Gauracandra

Continued...

Continued...

Another one...

I was having problems with a hidden pop-up manager. So I wasn't able to attach any pictures. Anyways, I found it and have disabled it so here are some new pictures...

testing testing

Chant an extra round for her benefit: http://harekrsna.com/sun/features/03-06/features251.htm

I have some new ones I'll put in a new post. However, thought I'd bring this back up to top to refresh people's memories. I'll add the new ones later. I'm having some technical difficulties.

This week’s Srila Siddhaswarupananda television program deals with “Nervous Breakdown: A Door To Spiritual Realization”? <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" /><o:p></o:p> A nervous breakdown is not bad. It is actually a possible door to open a person’s life to a new dimension. It is simply a materialist coming to the realization that they have no shelter. They experience “I can’t find happiness in this anymore.” They attempt to find happiness in material relationships, ambition, goals. A typical person like a businessman trying to be the number one guy. He gets in so much anxiety that the other guy will get the main job so he cracks. Politicians almost always come to the point of a nervous breakdown right before an election, unless he has the vote rigged [laughs]. Or a house wife overwhelmed in her purposeless existence of taking care of the house. So she takes medication to space out. <o:p></o:p> The cause of anxiety comes from material goals. All illusions of where you will find happiness. Because of lust you get wound up. Wound up so tight that you break apart. So most people don’t want to come to this point. They want to believe their foundation is this world is solid. <o:p></o:p> It simply means a person can not cope with the burdens of material existence. When they come to the end they have no shelter. They’ve been taking shelter in matter, in this world. So they think this is bad. But great devotees of the Lord also come to points of nervous breakdowns. They come to this realization that they have no shelter. <o:p></o:p> God is the best friend of every single living entity. Even if this whole world falls apart. When you come to this point you fall flat on your face and cry to God. My spiritual master told me to take shelter of the Lord. If you cry out to God to give you shelter then you’ll experience your real relationship with God. Then you can see the pain as an opening, a door, to enter the spiritual world where there is real love, real purpose, real meaning. <o:p></o:p> “If I aint got nothing I got nothing to lose.” What can go wrong? You then simply live in this world to please God. If they have anxiety it is anxiety to please God. Sometimes a person falls down because ignorance is powerful. If you sincerely ask to be forgiven you will be. “I have been foolishly trying to take shelter in the finite and again I’m suffering. Forgive me for turning away.” <o:p></o:p> God is there always waiting for an individual to turn to Him. A devotee of God has problems, pressures from this project or that project, but he doesn’t try to hold them all up. He doesn’t attempt to escape into drugs. When pressure mounts he goes into his secret relationship with God. Then he realizes he is nothing and so there is no burden. <o:p></o:p> I’ll have problems if I have my own desires. If my will is not done my will isn’t all powerful. If I’m trying to do His will and God is the supreme controller then where is the burden. God has not competitor like the devil. No one can compete with God. God doesn’t worry about losing control. Nervous breakdowns are for people who have their own will and ambitions. A servant of God is already broken. Their arrogance is broken. Their ambitions are broken. They have nothing but God who is everything. <o:p></o:p> At death everyone loses everything. We lose our attachments and ambitions. Our bodies get older, whether you are a musician or entertainer it doesn’t matter. They all start to fall apart. They aren’t as loved as they used to be. At death we lose everything. A nervous breakdown means my source of security is taken out from beneath me. If the ground opens up beneath me I’d be surprised. I’m leaning on my wife, my job, my possessions, my identity. “I am Jack Jones, President of this corporation.” In my money, my bank account. During the depression people jumped out of windows because they lost it all. All of his security left. <o:p></o:p> There is a quote in the Bible about not building a house on the seashore at low tide. The tide of death comes in. A nervous breakdown allows you to see death before death. You have a perfect opportunity to meet God. This is a fact. It is not something you need to run away from. People taking shelter in the temporary instead of the eternal. Trying to forget the insecure position we are in. Remember there is a real shelter and when the walls of the house come crumbling down that God loves you and is the only shelter. There is no other shelter but God. Its not that we should try to have a nervous breakdown. But if you do just fall flat on your face and cry to God. Please let me know how to serve you. All my false places I try to find security will be taken away.

