sandra

Tell him to stay away from such people (or whoever he suspects) and pray constantly. Do not take anything from them or have anything to do with them. Remember the saying 'what goes around comes around' Just like a boomerang! I do not think they'll get away with it : Every bad action you make you'll get a similar reaction, if not this life then the next or your kins will have to suffer... I come from a family where there's a lot of disputes, jealousy... It's no use dwelling on thoughts such as whether this person or that person is doing evil against you... It'll just make your life miserable: more stress, more fears/phobias...as if you didn't have enough! Just tell your friend to chant and the Lord will protect him. (Nrsimhadeva is good to pray to!) I do not want to make quick conclusions but there are a lot of bogus swamis that actually make things worse for you. Or take advantage of your vulnerability. Your friend should be very wary of them. Did you know that some actually do that to you so you would come running to them each time and spend more money...? So in the end, you end up with more problems than you had initially. Not all are like that but i know a few... And i do not see any good in harming someone else to teach them a lesson so they would stop... You cannot fight evil with evil...but only with Goodness! If not, it'll turn into a never-ending tug of war and your friend surely doesn't want that i suppose... And again, Nrsimhadeva protects against demons/asuras and you-name-it evil-doers...

a mineral deficiency? In my case it was zinc deficiency that caused the skin blemishes on my arms. I started eating 1/2 cup of yogurt and milk every other day and my skin is now clearing. I used to rely mostly on veggies and very rarely consumed milk and milk products (even though they are not especially high in zinc content the zinc in dairy products is more readily absorbed than that in vegetables) until i found out about how the high phytates level in vegetables reduce zinc absorption which in turn causes skin problems, hair loss, etc... I'd suspect zinc deficiency but you should consult a dermatologist. Anyway, Websites of interest: http://www.quench.ca/Catalog/zinc.htm http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C76343.html http://www.i2k.com/~suzanne/zincdef.htm http://users.mrbean.net.au/~wlast/deficiency.html http://www.drkaslow.com/html/zinc.html http://www.hriptc.org/zinc_deficiency.html

Hare Krishna. I went through this too! My dad went totally berseck with me. We had a couple of fights. He said i give too much time/importance to prayers when i should be concentrating on my studies and other stuff girls my age do. So i made a few compromises. What i would do is balance my time between studies and prayers, bring him prasadam (cause he loves those, especially the sweets), try to avoid topics i know he's touchy about (money issues versus bhakti issues and above all, vegetarianism!) and only discuss stuff he's comfortable with. I also try to make him participate more. I introduced him to some devotee friends and he was cool about it - much to my surprise. Know what? I dragged him to the temple on father's day. He couldn't refuse as he had promised! There was some euro soccer match playing on TV and much against his will he accompanied me! But he did not regret it afterwards! My first time at Remuna Dhama Temple here in Toronto! Krsna seemed so cocky and Radharani had attitude that day! I guess my technique is working... (crossing my fingers here!) but I do hope you work out things with your kins. You need their blessings too for advancement and you do not want them to think that KC is coming between you and them. Or if matters come to worse, just make your KC a personal private issue and with time, they'll get used to it. My dad is still non-veg but he's more understanding lately... It's hard to admit that you can't change human habits and it can get to you sometimes... But dad actually makes the effort of using seperate cooking utensils for his non-veg preparations now... He was adamant about it at first but with time, he's softened... Pray to Radheshyam to melt your folks heart and who knows they might even support you one day...

"he's worshipping something that does not exist.. there's no devil, the universe is pervaded by brahman, there's not a cube centimeter free to be inveded by evil" I doubt that he truly worships the Devil like he claims. (In fact, very few people do.) He just gets his kicks by posting comments to piss others off... and i ain't falling for that! Reason why i don't take his posts seriously! "kali is the sister of sri krsna, a very positive and divine personality" Yup, i agree with you on that.

"I am trying to save you. Dont miss this chance. The devil is all that exits, so dont deny that. Drop your ignorance and surrender to satan." Seriously, Devil Worshipper this is the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard. I don't know whether to be amused or annoyed! But i did laugh to myself when i read that post!

I'm not a Sai baba follower myself and i do not believe that he's god-incarnate. However I do not think that he is a child molester... I've read bits and pieces concerning criminal allegations made against him but as far as i know, there's no real concrete proof showing that he is indeed responsible for all these atrocious acts he's being accused of... Maybe you have more info on the matter that could make me think differently? Granted, he's done nothing concerning the idolatry he receives... Some credit goes to Srila Prabhupada for calling him a hoax because he doesn't seem to mind being worshipped as god or he would have put a stop to it by now! But i do not think that HKs should delight in the bad press linked to his name just as they wouldn't want ISKCON's name to be tarnished... But i agree with you on one point: Sai baba is in no way an incarnation of Krishna! Nowhere is Krishna's name linked to Sai Baba in any of the shastras! My apologies if any of my comments offended you. Hare Krishna.

