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"you take the shower of the holy name and everything is allright" That's very nice spoken. Thank you. I do try to take a shower once a day...it just makes me skin very extremely itchy, especially when I use hot water. Then again, I read somewhere letting hot water run over your head is very bad anyway.

What about those of us then that can't take two showers (or even one) a day because of skin condition ?

Devotee email buddies have definitely been a blessing for me lately.

most ghosts are perceived by our mind. having bodies of subtle energy, mind is the gate through which they enter your world and act in it, but there are many different types of ghosts and their potency "on this side" varies greatly. Exactly. I've had my share of experiences with them and their potency definitely varies a lot.

Yes, I wouldn't feel akward at all about this. In fact, I stayed at home to take care of my son also when my son as just born and I must say that i really enjoyed it. And I enjoy it when I see other people doing it also, in fact, I enjoy seeing things where the traditional 'gender' cliche's are being smashed. And a lot of fathers really need to spend more time with their childeren, they need to develop an emotional bond with their childeren cause often this is completely lacking.

I'm curious now aimless...did you get a satisfying answer here ?! My personal advice would be: don't question it too much. we're just humans and we don't even know yet how we should live on in peace with the earth and those living on it, yet we want to understand difficult questions like 'who God is' or what the whole plan is... I think that these are all questions that will only arise more and more doubts and doubts are really a big obstacle on the spiritual path. Now, I do embrace questioning, in fact, we need to have a critical mind in this world, but some things we also just need to accept, very much like childeren have to believe certain things that are told to them by their parents. I'm sure sure that we will know and understand the answers one day but I don't see that day being close and untill that day we just need to have faith. Listen very closely to your heart, it'll tell you what's best for you.

Wouldn't it be great if we could stop thinking in terms of countries and start thinking instead how we could make 'the world' a better place instead of just one country ?

I guess that as long as this world is so divided as it is we will all feel this suffering somehow. I know that I feel it on a daily basis. And hey, whatever you do: don't solve it with medicins !! Medicins are evil and artificial and they numb you. You don't want to do that ! If you ever want to talk more about this feel free to write me. cantfeedmenow@hotmail.com

I'll be in Italy in June to meet Bhaktivedanta Naryana Maharaja. I really can't wait.

Awesome, any pictures of the studio ? And you're right... I got a new tattoo last month and man, I never had been in such a clean clean shop before and it was just great.

Wow, I don't really know what to say know except for...thank you and bless you a bazillion times over. You keep coming up with all these amazing words that comfort me like a warm blanket on a cold winternight. It's people like you that give me the strenght and courage that I need to keep going. Krishna Ki Jai !

And furthermore: I will never forget what Krishna had to say about the gopi's and the wise men...

However, we can even see from a practical perspective how Prabhupada teated his female disciples. He did not treat them any lesser than his male disciples. Even had them go out on the streets and distribute books to strangers in male bodies, etc. He had no fear they would run off and indulge in illicit sex like some (not all) men think That's exactly how I also feel: I think we should look at Prabhupada's actions, and those show that he didn't see women as being lower human beings... And personaly, I believe that woman can be way better at being celibate than men ever will be...I know that a lot of male devotees are not at all happy when I see say something like this but to me this is just as clear as the water running out of my tap. Male hormons work in completely different way than women their hormones, I mean, nature just works that way so yeah, I'm convinced that men have a way more hard time in being celibate than women but I don't think that avoiding women or even forcing them in lower positions will ever be a cure for that: confrontation with yourself is the only cure for that. But again, that's just my opinion.