This week’s Srila Siddhaswarupananda television program deals with animal life. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" /><o:p></o:p> For one who is born death is certain. For one who dies birth is certain. This is called reincarnation. You have lived in the past and will have bodies in the future. Sometimes you have a human body, sometimes a dog, insect, or a demigod a powerful angelic being. Reincarnation is not a desirable condition to be in. Any questions? <o:p></o:p> Audience member: How would a person’s next body be determined? <o:p></o:p> Srila Siddhaswarupananda: If your consciousness is like an animal you will take on that form. Your mind is a nucleus around which your gross physical body develops. Even now someone who worries to much they will get ulcers. At the time of death all you have is the subtle body, desires in the mind, the way your consciousness is molded will mold your body. Your body is wrapped around your mind. So a person’s mentality is the core. So what is an animal’s mind like? <o:p></o:p> Audience member: Animals eat, sleep, mate and defend. <o:p></o:p> Srila Siddhaswarupananda: An animal enjoys eating, sleeping, enjoying sex life, and fighting. You don’t see an animal going to church and praying to God. Or wondering what is the cause of his suffering. A human being can also be in animal consciousness. <o:p></o:p> Humans sleep. If your interest is only sleeping or defending fighting like a dog. Animal life is central enjoyment. Defending we have big armies today. Animal life means a person’s consciousness has no spiritual purpose or sense of responsibility. A person who lives like an animal tries to enjoy his senses and fights to keep it but has no responsibility. His gross physical body is human but when he leaves it he will come back as an animal. <o:p></o:p> We are not making this up. This comes from God handed down from spiritual master to disciple. Let me read from scripture [reads a verse]. God arranges that we get what we want. Do animals feel guilt? No. If we are trying to be free of guilt we are trying to be free of our humanness. <o:p></o:p> Audience member: Why not come back as an animal? <o:p></o:p> Srila Siddhaswarupananda: If you don’t think having fleas is suffering. Or come back as a flea and be afraid of being eaten by a dog. The human being thinks animals aren’t suffering. So called Princess Grace died a little while ago. She was a former movie star. She was asked if you could come back who would she come back as. Her response was “Her dogs. Because they have the best life. They just eat and sleep in the palace.” This is the elite of our society. These kinds of people will get the opportunity to live like an animal. <o:p></o:p> You should seriously consider if you really want to be an animal. They suffer from birth, disease, old age, and death. I don’t know Princess Grace ever saw her dog die of old age. I saw it as a kid. Our pet dog died of old age and the suffering was immense. What the materialists like about a dog’s life is there is no responsibility. <o:p></o:p> The human form of life is meant to transcend the wheel of birth and death. The amount of pleasure in this world is small compared to the amount of suffering. You can exist without taking on new bodies. You can get off this wheel. A fool like Princess Grace does not recognize that truth that the world is a place of suffering. We want to make believe there is no suffering. This is false positive thinking. Real positive thinking is to know my eternal nature. <o:p></o:p> Audience member: Even if you think I’m eternal you still have to die. <o:p></o:p> Srila Siddhaswarupananda: No. Will you whine if you change your shirt? Because you are not your shirt. When you know you are not the body you can give it up. Get a heart machine or a lung machine trying to keep the body alive forever. The tattered shirt trying to patch it up. Just leave it behind. <o:p></o:p> Audience member: Where am I going to go? <o:p></o:p> Srila Siddhaswarupananda: Where will you go? The protection is in taking refuge of God. I place myself in Your care. I have not protection. Whatever you want that is what I want. Let my life be pleasing to you. An advanced yogi does not try to transcend the wheel of birth and death but simply takes shelter of the Lord. <o:p></o:p> Audience member: My teachers say when you reach the human form of life you can’t go back down. <o:p></o:p> Srila Siddhaswarupananda: Why are they teaching this when the scriptures say you can go down? <o:p></o:p> Audience member: Its easier to accept this. <o:p></o:p> Srila Siddhaswarupananda: They want to live like an animal but feel spiritual. Their interest is to get you to allegiance, to become their disciple. I am passing this knowledge from my spiritual master. Its called the Brahma Sampradaya. Scripture makes it very clear that you are responsible. No matter the guru saying you can wear orange robes, you are liberated. This is garbage and destroying people’s lives. You have to life a life of responsibility. You must control your senses and not be controlled by your senses. To be happy you must cultivate your love for God. My only motive in speaking is to help you cultivate love for God. You can get out of the material world. Thank you very much.

