atma

Here in LA they evacuated all the Government buildings. They sent people home. Early they were saying on the local TV that one missing hickjacked plane was coming to LA. I did not send my kids to school, instead I send them to the temple for darshan and Guru Puja. All this makes you realized how dangerous this material world is and our only shelter are Sri Sri Radha Krisna. Any moment we may die. Those scenes from the Trade World Center were you see people asking for help from the windows and one man climbing out are really sad. You know that they didn't make it. Terrible, this terrorists won't stop at nothing, and they are doing it in name of religion. I have one Iranian friend and her mother was planning a tour to Europe but already her friends are calling her to cancel it because she is Iranian. Innocent muslims over here will pay a heavy price.

Exactly from the same place you got your wife.

Dear Abby was speechless when these came in: Dear Abby: A couple of women moved in across the hall from me. One is a middle-aged gym teacher and the other is a social worker in her mid-twenties.These two women go everywhere together and I've never seen a man go into their apartment or come out. Do you think they could be Lebanese? Dear Abby: What can I do about all the sex, nudity, language and violence on my VCR? Dear Abby: I have a man I never could trust. He cheats so much I'm not even sure this baby I'm carrying is his. Dear Abby: I am a twenty-three-year-old liberated woman who has been on the pill for two years. It's getting expensive and I think my boyfriend should share half the cost, but I don't know him well enough to discuss money with him. Dear Abby: I suspected that my husband had been fooling around, and when I confronted him with the evidence he denied everything and said it would never happen again. Dear Abby: Our son writes that he is taking Judo. Why would a boy who was raised in a good Christian home turn against his own? Dear Abby: I joined the Navy to see the world I've seen it. Now, how do I get out? Dear Abby: My forty-year-old son has been paying a psychiatrist $50 an hour every week for two-and-a-half years. He must be crazy. Dear Abby: I was married to Bill for three months and I didn't know he drank until one night he came home sober. Dear Abby: My mother is mean and short-tempered. I think she is going through her mental pause. Dear Abby: You told some woman whose husband had lost all interest in sex to send him to a doctor. Well, my husband lost all interest in sex years ago and he is a doctor

Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa will be speaking tonight at Calvary Memorial Church in Racine. Come tonight and hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa. Announcement in the church bulletin for a National PRAYER & FASTING Conference: "The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals." Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King. Miss Charlene Mason sang, "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation. "Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands." Next Sunday is the family hay ride and bonfire at the Fowlers'. Bring your own hot dogs and guns. Friends are welcome! Everyone come for a fun time. The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict. The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water." The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus." Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get. Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons. The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing "Break Forth into Joy." Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you. Don't let worry kill you - let the Church help. Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days. At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice. Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones. The senior choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoy sinning to join the choir. Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children. The Lutheran men's group will meet at 6 PM. Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread and dessert will be served for a nominal feel. For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs. Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person(s) you want remembered. Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch. The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility. Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 P.M. - prayer and medication to follow. The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon. This evening at 7P.M. there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin. Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done. The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday morning. Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday. Please use the back door. The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The Congregation is invited to attend this tragedy. Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance. Mrs. Johnson will be entering the hospital this week for testes. The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: "I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours."

* Schwartzenegger has a big one. * Michael J. Fox has a small one. * Madonna doesn't have one. * The Pope has one but doesn't use his. * Clinton uses his all the time. * Mickey Mouse has an unusual one. * George Burns's was hot. * Liberace never used his with women. * Jerry Seinfeld is very, very proud of his * We never saw Lucy use Desi's. What is it? Answer below! The answer is: "A Last Name!"

YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IF: You make over $250,000 a year and still can't afford a house. It's sprinkling outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents. Your child's third grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Breeze. You've been to a baby shower for an infant who has two mothers and a sperm donor. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian. You know which restaurant serves the freshest arugula. A really great parking space can move you to tears. The guy in line at Starbucks, wearing the baseball cap, sunglasses, and looks like George Clooney, IS George Clooney. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment. Your hairdresser is straight, your plumber is gay, and your Mary Kay rep is a guy in drag. It's sprinkling out, and there's a report on every news channel about "THE STORM! "Over 85% of the cities, towns, and streets start with San, Los, El, La,Santa, De La, or De Los. Two overcast days in a row drive you mad. A family of four owns six vehicles. Everyone who lives here knows that hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and snowstorms are way worse than earthquakes, which are, after all, over almost as soon as you realize what's happening. Even if the store is across the street, you drive there. And finally, a question: Q. How many Californians does it take to screw in a light bulb? A. None. Californians cannot afford to turn on the lights

A kindergarten class had a homework assignment to find out about something exciting and relay it to the class the next day. When the time came to present what they'd found, the first little boy called upon walked up to the front of the class, and with a piece of chalk, made a small white dot on the blackboard, then sat back down. Puzzled, the teacher asked him just what it was. "It's a period," said the little boy. "Well, I can see that," she said, "but what is so exciting about a period?" "Darn it if I know," said the little boy, "but this morning my sister was missing one, my Daddy had a heart attack, my Mommy fainted, and the man next door shot himself!

randOM and Mahak: any news about quakes for this area? Today it was a little more than a vibration.

randOM and Mahak: any news about quakes for this area? Today it was a little more than a vibration.