"and should remember that newer devotees tend to look up to us often with more credit then we deserve" That is so true ! I think that I have always (and maybe still?) looked up too much to devotees, but why shouldn't I ? When I first got into KC I took pretty much every kind of drug that I could get my hands on, except for crack and heroine that is. I've been on more acid trips than I can remember and I have smoked enough pot in my life to last me five lifetimes, so yes, to me, the devotees were a huge source of inspiration, people that I looked up to, people that I wholeheartedly admired, people that inspired me to become free of addictions myself...And even when I got hurt by certain devotees I still didn't mind because I always respected them so much. Yeah, now that I think about it, I still feel the same way...simply because I know of myself that I will never ever succeed in this lifetime to become a vaishnave, there's too much dirt on my soul for that...but that doesn't take away that I love Krishna...I mean, I think about Him every moment of the day almost and to me the devotees have always been Krishna's representatives so ofcourse I looked up to them with great respect and I will continue to do so. The thing is: I love humans...and I will never ever be able to look down upon a human because he/she is not a vaishnava. I think that a lot of devotees may see this as a brutal crime or offence but that's just the way I have always felt...and I want to use what I have learned in KC and through Krishna to help as many people as I can... You know: it's said that there's many different relations to have with Krishna, one of them being hurt the whole time because you feel that something is missing in your life. That's pretty much how I feel. I feel hurt every second, I miss Krishna every second and that's why I so love to hang out at temples, being around other devotees, but at the same time I also get hurt there because they can sometimes say awfuly hurtful things: I remember being in a . some years back and some devotee was explaining how we shouldn't see women as beautiful creatures but as guts and blood and intestines so that we wouldn't be attracted to them, well, personaly I think that something like that is extremely painful to hear... Anyways, I'm drifting off... And besides, I know that some of my words may also be very offending to other devotees, and I really don't want to hurt anyone like I said. Maybe sites like these aren't realy meant for me in the end...there's too many pure devotees here and I really don't want to bring any negativity to this place. So again, I'm really sorry if I have done so. Krishna Ki Jai.

This week I heard a pretty disturbing story: some (anarchist) friends of mine were doing a 'food not bombs' program and they wanted to join efforts with the devotees of the 'food for life' project so that they could reach more people...well, in the end the whole project went 'kaputski' because the guys I knew really couldn't handle the devotees their criticism towards women...personaly I also have big difficulties with that myself. I have seen way too many people getting turned off of spirituality because of this reason and I think that's a real shame...

"how we were all united...." That is indeed very very wonderful.

Well, I think that we should look at Prabhupada's actions. I think that he was pretty radical in his behaviour towards women considering the fact that he came from India and that he had been told completely different things. Prabhupada dared to change the standard and I feel that we can only be thankful for that. Also, I think that it's a much ignored fact just how much women have done for the movement. I really regard that as a sad fact, like I said, we should take an example of Prabhupada's actions and deeds.

Thanx Priitaa. I have to admit that the post kind of hurt me cause I'm in no way trying to offend anyone and I definitely don't feel better than anyone else...the opposite would be more true. I know that I make a lot of mistakes but I can only say in my defence that I do love Krishna with my whooooole heart.

I agree, I love this topic. Priitaa: do you have the book, the pioneer years ? There's some amaaaaazing beautiful pictures in there of Srila Prabhupada. And you're right, it's never enough !

I was responding specifically to the person who made this remark: But that was written by a guest while I write under Crimal.

In reply to: -- If you don't understand something you read, then read it again. >>I did not say that I didn't understand the Bhagavad Gita: I stated that I didn't understand krishna and his incredible potency: and I will stick to what I said because I can't. I'm a human so how could I ever understand Krishna that has created the whole universe ? I am trying my best to follow the guidance of the BG but that doesn't mean that I understand God. I know what Krishna expects of us and i will try my best I can to do that, but I will never ever try to understand Krishna before I can be a completely balanced person. That is why we have books like Bhagavad-gita --- to understand him. Why make this seem complicated? Just read the book. Prabhupada translated it, so what is your problem reading it? >>I don't have a problem reading it. Not at all even? I think you have taken my post the complete wrong way. I'm very sorry if I did not write out my feelings well enough. Maybe I can hide behind the excuse here that I'm Dutch and English isn't my first language so I can't always express myself the way I would like to. I'm sorry about that. Although I do believe he was a rare soul, a bona fide devotee of Krishna never recruits followers by arguing on the basis of his spiritual superiority. >> ANd I also never said that He did that. I myself see Prabhupada as a rare soul. Fact is, if he would have said it himself I probably wouldn't have felt this way. It is utterly disgraceful to Prabhupada's good name that his followers use sentimental and bullying tactics to shame others into accepting his point of view. A true Vaishnava argues on the basis of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, not on appeals to sentimentalism or peer pressure >>I really don't see just where I would have used bullying tactics but again, if I did then I'm very sorry. But like I said, arguing is not my thing. (anymore) And that's another good lesson I learned from Prabhupada. And having said this I now bow down to you with folded hands: Hare Krsna !! Krishna Ki Jai.

