don't mind embracing contradictions," he said. "It's hyper individualism. They're cutting and pasting religious views from a variety of different sources — television, movies, conversations with their friends. Rather than simply embrace one particular viewpoint, and then trying to follow all the specific precepts or teachings of that particular viewpoint, what Americans are saying is, 'Listen, I can probably put together a philosophy of life for myself that is just as accurate, just as helpful as any particular faith might provide.' "

Pollster George Barna, a former minister who founded the research group, noted that one out of 10 born-again Christians — those who believe entry into heaven is solely based on confession of sins and faith in Jesus Christ — also believe in reincarnation, which violates Christian tenets. Nearly one in three claim it is possible to communicate with the dead, and half believe a person can earn salvation based on good deeds even without accepting Christ as the way to eternal life.

Many who describe themselves as either atheistic or agnostic also harbor contradictions in their thinking, Barna said. He said that half the atheists and agnostics surveyed believed that everyone had a soul, that heaven and hell existed and that there was life after death. One in eight atheists and agonistics believe that accepting Jesus Christ as savior probably makes life after death possible.

Therefore, labels — be they "born again" or "atheist" — might not give as much insight into a person's beliefs as one might assume, he said.

"Postmodernism is actually a move toward spirituality, not away from it," Johnston, the theologian, said, adding that embracing postmodernity means living with contradictions. "So, at the same time we are mired in the muck of life, we also hold evermore preciously to spiritual sustenance."

... when you really want Him to do so, but He does it almost always indirectly

Vedas were not focusing on describing animals living in different yugas. some huge sea animals (timingila) are mentioned more as curiosity surviving at the time the Vedas were recorded. civilized human fossils from previous yugas are rare or non-existent because these folks cremated their dead and rarely lived in areas where bone fossilization is possible (swamps or deserts). also, the ruins of their buildings were mostly used up as building material source for subsequent people so not much is left of such ancient structures today.

it can be seen as the pain of separation from Krishna and His associates. often such feelings should not be shared with people who have no appreciation for them, for they will interfere with your sentiments and spoil them.

yes, in the spiritual sky there are no such material distinctions. but we have a long way to go, and much to do before we get there. varnashrama system is the essence of the Aryan culture and Srila Prabhupada considered it to be 50% of his mission. How can that be irrelevant?

LHASA, Oct. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Allegedly having had a dream, a 13-year-old Tibetan boy has since been able to tell Tibetans' most respected story about a legendary hero -- King Gesser, which is also the longest epic in the world.

This has aroused enormous interest among experts to explain the boy's mysterious capability.

The boy, named Sitar Doje in the Tibetan language, is a fifth-grade student at a local elementary school in Shading Town, Banbar County in Qamdo Prefecture. He said he fell asleep one day when hewas 11 years old, and woke up miraculously able to tell the story of King Gesser. Now the boy can talk and sing about the story for six consecutive hours.

The 10-million-word Tibetan epic portraying legendary hero King Gesser has more than 200 parts that have been passed down from generation to generation as oral works of folk art.

According to Tibetan tradition, people who learned to tell the epic story through dreaming are addressed as "God-taught Master." In Tibet, many epic-tellers since ancient times claimed that they had learned to tell the story in dreams.

Cering Puncog, vice director of the Ethnic Institute of the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences, said there have been many excellent talkers of the King Gesser story in Qamdo Prefecture. Hesaid Sitar Doje became a capable talker probably because he had listened to old talkers' presentations many times, thought of themvery often in his mind and dreams, and finally recited the epic asa "natural" talker.

The Cultural Bureau of Qamdo Prefecture has dispatched staff to check the boy's ability and video tape a live performance of the boy.

Cering Puncog said the most interesting point is that the boy was an educated person who has almost finished his elementary schooling, receiving a modern education. So he is far different from old story talkers most of whom were illiterate. Among the 40 best talkers publicly acknowledged in Tibet, only four can read.

For example, Samzhub, a 82-year-old Tibetan folk story-teller, is regarded as the master of talking and singing Gesser. Although unable to read a single word, the old man can tell 65 parts of theepic, totaling more than 20 million words. The Tibetan edition of a five-part King Gesser, compiled according to Samzhub's telling about the long story, was published in 2001.

China has about 140 Gesser story-telling masters. They are mainly from three ethnic groups that had some close relation with the legendary King in their ancient culture: Tibetans, Mongolians or Tu ethnic people. These masters are all now cherished as "national treasures."

According to Cering, far fewer people can talk and sing Gesser's story, and most living talkers are in their late years. The 13-year-old boy who can talk and sing about the epic indicates that the valuable oral heritage has young successors and can survive inmodern times.

To save the epic, the country has published the Academic Works Collection of Gesserology, edited by Zhao Bingli, a research fellow at the Academy of Social Sciences of Qinghai Province.

There are two different views about the time of the creation ofthe epic: one says that the epic was produced in the period from the beginning of the Christian era to the 6th century, based on the story of a real tribal chief who tamed forces of evil such as ghosts and goblins, and safeguarded a stable environment for people.

Some hold that the epic emerged between the 11th and 13th centuries, when Tibetans hoped for a hero to appear and unify separated Tibet.

