jayaisvara

I read the article on vina.cc about Simplicity and Faith:

Part 1: http://www.vina.cc/stories/PHILOSOPHICAL/2004/4/simplicityandfaith.html

Part 2: http://www.vina.cc/stories/PHILOSOPHICAL/2004/5/simplicityandfaith.2.html

Through the books, one can still associate with the Sadhus and the Spiritual Master because the books vibrate the transcendental vibration. Faith is the most important, which is the lesson of those two articles. Its a very important article I believe.

Is there any quotes in BG or Bhagavatam regarding the spiritual senses and how one can train them?

How is it possible for me to practice bhakti when I will have to face so many impediments such as women at the university. Most likely, I will have to talk to them and associate with them. Being a person with low self esteem, I don't see how I can practice bhakti.

Guest, your story is very encouraging to me, I hope I can do the same as you have done

Recently my parents consulted an astrologer and he said that for someone entering university, I should focus fully on university subjects and I should not read the Gita until I am finished with my university studies. He said continue to pray to God but not undertake the philosophy. He was a shaivite by the way. So I just listen to lectures of Bhaktivedanta Swami on cd and read articles on net about Krsna. I have a Gita but I am scared that I will misunderstand it and mess up.

Currently I will be studying physics at a university. I am very interested in proving the statements of the Bhagavatam about the moon being situated far away, and life on other planets. Is this lust or service to God?

Srila Prabhupada has said that dharma means occupational duty. How can a student, like me, who is forced to study, dedicate my duty to Krsna?

Is it necessary for someone to live amongst the devotees to learn how to properly surrender to the spiritual master? Is it possible for one who lives in the middle of material society to chant purely?

I have a few questions that I hope someone can spread light over:

1) What is saranagati/surrender?

2) How do you surrender to your spiritual master?

3) What are the symptoms of one who is surrendered to his spiritual master?

4) How long does it take to surrender to the spiritual master?

5) Even if one reads the purports and books of the spiritual master, but, somehow or another is not able to follow the injunctions, is this surrender?

6) Does surrendering to the spiritual master happen in stages or at once?

7) What are the steps towards surrendering to the spiritual master?

Why isn't there just one main sect of vaisnavism? Why such separation?

Is there any difference between Vaisnavism as taught in Bengal and Vaisnavism taught elsewhere in India?

I think its good that woman are poor in such politics because they are more religious than men and are close to God. A woman is a worshippable being.

If Krsna wants someone to live, no one can kill that person. If He wants someone to not live, no one can save that person.

That is very near, very very near.

I checked the discovery channel but I couldn't find any info on this thing

Will this air in North America? Can you please also post the source for this article?

Thanks for the clip krsna, Srila Prabhupada is very determined

Very inspiring, this is a great quote, thx ancient_paztriot

gHari, is the BG you guys are talking about the original 1972 version?

Thanks for the very nice findings. I never knew a rabbit existed on the moon /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I think its like this, if I say I must value prasadam like my very two eyes, then that means that my eyes are so precious to me. For anyone, they wouldn't trade their eyes for anything. So, if prasadam is like my eyes, just imagine the value of prasadam. I think it goes like that. I think the essence of Bhagavatam is to forget about the material way of thinking or material consciousness. For example, if I go to a materialistic person and say "Bhagavatam is the nectar of all Vedas" he will look at me and probably say, "that is not possible because how can a book be something very tasty like nectar?". So he sees the statement in materialistic way of thought and this is proven in his answer where he just cannot seem how tasty a book would be or even if its possible to drink a book...Thus, taste is material and spiritual but he compares it literally with material taste and material nectar. As for the spiritual person, he would understand the essence of my statement. Similarily, the essence of Bhagavatam from my angle of vision is the bliss of our true consciousness when it awakens to the smell and taste of the sweet nectar of true devotional service unto the lotus feet of Sri Krsna

I hope these experiences only strengthen your faith in the Supreme Lord and the Spiritual Master. I take it as somewhat good since without the Lord's sanction, no ghost or anything can do anything to anyone. But if you pray and still something happens than that is definitely His special mercy.

Just today I had a dream about 2 elephants chasing me and one tried to headbutt me but I kicked it on the head...Please keep this in mind and read the following conversation between the great soul Garuda and Lord Vishnu found in the Garuda Purana 2.23.1-12 which can be found at http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/encyclopedia/garuda-purana.htm

Garuda said:

1. What do the ghosts do in their ghosthood? When do they speak sometime? Please tell me, o Lord of gods!

The Lord said:

2. I shall tell you about their form, signs and dreams. Being oppressed by hunger and thirst they enter their former home.

