Haridham

Good point theist. Especially about wolves in sheep clothing. Prabhupad said that nobody from the outside can stop the movement but demons will enter the movement and then ruin it. Hare Krsna

Hare Krsna everyone. I just wanted to write this because of an observation I made last week after Goverdhan puja. During Govardhan Puja last saturday our temple was basically pact. Lots of people came taking prasadam, watching the play, doing ram puja and observing the huge mountain of prasad called govardhan to which most indian people had no clue what it meant. Anyways, the next night...being sunday feast not that many people showed up.It was quite empty. I was astonished, why hadnt people come to the temple today. Then I realised "ooohhh yeah they did their weekly darshan of god" Like they are doing Krsna a favor. They dont realise they need Krsna. I mean coming to the temple more then once a week...unheard of. I was talking to someone who said yeah I go once a week and saturday was it. I dont need to go on sunday. This is the mentality of Indian people in Kaliyuga. Most devotees young and old love going to the temple. I love going to see Sri Sri Radha Madhan Mohan. I dont find it a chore. Hare Krsna

Now I am from an eastindian background and I know what you are stating about devotees flirting and other things which they shoudnt do. Heck I agree with that and I dont like when they do such things. However, I do kinda disagree with you on somethings as I have to say that many devotees in the west wake up at 4:30in the morning and practicing their sadhana the best they can. The reason why I mentioned earlier that I am from an Eastindian background is to say that I know first hand how a lot of these "hindu" people are. Sure they come to the temple and act all cultured and such but as soon as their feet leave the temple its all back to "normal" I just dont like extensivly finding faults in devotees when they are living a much harder lifestyle then most of these "hindus" who are in nice mentions, big if not bigger tv's and great cars. I mean when devotees have such a strict lifestyle in Kaliyuga they are bound to relasp here and there. Dont look for that to much as I think we should always encourage each other in our bhakti. I mean if all your goal is to make money and become a billionare then sure you can be all cultured for a few minutes of coming to the temple. Hare Krsna

Thats an interesting question Prabhu ji. I was told by a friend once who went to court and when he was swearing his hand on the bible one of the lawyers objected or something and said that this man is a "hindu" how do we know he will tell the truth by putting his hand on the bible. The judge didnt care for what the lawyer had to say but my friend just said, now I am paraphrasing ofcourse "God is in the bible as well as my scripture. You call him something else and I call him something else. He is both of our father and I respect the bible equally as my scripture and I will tell the truth" So to me its no big deal but I think I will ask if I ever end up in court for something.

Now when I go to the temple I do wear dhoti and tilak. I think its horrible to go to the temple without dhoti and tilak. Yeah I have seen some devotees wear shirt and shorts but most of the temple devotees and board members do wear sari and dhoti's. I dont know if you are talking about all the temples in the west but I have been to toronto and atleast in vancouver there is still a preety decent standard. The Bramacarinis still wear sari's, some of the local devotee girls wear sari and tilak. Ofcourse yes tv watching is there, I personaly admit to watching tv. I dont watch it 24/7 but I do watch it regularly. Sure we shouldnt watch tv at all but we also have to be practical, there is a difference in wearing a dhoti, sari and tilak then watching t.v. I mean we are using the internet(although for krsna's service) and we can do other nonsense on it too cant we. I mean our nature is for sense gratification. So we should be practical and understand that not every devotee can observe being so strict. I think Parampara is important, Prabhupad has to be followed through parampara. I think this varies from devotee to devotee as I see it but you are right we need to raise our standards. I mean I see more of the "hindu" men and women who never wear dhoti, tilak or sari's and the young kids come because they are forced to. We should address some of those issues as well. I personaly think that if you are going to wear something then you have a big responsibility. Dont do nonsense if you are going to wear vaisnava clothing(talking about our as in iskcons past) However I have realised that a lot of preaching can be done through chanting and wearing jeans and such. People are less afraid to approach me when I wear my street clothes. But maybe I am just scary looking. hahah. Yes the future of iskcon is bright I think. The next generation will raise the standards as some of the boys and girls(especially some of the girls) are enthusiatcly(sp) serving Prabhupad and his movement. Hare Krsna

I know how you feel. I went through the same thing. For whatever reason I preached at school whenever I got the chance. From teachers to fellow students. Ofcourse the Students thought I was crazy but the teachers thought I was something refreshing. Ofcourse preaching to much and not concentrating on your school is a way to fail highschool....trust me I know. I had many crazy experiances in High school and Krsna consciousness.