http://www.avemaria.com/

In Prabhupada Village in North Carolina, some devotees have road ways that go through their property. I'm not sure how the system works, but I believe if you own your property you can name the road that passes through your land. So some of the roads are called like "Prabhupada Street" or "Hare Krishna Road". Now imagine some ACLU guy from the city comes along and says "You can't name your street after a religious person. Its unconstitutional." Never mind the fact that nothing in the constitution says anything about street naming. The point is you as a community have given your symbols, rituals, history to your community. If Srila Prabhupada is part of our history then why can't we build our community on our symbols, rituals, and history? Who is an outsider to come in a sue saying its unconstitional? Again, these folks are anti-community.

Interesting article. The founder of Domino's pizza is building an entire city from the ground up, 5000 acres, that will follow Catholic law. He is basically a billionaire and is giving most of his money away to Catholic charity. What I find interesting is the ACLU opposes his plan. I'm not surprised. What gets me is who are they, or anyone, to step in and define how a community can or can't organize itself. Communities have the right to set standards, outlaw pornography, abortion, contraception etc.... If you don't like it don't live there. Since this is a community built from the ground up everyone is voluntarily choosing to live in this community. All property will be privately owned except the areas zoned for businesses. All businesses will be leased property and will have to sign an agreement to abide by certain rules. It seems to me if 10,000 Catholics choose to create a town, choose to name it Ave Maria, choose to have a cathedral in the center, choose not to allow abortion in the town, choose to name the streets Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John or whatever they want, then who in the heck is the ACLU to tell them they can't do this? If you can't get away from the filth, then separate from the rest of society and block it at the entrance. The ACLU is fundamentally anti-community. They believe in individual rights to do whatever, but not on community rights. Here is the article: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/02/catholic.town.ap/ New Florida town would restrict abortion Domino's founder building community around Catholic university Thursday, March 2, 2006; Posted: 9:35 p.m. EST (02:35 GMT) The town of Ave Maria, shown in this artist's rendering, will include a large cathedral. NAPLES, Florida (AP) -- If Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan has his way, a new town being built in Florida will be governed according to strict Roman Catholic principles, with no place to get an abortion, pornography or birth control. The pizza magnate is bankrolling the project with at least $250 million and calls it "God's will." Civil libertarians say the plan is unconstitutional and are threatening to sue. The town of Ave Maria is being constructed around Ave Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in about 40 years. Both are set to open next year about 25 miles east of Naples in southwestern Florida. The town and the university, developed in partnership with the Barron Collier Co., an agricultural and real estate business, will be set on 5,000 acres with a European-inspired town center, a massive church and what planners call the largest crucifix in the nation, at nearly 65 feet tall. Monaghan envisions 11,000 homes and 20,000 residents. During a speech last year at a Catholic men's gathering in Boston, Monaghan said that in his community, stores will not sell pornographic magazines, pharmacies will not carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will have no X-rated channels. Homebuyers in Ave Maria will own their property outright. But Monaghan and Barron Collier will control all commercial real estate in the town, meaning they could insert provisions in leases to restrict the sale of certain items. "I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don't want to be on the sidelines," Monaghan, who sold Domino's Pizza in 1998 to devote himself to doing good works, said in a recent Newsweek interview. Robert Falls, a spokesman for the project, said Tuesday that attorneys are still reviewing the legal issues and that Monaghan had no comment in the meantime. "If they attempt to do what he apparently wants to do, the people of Naples and Collier County, Florida, are in for a whole series of legal and constitutional problems and a lot of litigation indefinitely into the future," warned Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist said it will be up to the courts to decide the legalities of the plan. "The community has the right to provide a wholesome environment," he said. "If someone disagrees, they have the right to go to court and present facts before a judge." Gov. Jeb Bush, at the site's groundbreaking earlier this month, lauded the development as a new kind of town where faith and freedom will merge to create a community of like-minded citizens. Bush, a convert to Catholicism, did not speak specifically to the proposed restrictions. "While the governor does not personally believe in abortion or pornography, the town, and any restrictions they may place on businesses choosing to locate there, must comply with the laws and constitution of the state and federal governments," Russell Schweiss, a spokesman for the governor, said Tuesday. Frances Kissling, president of the liberal Washington-based Catholics for a Free Choice, likened Monaghan's concept to Islamic fundamentalism. "This is un-American," Kissling said. "I don't think in a democratic society you can have a legally organized township that will seek to have any kind of public service whatsoever and try to restrict the constitutional rights of citizens."