3. Though possessed of airy forms, they give signs to their sleeping descendants, o bird.

4. They visit the place where their sons, wives and relatives sleep.

5. If a person dreams of a horse, an elephant, a bull, or a man with deformed

face, if a person awakened from sleep sees himself in the opposite side of the bed, this is all due to the workings of a ghost.

6. If a man is fastened with chains in dream, if his dead ancestors demand food in dream,

7. If one snatches the food from him while he is eating in dream, if thirsty, one drinks water,

8. If in dream one rides a bull or moves with bulls or if one springs up in the sky or goes to a holy place hungry,

9.-10. If one speaks aloud among cows, bulls, brahmanas, horses, elephants, deities, ghosts and demons - this is due to the working of a ghosts. Many are the signs of ghosts in dream, o bird. It is due to a ghost if one sees his wife, relative, son or husband as dead.

11. He who begs in dream oppressed by hunger or thirst should give pindas to the manes to ward off coming distress.

12. If one sees in dream his son, cattle, father, brother, wife, getting out of house, it is due to the working of a ghost.

This probably explains my instability of mind for the past month I guess...

Has anyone had any dreams similiar to those that are said by Lord Vishnu?

Hare Krishna, Jaya Srila Prabhupada

During 1893, Sir Vivekananda came to Chicago to spread some of his philosophy where some information dealt with matter, energy, and universe etc...Around 10 years later, 1905, Einstein propsed his groundbreaking theories which clearly dealt with matter and energy being somehow related...the famous equation was born, E=mc^2. During 1896, Ralph Griffith Translated the Vedas thus already in 1800's, there were people reading Vedas which discuss about atoms and such. Max Muller translated the Upanishads in 1879, thus, by 1910, the Western world scholars most probably knew something about the Vedas, atoms and such.

If you go to this site, http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm#vedas , it has the author of the translated scripture and the date it was translated. There are many dates predating the year 1900.

Thus it seems that although the knowledge of atom wasnt available for everyone, scholars and scientists and people who had connections with higher aristocratic circle, most probably had information about the atoms and such...Where else can they get such thing?

Any comments are welcome

"Regarding the demons' tilak: There is no necessity of putting Saivite tilaka on their foreheads, although most of the demons are like that. When there is particular mention that a demon is the devotee of Lord Siva, in that case the Saivite tilaka may be marked."

Letter to Satsvarupa

70-01-30

I do not understand why Swami Srila Prabhupada indirectly says here that Saivites are demons. Why is that?

I am making this thread so that my answers/doubts can hopefully be answered by you guys. This is not in any way a challenge but a learning opportunity that I hope will help me and others.

Here are some questions that I need answers to...

1) What is the difference between Vaisnava philosophy and other philosophies?

2) Vaisnava philosophy is mainly centered around Lord Krsna and the Vaisnavas say Lord Krsna is God. Saivite philosophy is centered around Lord Siva and they say Siva is God. It appears that there is no difference between the two philosphies in one sense because they are saying someone is God. Which philosophy is right and why?

3) It is said that spiritual world has variegatedness. Then why is there need for KC to be propogated all over the world and not Saivite philosophy? It appears that the reason that this world has these varied philosophies is to only bring people somehow in connection with God.

4) If someone is already a devotee of a "demigod" from the viewpoint of Vaisnava philosophy, is there need to reform them to worship Krsna? Are not the demigods devotees of Krsna and thus Swami Prabhupada has said that association with devotees will lift a person to the spiritual platform so then by worshipping the "demigods" as God, will they not still achieve perfection?

5) I feel very sad against the idea that everyone must follow KC because for people who are already pious and religious, and they worship ie Lord Siva as God, will it not be a bad thing to tell them Lord Siva is just a "demigod"? Throughout their life they might have worshipped someone other than Lord Krsna with faith and devotion and is it not sinful to tell them, "According to Vaisnava Philosophy, Lord Visnu/Lord Krna is the Supreme". If they already have faith in GOD, then what difference does it make that they follow Lord Siva, Lord Krsna, or some other deity as God? Why is there need to spread KC to such areas when it can be spread to areas where there is no conception of God? This saves money and time would it not?

5) KC and Saivite philosophy believe in God so the mayavadis can be defeated using both philosophies, is it not?

6) Why do you think we have so many different philosophies(about God) in the world? What makes Saivite philosophy more authorized than KC or KC more authorized than Saivite?