I really don't get it how people here that consider Jahnava Nitai offensive, continue using his website not to only blast him at any ocassion that they get but to do their own propaganda. If somebody is offensive, shouldn't that person leave the area to avoid hearing aparadha? Maybe even start their own website? Thank you living entity for starting this nice thread about Srila Prabhupada's books.

Just came back from the program, actually I left before it finished. Maharaja was signing books for devotees and they were waiting for prasada. I know that they took him to the beach in the afternoon but I don't know details. Maybe tomorrow I can ask the servant. This evening we are a little shaky because we had a temblor that was short but kind of intense. I know that some devotees will sleep completely dress and with shoes on, just in case. The only good thing about it was that I did remember to chant the Holy Name, I think it is because of Maharaja's association. Tonight, Maharaja was talking about Raghunath Das Goswami and how he was so detached even though he was a multi-millionaire's son and how Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was always enquiring about him from his servant Govinda. He also spoke about the intimate associates of Mahaprabhu: Ramananda Ray, Swarupa Damodara, Sikhi Mahiti and Madhavi Mata. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was always weeping in separation of Krishna and only His intimate associates understood His mood. Later he told the Ajamila story and the importance of remembering the Holy Name at the moment of death. He made Vishnu Maharaja sing "Bhajahu Re Mana" and while Visnu Maharaja was singing Puri Maharaja was saying in little words the meaning of the song, he was using his hands a lot to express emotions and he seemed very happy. Unfortunately he is leaving tomorrow. Mexico will get the mercy for a while. I'm very grateful to Sri Guru and Gauranga for give me the chance of having darshan of Srila Puri Maharaja and I pray for more of that trascendental association.

Today Puri Maharaj came to take darshan of the deities at 9:00 A.M. When he first arrived the temple authorities greeted him and gave him a garland from the deities. He really appreciated the temple and the beauty of the deities (he commented on this). He paid obeisances to the three altars and to Prabhupada even though it was difficult for him to do so. He noticed the blackboard (actually whiteboard) in the temple with the sloka of the day from the Bhagavatam and was asking about it. Then they took him to see Srila Prabhupada's quarters. From there he went to Prabhupada's garden surrounded by many devotees. When he came out he talked with Lokanath Swami. He said that coming to Prabhupada's temple was the perfection of his trip. Maharaj was crying as he said this. Lokanath Maharaj told all the assembled devotees to pay obeisances to Srila Puri Maharaj. With that everyone bowed down to him. As they were coming up Srila Puri Maharaj started to lower himself to the ground. His disciples tried to prevent him but he pushed his disciples away and paid dandavats to all the devotees for a long time. When he arose his face was covered in copious tears. It was a very emotional moment for everybody. Maharaj goes into ecstacy very easily and the mood was very heavy by his humility. Maharaj even acknowledged me. The devotee who was driving Maharaj needed someone to watch his twin 2 year old children. So I was watching them. When Maharaj saw me with the two kids he was looking at the kids with a funny look (like what was I doing with two more kids). Then the devotee driver came by and told Maharaj these were his kids. Then Puri Maharaj gave me a very funny look (like "Where did you get this husband from?") It was very embarassing especially since I have known him for some time. Then we headed for the program at the devotee's house. The program started with a half-hour kirtan. Then Srila Bhakti Vaibhav PuriMaharaj entered the room surrounded by all the devotees. He first offered his pranam mantras to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, and then offered the pranam mantras to our Prabhupada. He started off talking about what is our purpose. He said we should want bhakti,service for the sake of service. But what should our mood be? We should pay obeisances to all living entities, from people, to cats, to dogs, to trees, to the cow. But we are not worshipping the body of the cats, dogs, ants. We are offering our respects to the Lord who dwells within all living entities. He said this is the Indian culture.We should strive in this life to see the Lord. The guru can show us the way because he can see the Lord. When his eyes are closed he can see the Lord, and when his eyes are opened he can see the Lord. This is why the guru should be worshipped as the Lord is worshipped. And he can show us the way to develop this bhakti. He gave the example of Dhruva Maharaj. As a child he was forbidden to sit on thelap of his father. So he decided to go to the forests and engage in tapas. But Narada said no you are too young. Still Dhruva was going to go to the forest. So Narada instructed him to chant certain mantras and to gradually reduce his intake of food (1 month eat certain amount, second month less, by sixth month no food at all). So Dhruva followed this instruction. After a long time of tapas, Dhruva, with his eyes closed, he saw a light. When he opened his eyes the Lord was standing before him. At that moment he saw so much beauty. So beautiful no one could describe the beauty of the Lord. Dhruva Maharaj said that what he was seeking was just glass compared to this jewel.So this should be our goal. To see the Lord. And how can we do this? By chanting the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra. We should follow Haridas Thakur's example and chant 3 lakhs of mantra every day (24 hours per day). We cannot even imagine what that would be like. Even while sleeping Haridas would be chanting the Maha Mantra. He also spoke about Bhagavatam and how Sastra is also our guru. Then he was praising Prabhupada for translating Bhagavatam. He was telling about how many volumes were translated and how we get benefit from these books. I'm so sorry I have a bad memory (I should have brought a notepad). He mentioned a few slokas. How we should offer everything in service to Krsna (from Bhagavad Gita). There will be another program tonight and I will try to give a more detailed report. It was very enlivening and purifying. Afterwards we had a very nice kichari and fruit salad. I know later he will be going out for a walk. He was planning to walk from 1 till 5 pm but his servants told him he needed to take rest. He will only go from 3 till 5 to see the area. Haribol

