vanamali

Pankaja, not everyone is able to chant 64 rounds a day like you! /images/graemlins/wink.gif Most of us have to start somewhere. Just like learning gymnastics, you have you start from learning to do a sommersault first. If somebody showed you the whole uneven bars routine on the first day and asked you to please repeat it immediately, you would probably drop the class. So, don't drop the class. Just keep practicing your sommersaults and learning new exercises, and I'm damn sure you'll be able to do the uneven bars eventually.

I mean, just don't be too hard on yourself. Krishna is very merciful. /images/graemlins/smile.gif He doesn't expect a complete metamorphosis overnight. /images/graemlins/smile.gif I think He will definitely take care of you no matter what, and since you are trying to do all these things, I'm sure He will appreciate it very much. I feel like the more we realize His kind nature, the more we will want to be with Him (and we all know that desire is a helpful one, /images/graemlins/smile.gif )

Oh dear! You know, you don't have to chant 16 rounds a day for Krishna to accept and love you! No way! Try to do one a day. Even if you don't succeed in that, Krishna still appreciates that you tried. /images/graemlins/smile.gif Don't expect to be "perfect" over night! It takes time. Krishna knows this, and so should you. Take it slow, but don't give up! /images/graemlins/smile.gif Nothing wrong with doing "mundane activities" as long as they are not against dharma. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif Yes, it sounds like you have the right idea. Just keep thinking of Krishna, and you are fine. /images/graemlins/smile.gif Even playing golf, it doesn't really matter. Hey, if you say Krishna's name six times for each of the eighteen holes in golf, you have 108 names of Krishna! One before you hit the ball, one after, four while walking to get it (or hitting it again with the club) one while bending down to pick it up and one while standing. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Or how about these Two? (my favorite!)

How about this one? Does He look more Indian? /images/graemlins/smile.gif

How do Indians "really look"? I would say a lot of Tamilians and Andhra people that you meet here are usually a bit dark... darker than say the average Punjabi person. /images/graemlins/smile.gif In the northeast there are a lot of "chinese" looking folks, too. My point? There is a lot of variety in Indian body shape and skin tone, etc. BTW religious art is not necessarily supposed to be "realism" in the sense that it replicates human features exactly. Rather, much emphasis is on large, elongated, vivacious eyes, stately long noses, small but full lips. The arms should be longer than normal... there are a lot of such guidelines (from silpa shastra?) Anyway, there is variation in skin tone... Lakshmi is very fair whereas Krishna is black-bluish. I guess it depends on your taste which murthys you prefer. South Indian murthys are generally black stone, whereas a lot of north Indian murthys (not all) are marble or other stone... As for painting, there are a lot of different traditions/styles. Can you show us a picture example of the kind of art you were looking at and had questions about?

I agree!

hear hari katha (stories about Krishna), chant His names, sing His praises, serve His deity in the temple, etc. etc. and realize that He is very very merciful, kind, loving and lovable. /images/graemlins/smile.gif I will try to find a list of devotional activities... /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Her point was that everything is created by God, so why do we bow before idols and not do the same to a garabage dump??? --------------------------- Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. To your friend I am saying, of course God is everwhere. But at the same time He is especially present in the idol. Think of it this way; God is present everywhere so that means He is in garbage and He is also in a child. That doesn't mean you would keep your child in the garbage! The material world has differing degrees of cleanliness, and if you love someone you would not keep them in a dirty disgusting place. So we love God, and we keep His form clean and dress Him lovingly and offer food and take care of Him. We don't think Krishna is *only* in the idol. There is a true form of Krishna. But the murthy is Krishna with us, and is a way we can relate to Him personally. So I really REALLY think deity worship is an excellent form of devotional practice.

Yes of course, cleanliness is very important! What I mean was, you don't have to break your connection to tasty food by thinking "I am eating what once was stool." Food is not the same as garbage or stool. It is offerable to God, so we can't think of it that way. That would be like "I am offering to Krishna what once was stool." It's so much easier to try to think "Oh! What delicious food! Krishna would love that!" and offer it with that feeling. We can't be thinking of bhoga as stool, because then how would we offer it to Krishna? /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Our position is of service. But of-cource in Krishna-lila. Its kinda the other way around. ---------------------- Seems that when the devotee can offer pure Prema, Krishna gets so overwhelmed that He feels "at a loss" to express the deluge of His emotions, and thus the apparant "switch." /images/graemlins/tongue.gif /images/graemlins/tongue.gif /images/graemlins/smile.gif