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Here is the website for Iskcon Utah. At the bottom left side there a webcam if you want to see the interior of the temple. Also, they run a small radio station in Utah and are streaming it on the internet as well. http://www.utahkrishnas.com/main/home.asp

Here is the website for Iskcon Utah. At the bottom left side there a webcam if you want to see the interior of the temple. Also, they run a small radio station in Utah and are streaming it on the internet as well. http://www.utahkrishnas.com/main/home.asp

Here is a picture of the cows next to people. These are mini-Zebu cows:

Wasn't the Hope diamond the eye of a deity of Sita or something? Just somewhat related. But if they actually owned this diamond, why keep it in a safe in Switzerland? I wouldn't trust any banker with that kind of wealth.

I'm wondering if there is anywhere with more detailed information. I know that Iran once was populated with Zoroastrians who were driven out (ie. killed) by Mohammed. I haven't heard about Egypt but there must be some connection to a greater Vedic empire in Egypt.

Not sure what my reaction should be. I guess I like that their hearts in the right place. But dog feces? http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-02-22T001147Z_01_N21118686_RTRUKOC_0_US-LIFE-SANFRANCISCO-DOGS.xml

The Utah temple has recently received two Xebu cows. Here are some pictures:

Just another point on monarchy vs. democracy. Look at a country like Saudi Arabia. Perhaps they are corrupt, I don't really know the country and how the leaders treat the people. However, because it is a monarchy, there is only one religion allowed in the country - Islam. We might not like that but it is good in that nothing works to undermine the indigineous culture. There is no pornography or alcohol (I believe) allowed in the country. There is none of this "I have the freedom to do what I want." Democracy has good points but also refuses to set standards that might go against certain segments of the population.

"So a family of 5 can get by with one cow, and that cow would have one calf for that lactation." Are you suggesting that every family should have 1 cow? I would think that would be far more milk than needed for a family and unlikely they would have the expertise needed.

Good article. I do question this idea that every country should be a democracy. Whats wrong with democracy? It is that it is easily manipulated. If you have a monarchy, you can have a corrupt monarchy or an enlightened monarchy. If a King decides to run his country with the best interests of his people in mind, then there is very little that outsiders can do to manipulate the government. On the other hand, if people are elected, you can have outside governments working to manipulate the elections. In a monarchy, if its corrupt then its corrupt, but if it isn't then you have a much better system than in unstable, manipulated democracy.