He was an example. I want to follow his example and his words so that I could grow and maybe understand myself a little bit more and the Bhagavad Gita has helped me incredibly with that. That's what I said !! I HAVE read Prabhupada's books; the Bhagavad Gita, the Srimad Bhagavatam, and just about every other book that I could get my hands on. Last night I was reading Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, translated by Srila Prabhupada. Fact is, I'm not gonna get into a discussion about how and why I believe. And as far as preaching goes...I don't think that I'm the right person to preach to anyone...Prabhupada's books are doing that just fine I think. And I'm quite aware of the fact that I'm a very imperfect devotee...however, I would never bash another devotee just because he has a different way of handling his belief than I have. Doesn't the Bhagavad itself says to NOT criticize or hurt any of Krishna's devotees ? Those are Krishna's own words spoken to Arjuna. However, I do thank you for the points made...cause I'm quite aware of the fact that I still have a very long way to go. Krishna Ki Jai.

i think you could reveal a lot, but are being humble and unkind. I'm very sorry to read that you think that i'm unkind cause I really meant no offence with what I wrote. I don't want to talk about something here that I haven't studied enough to completely understand it as that would mean that I would make a whole lot mistakes anyways... Why don't you just search the internet for more information about Jagannath ? Or else you could turn to a a well studied devotee to inform about it...I'm sure that a person like that could help you a lot more than I ever could. I really wasn't being humble for the sake of being humble or unkind for that matter, I was just being honest: I don't know enough about it to explain it. Maybe I shouldn't have posted in this thread but I just love all those small coincidences that eventualy turn to such a mountain that it's impossible to see it all as coincidence.

I think that in the end I don't even want to know. I trust Krishna and I don't even really need a book to trust Him. Fact is, I also don't understand Him. How could I, I'm just a human with an extreme limited intelligence so understanding something like Krishna is next to impossible for me and it also doesn't matter cause I feel fine just serving Him. In a lot of cases you also don't question your parents: you do what they tell you because you know that they are older and wiser than you and because you know that they have your best interest in mind. As you grow older you will get more intelligent yourself up to the point where you can start living alone in the world? I think that spirituality and devotional service works in the same way. I see tons of people arguing and quareling about attributes and mood etc etc of the Lord which we can't even understand anyways, that's why I'm fine with just doing my service and maybe, maybe one day in a next life or something I will understand a little bit more but right now I'm really fine with being dumb...I don't think that we humans can ever grasp a concept as Krishna completely with our limited senses and intelligence. I agree with the poster that said that we should focuss on the similarities instead of the differences cause in my humble opinion, arguing can never be beneficial for spiritual growth, especially when you are not 100% firm yet in that spiritual life. Fact is: Prabhupada was a rare soul. He was an example. I want to follow his example and his words so that I could grow and maybe understand myself a little bit more and the Bhagavad Gita has helped me incredibly with that. I'm eternal grateful for that and all the rest...well, we are living in Maya, I just want to do my best I can. So I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my ignorant post but in the end that's how i really feel. And yes, I also like the stories about Shiva somehow. I guess that really makes me a lousy devotee now.