"I am sorry for offending anyone, please forgive me..." ---- No no dear! I'm sure you didn't offend anyone. It was an interesting idea, though! /images/graemlins/tongue.gif /images/graemlins/smile.gif /images/graemlins/smile.gif /images/graemlins/smile.gif Sorry if I offended. ------------- Krishna is everywhere. So doesn't that mean we are eating Krishna? ---- This prakriti is, if you will, part of Krishna's "lower prakriti." All things are part of God, but we want God Himself. You are a part of Krishna, too. That doesn't mean you are Krishna. Just so, any food is sacred and is a part of the Lord, but not all food is prasadam! We want a *personal* relationship with parabramhan/paramatman Himself. So there IS a point and a difference. Yes, we want to do some service for Krishna. Krishna doesn't need food to survive. But still, He accepts our gift of food, so we have some way of expressing our devotion. Otherwise, if Krishna is just some omniscient super-powerful GOD that is "somewhere out there" in the universe, and does not appear to need us for anything, then how helpless we would feel to forge any kind of relation with Him. The ability to offer food to Him is Krishna's mercy. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Well, the atoms in "stool" come into grains and plants, etc. through fertilizer. Sure, there are some shared atoms there. Guess what? Your body is probably making stool out of food right now. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif But food is very sacred. Please don't think of it like that. Food is presided over by Annapurna devi and of course the supreme Lord Himself, and as far as material life is concerned, it is quite necessary to eat food. Those who do not have any food to eat would not appreciate the "stool" reference probably. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif /images/graemlins/tongue.gif /images/graemlins/smile.gif As for mini's post, once we get to the point where we can see Krishna everywhere like the gopis did (as far-off as it may seem) we may indeed find ourselves bowing before a garbage dump. The world is simply filled with Krishna. /images/graemlins/smile.gif I hope one day we can see Him. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Please don't take this as a personl attack Pankaja. Of course I went to the site. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif (???) I do not know what their theological beliefs are. I just wanted to be clear on why you were advocating this site. That is all. Just for references on Gayatri Devi and the Gayatri mantram right? /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Pankaja, I'm not so sure that's what the website meant. Who is running that site, dear? When some say "God has no form" they really mean it. Nirguna brahman... no qualities... /images/graemlins/tongue.gif Anyway, as I think you know, Krishna does have a transcendental form, though not obviously made of this perishable material substance. (BTW I saw that gayatri devi has shankha and chakra too... nice of you to mention it)

Why is an idol or picture used for worship of God, who is formless? ------------------- Pankaja, I'm pretty sure you are a Gaudiya Vaishnava. Please ask your guru about some of the statements on this website. God is not formless in Gaudiya theology. Not so much. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif hehehe

now...is this answer reliable?...Gayathri Devi has no form?..the form potrayed is only symbolic representation?? ---------------- Just keep in mind it's not from a Gaudiya source. For us Krishna has form, so don't let that lead you to believe He does not. As for gayatri devi, there is not really a big emphasis on her, but I would assume she has form like any other devi. Lakshmi is the Sri Sakti of the Lord, and so has shankha and chakra in Her more "powerful" appearances. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Garbha and creation of the material world is associated with Durga mata.

A quote on spurti from Jiva goswami... When inviting the Vrajavasins to Kurukshetra, he says that only those who do not believe that he comes secretly to visit them in Vraja need come, that the rest should stay behind. (33) To the gopis he says that he too is subject to a similar perception of these *real/illusory meetings*: Though I come to meet with you constantly in such a way that you are only aware individually, you believe [my presence] to be hallucination and false; this is true not only for you, but alas for me as well; therefore let us meet, even if only once, at Kurukshetra, on the pretext of spying on our enemies, and may that meeting resuscitate us.(34)

At the beginning of the pooja we pray to Lord Ganesha.

Dhairya Lakshmi

Vijaya Lakshmi

Vijaya Lakshmi and Dhairya Lakshmi I believe also have shankha and cakra. I thought Bramha, Vishnu and Siva all lent their attributes (weapons) to Durga Devi when they wanted her to kill Mahishasura. Isn't that right?

It is all His grace. If you feel anything for Him, it is not because you are good, but because He has had mercy on you. We worship His devotees that have already become attached to His lotus feet. But even those great devotees are very humble. And rightly so, because we can always increase in bhakti. Bhakti is ever-growing, so we can always love Him more. /images/graemlins/smile.gif Our devotion to Him is not the devotion we have earned, but what He wants to give. Even the most sinful person can begin to love- one need only beg Sri Krishna to bestow some love in the heart... Jaya Sri Krishna

I think it is ok to feel Krishna is your best friend, but it is important to remember that that doesn't mean you are suddenly above the other bhaktas. Krishna relates to all His devotees with overwhelming love, and yes familiarity too. If you feel He is your best friend, that is great and the more you think of Him that way the more you will remember Him and the easier it will be to think of Him. Because if you think of Him in "awe and reverance" only, but not in this familiar way, you might be afraid to approach Him, thinking you are perhaps too sinful or some other thing. When you think of Him as friend, etc. then the relationship is the same but more intimate. You can tell Him everything and He will stick with you no matter what. But He feels that way about ALL the bhaktas. The important thing is to feel "Krishna, the greatest Person in the whole Universe, is my best friend" and at the same time "I am lower than the straw in the street." I think that is not such an easy thing, and we need Krishna's grace to help us acheive that feeling. It is certainly not humanly possible, but through the Lord's grace of course it is quite possible. /images/graemlins/smile.gif