You are correct. We should have better standards. My, what is going to happen with Prabhupads movement if we cant even follow the smallest standard of bowing down to Krsna. I mean we stand if our boss were to come and shake hands with him so we should bow to krsna because he is the supreme boss.

"Lord Shri Krsna enchants the whole world, but shri Radha enchants even him. Therefore she is the supreme goddess of all" (chaitanya-charitamrita, adi lila 4.93) Yes, Radha Rani has the most important and unique position regarding Krsna and his pastimes. I mean I came with this thought because as I was thinking of all the other goddesses I realised when you said Radharani's name a sudden sensation of bliss and understanding of krsna comes to you. You automaticaly think of Krsna. Now there are other demigoddeses with names such as Durga, Kali et, etc etc but when you say Radharani's name it brings upon something beautiful. Such a beautiful Name. Ra-dha. How can you offer your love to someone else when a name like radha can be vibrated through your ears. To me there is no attraction to the name of Kali or Durga, even their names are quite...how can I put this...unattractive. I mean there are those names and then there is the name Radha or Radhe, you can tell her unique position just by her name. Only Radha, Mother Hara and Krsna. again...... ........."Lord Shri Krsna enchants the whole world, but shri Radha enchants even him. Therefore she is the supreme goddess of all" (chaitanya-charitamrita, adi lila 4.93) Hare Krsna

Now, we all understand we are not these bodies right? Good atleast thats clear. When I met my wife, I told her I dont believe in this all cast nonsense. We "belong" to the Soni(goldsmith) cast.(which I totally reject because of the bodily concept and not only that they hate each other and are the cause of my marriage issues) I told her we are not these bodies etc and we all know the caste system is totally hellish. It is extremely limiting and inhumane. Now I have a question, Why do even today pundits and such even in India ask what your caste is when you enter the temple? Arent they supposed to know that we are not these bodies? I mean caste is bodily designation. So is family lineage correct? This birth I am born in the Jogia family and next birth I will be born as Mr. Topiwala or Patel, Johnson, Anderson or somethin or other. Now by birth we are all born sudras, according to the vedas. So shoudnt these pundits understand that since we are all born as Sudras we are equal? By your nature you are considered a Brahmin, Ksatriya, Vaisya, sudra etc. I mean if I am born in a family where my Father is a doctor that doesnt make me a doctor automaticaly. So is Caste and Family Lineage(gotra or godra sp) important? I mean over and over again Prabhupad and other Vaisnava Acharayas have stated we are not these bodies and such so why do we have to make such disctinction? Please help clarify this. I think I will change my last name too. I think it will be something funny. Any suggestions? Hope to hear or read your comments Hare Krsna

Its in the early part of Genesis. I think the old Testement.

Hey, Hari bolo, you are here wow. GOod afternoon Prabhu. Please accept my humble obesensies. Thank you for the post, I will look into that. Now I am off to write a new thread about something. Hari BOlo

THank you for everything you guys, Please pray for me as there are times when I just get frustrated. Hare Krsna

Hare Krsna, I got that post but the thing is I am at school and they dont have the right program to listen to it right now. Oh well. I will give it a shot again.