The Chinese government set up a special organization to save and catalogue the epic in 1979, and listed the research work as a major research program in every Five-Year Plan.

Currently, Tibet has collected nearly 300 hand-written or woodcut copies of the epic. More than 3 million copies of the Tibetan version of the epic have been printed. The epic has been translated into Chinese, English, Japanese, French and other foreign languages.

This understanding of the word "Arya" is actually very basic knowledge that in my practical experience everybody can easily understand. We should not shy away from proclaiming our Aryan heritage just because some people (even in our Movement) find it "politically incorrect". In a broad sense this Aryan heritage unites us all.

I am just a simple soldier in the war with Maya. I mostly fight atheists and encourage aspiring bhaktas. Intimate pastimes of Lord Krishna are far above my level of advancement. I study the basics, and I preach the basics. I see certain things differently than Narayana Maharaja but that does not bother me enough to even think about such differences. It is simply not my flavor of service at this time.

Kulapavana: does it mean that Danavir Mah. article is now the official position of the GBC on this issue?

Babhru: Considering his position on the GBC and as an officially recognized initiating guru, that was my concern.

I have a strong feeling that Danavir Maharaja is not just acting on his own. At the very least he must be representing a strong fraction in the GBC. The intensity of his article can be seen as a general "call to arms" and warning to all possible "deviants" within ISKCON ranks. It is possibly far more political than may seem on the surface.

well, does it mean that Danavir Mah. article is now the official position of the GBC on this issue?

Anadi prabhu, I respect Srila Narayana Maharaja a lot and relish his words, but his formula is too advanced for me. I care very little what others say or think in this regard. I formulate my own oppinion for my own use.

My comment as to concentrating on service and not arguing was general, not directed to any one party. Reconciliation between different Vaishnava camps would be great, but it starts with minding your own matha's business /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Vedas mention scores of tribes and races all united as the great Aryan civilization. It is pretty obvious even when you study the armies assembled at Kuruksetra. Aryan refers to culture of nobility as defined be the Vedas. The colour of your skin is irrelevant. Being born white and acting like a dog does not make anybody an Aryan. Just like being born in brahmana family and acting like a candala does not entitle you to call yourself a brahmin.

lose all kinds of fat by serving Krishna and His devotees! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

material fat does not make you ugly or unhealthy - but your behaviour does. losing fat will not make you happy either. just lighter... /images/graemlins/wink.gif

*sigh* I wish devotees would stop arguing whos mission is more "proper" and dedicated all their energy to:

SERVING KRISHNA IN THE MISSION OF THEIR CHOICE!

this is obviously a "damage control" effort by Umapati Mah.

"Danavir Maharaja made two points: that the book encourages this mixing and that Srila Prabhupada was opposed to it. If you cannot refute either of these points, you have no valid objection."

Danavir Mah. made a lot more points than these two in his article. If he kept it to these 2 issues, few would find his article worth objecting to.

I think Hindus call swastik the symbol of peace to contrast that with current western ideas associated with this symbol. Peace in the sense of "absence of war" was never high on list of priorities in the Vedas. However, wars were fought honorably and did not involve general population. The peace Vedas are focusing on is "shanti" or inner peace, which comes from spiritual understanding. Om shanti, shanti, shanti!

you should not feel worthless, as this is just an illusion your mind tries to impose on you to make you sink into ignorance.

Depression can be a serious problem if not addressed properly. It is hard to solve this problem on internet alone. Do you not have anybody you trust to confide in and explain your situation? Find a mature devotee and talk to him or her about it one on one. It may take time but help is available. We ARE very special, all of us. Devotees are very rare in this world and we must stick together to serve Krishna better. Everything you need is already there, provided by Krishna. You just have to reach out and take it!

Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Good luck! Hare Krishna!

It is not how much you donate that clears the papas (sinful reaction) but your humility of giving. Krishna can't be cheated - He will cheat you instead! One who humbly atones for his sins in a way that fits his status achieves his result easily and grows in spiritual strength.

"I try to surrender ok! and it is making me restless! I cannot work, I probably read too much about krishna. I am messing up my social life and everything, sorry but thats how I feel."

Do not be alarmed. These are actually good symptoms and show your sincerity. Your world is changing, as you wanted it to change. Some people in your life will even turn away from you. Do not try to change them now, concentrate on doing practical things like chanting, service and association with other devotees. Nobody said going back to Krishna is easy, but it is well worth the effort. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

in Vedic culture vows were treated seriously. Do not make a vow you are not sure you can keep. but if you do make a vow try like mad to keep it. if you fail - atone for it by doing tapas in mode of goodness, like chanting extra rounds of japa, feeding devotees or making donation to a temple.

he he... pressured surrender is OK but I always pray for intelligence to surrender on my own. it hurts a lot less... /images/graemlins/wink.gif

sometimes the cure for lonliness is marriage, but that may not help with depression /images/graemlins/wink.gif

sunlight helps with depression (get married and live in the South?)

YOU ARE NEVER ALONE! Krishna is always there for you and so are we Vaishnavas! /images/graemlins/smile.gif