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Two beggars are sitting on a bench in Mexico City. One man is holding a large cross and the other man is holding a large Star of David. Both are holding big hats to collect contributions. People walk by, lift their noses at the man with the Star of David and, almost for spite, drop large amounts of money in the hat held by the man with the cross. Soon the hat of the man with the cross is filled and the hat of the man with the Star of David is empty. A priest watches and then approaches the men. He turns to the man with the Star of David and says: "Young man, do you realize this is a Catholic country? You'll never get any contributions in this country holding a Star of David." And he walks off. The man with the Star of David turns to the man with the cross and says: "Moshe, can you imagine, this guy is trying to tell us how to run our business?"

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated. Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar. The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes. There are more chickens than people in the world. Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is screeched." On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag. All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck on 4:20. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt". All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial of the back of the $5 bill. Almonds are a member of the peach family. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance. Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable. There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous. Los Angeles' full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula" A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. In most advertisements, the time displayed on a watch is10:10 Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer. The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life." A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world. In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak. The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. Mr. Rogers is an ordained minister. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes. There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball. "Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand. ..Now you know everything ...You could be a TEENAGER

A woman is enjoying a good game of bridge with her girlfriends one evening. "Oh, no! I have to rush home and fix dinner for my husband! He's going to really be angry if it's not ready on time." When she gets home, she realizes she doesn't have enough time to go to the supermarket, and all she has in the cupboard is a wilted lettuce leaf, an egg, and a can of cat food. In a panic, she opens the can of cat food, stirs in the egg, and garnishes it with the lettuce leaf just as her husband is pulling up. She greets her husband and then watches in horror as he sits down to his dinner. To her surprise, the husband is really enjoying his dinner. "Darling, this is the best dinner you have made for me in forty years of marriage. You can make this for me any old day." Needless to say,every bridge night from then on, the woman made her husband the same dish. She told her bridge cronies about it and they were all horrified. "You're going to kill him!" they exclaimed. Two months later her husband died. The women were sitting around the card table playing bridge when one of the cronies said, "You killed him! We told you that feeding him that cat food every week would do him in! How can you just sit there so calmly and play bridge knowing you murdered your husband?" The wife calmly replied, "I didn't kill him. He fell off the mantel while he was licking himself. [This message has been edited by atma (edited 09-08-2001).]

Today I was blessed with darshan of Srila Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Maharaj. I arrived with some rose flowers and fruit as an offering. Unfortunately the foot bathing ceremony was already over when I arrived. The house was filled with many devotees to greet and honor him. Visnu Maharaja, his disciple, gave a brief introduction about association with sadhus. First Puri Maharaja offered respects to all the assembled Vaisnavas. I found this very humble on his part. Then Puri Maharaja spoke about the power of the Holy Name. He gave the story of Haridas Thakur and the prostitute. How by the power of his purified chanting the prostitute became purified as well. He said we should chant 3 lakhs of rounds every day (24 hours of chanting daily). He said now we are doing 2 hours of japa mantra (25,000 names) but throughout the day we should be chanting. When we are working, cooking, eating, even when we go to the bathroom we should internally be chanting the Lords Holy Name. Then he started to praise Srila Prabhupada (and he called him Prabhupada). How he came without a paisa, he was completely alone. He used to go and chant in the park. He mentioned that he went to visit that park and visited that tree Srila Prabhupada would chant by. Maharaja explained that he realized that nobody cared for someone chanting there. But everyone was greeting him with Hare Krsna. And it is because of Srila Prabhupada that everyone knows the Holy Name. He was saying how Prabhupada was struggling but because he had the blessing of his guru, all of the parampara, and Mahaprabhu he was successful. Slowly people started coming to him. And one friend invited another friend. And in that way the whole movement spread. I really appreciated how Maharaja was talking about Srila Prabhupada. Even though I already knew it. He always talked very nicely about Srila Prabhupada in Vrindavan, Mayapur, and Visakhapatnam. He said Srila Prabhupada had set up everything for Krsna Consciousness in the world. In the end he proceeded out around the house surrounded by many devotees. Tomorrow he will go to the temple to greet the deities and see Srila Prabhupada's quarters. Tomorrow I will continue telling about his programs (he has one in the morning and one in the evening). Hare Krsna