Yeah, the gentleman who did that to me woudnt leave me alone and would berate me about Jesus everyday in december because of book distribution. He would always yell at me "Repent Sinner! every day. I was like thanks for the encouragment thats why I am distributing these books. I respect Jesus Christ but like you said Priitha ji, it does feel weird when they do that to you. I mean most of these people dont have any potency and they make christianity look so bad. It kinda gets kinda funny and creepy too, they put their hand on your shoulder, close their eyes, look upward(closing their eyes is good so they dont see me laughing)and say "Oh holy spirit, please save this soul and direct him to the right path, may Jesus come in your heart and save you" I mean most of these people arent potent and they use fear as a way to get you to become christian. Anyways, the last time I talked to this gentleman(I say the word loosely as he was nuts and he also had a beard and such like Jesus) he said to me "Repent Sinner! I replied with "Repent Christian! There was a chuckle from the crowd Man these stories are funny.

Hare Krsna Priitaa ji. Thank you, I thought I was an idiot for not understanding what he said. I am curious though as to what he said.

Prabhupad is always there so I make an attempt to bow down to praphupad. I mean atleast you are considering bowing down. Most Hindu temples dont even know what that is. I been to other temples and I dont even see people bow down, when I bow down they think something is wrong with me. I mean thats partly true but cmon, bow down.

It is easier to pass an elephant through an eye of a needle then for a rich man/woman to go to heaven. So use everything for krsna's service. I want to opologies if you felt I was disrespecting your parents. I wasnt doing that. I was just saying some of the old school indian parents who try to be desi and american at the same time annoy me. Chant hare Krsna and serve krsna by using everything in his service. He says, I am the ability in man so he has given you the ability now you should use your ability to do things in his service.

Yes if you go to holy places but dont associate with the people that are there then whats the point right? There was a thread similar to this where I was bombarded with the above statement I made.

"Yes, you should always love and respect your parents but this is your life. Your parents are trying to gratify their sense towards you" What I meant above was that your parents are trying to gratify their senses through you. Your parents duty is to take you towards Krsna. You should go to school for Krsna.

listening to your parents is one thing but you should also follow your heart. Do a degree in which you are satisfied. Your parents have lived their life, that doesnt mean they can live yours for you. You should go to school for something that will benefit you. By getting a degree in what you want is better and serving krsna with it is even better then that. Yes, you should always love and respect your parents but this is your life. Your parents are trying to gratify their sense towards you. I may seem like I am bitter or something but I went to something similar you are going through. It has to do with marriage more then school but you will suffer later if you dont do what is your natural inclination and natural duty. Hare Krsna

Well people dont like being exposed. Vedic culture is like one of the hottest things right now as it exposes western so called culture to be nothing but sex, meat eating, drugs etc etc etc. I mean they all have misconceptions about vedic culture so they dont understand. They have put us all in a group called "Hindu" a word that doesnt exist in the sastras What can we do? Let people become aware about such misidentifications and..... ......Just Chant Hare Krsna and depend on Krsna. As Krsna Bhakti will pervade everything and a golden age will dawn in Kaliyuga. There is a devotee(who I wont name) predicted to become the President of the United states.

Me not undestanding

who say that they dont need a guru. I mean I know krsna says that one should aqquire from a bonafide spiritual master but does that mean initiation or just getting some knowledge. Also krsna led by example and had a guru himself, even though he didnt need one.

and they eat these animals, dont they become less intelligent. I have heard that they say women are this and that. Once I said to my islamic friend if you guys think women are bad, less intelligent and such and if you guys desperatly go after these women then doesnt that make you equally stupid? Interesting, there was no reply.

I find it quite silly and other words that I cant come up with when they say things like Jesus has come inside me as the holy spirit and is showing his loving glance through me to save a soul like you. Ofcourse right after this person said this to me he proceeded to smoke. I never even heard some of the great vaisnavas say things like this and I am sure they have better qaulifications then most of these people who perticipate in meat eating, smoking, illicit sex life etc. The big one is when they say let me put my hand on your shoulder and pray for you with the holy spirit. I let them do that and then say "wow that did work, now I can chant Hare Krsna better, thanks"