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

A big thumbs up to Jahnava Nitai Das. I have lots of gurukuli friends and to know that he is one of them, gives me hope for the secure future of Srila Prabhupada's movement. Thank you for the good work. Keep it up!

MC wrote: "If you want to be compassionate and accept people for what they are, then accept them as part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Anything less is an insult to any living being". So true. To identify ourselves as men, women, homosex, etc, is so much in the bodily conciousness. MC, isn't there a letter from Srila Prabhupada to one mataji where he tells her that her problem was that she was identifying herself as a woman?

Today a devotee told me this story: One Indian gentleman took initiation from Srila Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada but due to material desires he abandoned the vaisnava principles, hung up his beads and went back to his bad habits. When he passed away, somehow the devotees heard about it and took his body for cremation even though he wasn't a follower anymore. They put the body in the pyre and when they were ready to lit the fire, all of the sudden, the man jumped out from the pyre. Every body got scared but he reassured them that he wasn't a ghost or anything like that and told them that he was in the presence of Yamaraja. Yamaraja was asking him: "why did you do this?, why did you do that?,etc" but he was so frightened that he couldn't answer him. When Yamaraja asked him: "who is your guru?" and he answered: "Prabhupada", he woke up just in time before they lit the fire. After that he lived in one of the Gaudiya Math temples for 12 more years before he passed away. This reminded me of a devotee that I knew. He took initiation from Srila Prabhupada in 1973. He did lots of devotional service but due to anarthas he fell down. Somehow he was always attracted to the devotees. In 1987 he showed up in India and he told me that he knew that he'll have a sudden and terrible death. A few months later other devotees came and told me this story: this same devotee got a house just half block from the temple and one evening during Lord Balarama's appearance day, this prabhu was walking towards his house when a man attacked him from behind stabbing him many, many times on his back. Wounded as he was, he crawled all the way to the temple, leaving a bloody trail and he reached the temple while the devotees were having kirtana for Lord Balarama. He passed away surrounded by devotees, in the middle of kirtan, with tulasi leaf in his mouth in an auspicious ocassion. It just amazed me how compassionate the pure devotees are. Even when some person is completely fallen, Guru and Krsna remember the little steps that we did towards them. What about other devotees, completely fallen but at the last moment they knew that death was coming and they took shelter of the vaisnavas. Sudama, Upendra and others come to memory. How is that sloka? Little steps towards Krsna will protect us from the biggest danger? And that is not been able to remember the Lord at the moment of death.

The samsthapaka-acharya does not establish the siddhanta. Siddhanta is eternal, just as Krishna is eternal. Agree 100 % with JNdas in this matter.

After the mob. I guess that he got such a fright that from now on he only feel safe with the Lord on his back! He always gets in trouble. Now his current girlfriend is so jeaulous that he was kind of jumpy talking to us and showing his tattoos. He is afraid of the girl. If he read this, he'll kill me I hope that you MC, don't get into trouble while in India. Full body tattoo may help!

You see Rakheshji, my dearest friend is Bengali and we're neighbours here. We'd been friends from Calcutta and she introduced me to the Hindi movies. All the time that I visit her (every day, 24-7) she is with the TV on, full Indian DVD. She is the owner of one Indian music and Boutique Store and they rent videos and DVD. Most of the movies are released here before India and she gets the first copy and while I'm here in her computer using the internet at the same time a Hindi movie is on the TV. Like it or not, I get to see and hear the songs. She is very upset with Lajja and she showed me the part where Madhuri acting like Sita insults Lord Rama and Lakshman. I found it very offensive. I read in MSN India that a Chennai court is stopping the movie but they are still showing it in Delhi and another metros.

I have a question too: If it is true that Srila Prabhupada did approve of Upendra to settle down with a nice boy, then how is it, that the same Upendra married a woman in the presence of Srila Prabhupada? This just show that Srila Prabhupada never supported gay relationships, rather he always advised them to marry women to satisfy their sex desires in a proper manner. [This message has been edited by atma (edited 09-03-2001).]