I'd suggest you take a RadhaKrishna image but it's up to you... See, the way to Krishna's heart is Radharani. Back in Mauritius, when i attended Bhagavad Gita classes, we were told that each time you glorify Radha, Krishna and all his associates gather to listen! I hope this helps.

It's my choice to worship Krsna and I respect your decision to worship kali. What bothers me is you harping on kali worship as all in all. Follow your path and let others follow theirs.

Why do you keep bringing the Devil in every issue?!

http://www.ffl.org/html/milk_issue.html I tried veganism myself but i have to reckon i do not thrive on such a diet so i reverted back to lacto-vegetarianism... I have a couple of food allergies that makes it somewhat difficult for me to stick to veganism... I feel so ashamed whenever i have a glass of milk or yogurt... With all the bad press around dairy... Skip the health aspect part cause i do not think cow's milk is bad for you (Sure, the hormones, chemicals, etc that you ingest due to factory farming practice are) but that's a whole seperate issue altogether and i do not want to get in all that right now... But how about the cows being slaughtered and mistreated? Should iskcon devotees buy commmercial milk? The other option is organic milk but the cows still get slaughtered... I read somewhere that to drink the milk of a cow that gets slaughtered afterwards is very inauspicious... So i'm wondering from where do iskcon temples get their milk supply for prasadam, panchamrita, etc? I've heard that some temples do have farms where they raise cows but not all of them... So for the devotee that doesn't have access to such farms what's the more humane option? I'd say organic milk (at least the cows are spared from chemically processed foods, hormones and the likes...) but i'd like to have the opinions of the devotees on this forum. Is there any iskcon devotee raising cows and supplying milk to other devotees in the toronto area? I'm curious to know...

You're free to worship whatever you wish but i personally would not join forces with satan worshippers. Satan is the scapegoat we use for sins that we commit. It's easy to blame Satan for everything. I always thought the Satan in the bible to be more symbolic rather than an actual being... What do you gain by worshipping 'Satan' anyway?

I take Shiva as my guru but i do not worship him as the supreme. I pray to him for guidance. See, back in Mauritius if you went to a shiva temple you're looked down upon by the local iskcon devotees as a karmi... People think that you only pray to demigods for material grants and i reckon i used to pray for a better health. Now i don't need to thanks to Krishna and Shiva.

Hare krishna! In my opinion and i stress my opinion (and that of most iskcon followers) Krishna is the supreme. I used to be and still am a worshipper of Lord Shiva. I do not, like some hare krishna devotees (I was part of the sankitan group in ISKCON Mauritius before moving to Canada so i know what i'm talking about), shun Shiva or any other demigod or demigod pujas... Actually i attend all of them... I do not seek personal blessings, i just do it out of respect and faith that these demigods can bring us closer to Krishna if we know what and how to ask them... It's easy to say that Shiva is a great vaisnava bla bla bla ...but if you can't even bow before him and acknowledge it... what's the use of merely saying it for the sake of saying it? Correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't the gopis pray to Parvati to get Krishna as their husband??? Parvati is a demigoddess - so does that mean that their faith in krishna is small cause they appealed to Parvati instead of going to Krishna directly... The gopis were one of the most exalted devotees of the lord! I firmly believe that it's thanks to the mercy of Lord Shiva that i found out about Krishna consciousness. I was very sick for three whole years and under a lot of medications. I started praying to shiva and as i got better with time, my interest for Krishna Consciousness just grew out of nowhere! But in my heart, i have the complete conviction that it's thanks to the mercy of such a great vaisnava like Shiva that I found the path to Krishna Consciousness today and I'm not letting go! So now that i've found out Krishna, do i shun Shiva? Do i shun the very vaisnava that brought me to Krishna? This is beyond me. This is hypocrisy. Even if you pray to a demigod.. if you're sincere the truth gets revealed to you in due time... And again that's my personal opinion. You're free to agree or disagree. I'm holding my grounds on this one. Who am i and who are you to judge? Demigods are above humans so in that respect, i think it's best not to make offensive comments on any demigod whomsoever. For those of you who have the faith that krishna is the supreme the need to convince others doesn't pose itself. I'm not saying one shouldn't discuss spiritual topics but when compromises seem impossible, it's best just to let go... What's the use of having the last word in every discussion if that means coming to harsh words, heated arguments and hurt feelings????? Is that what faith in god is all about? I used to do it myself: criticize others' faith and beliefs only to find out that my own bhakti was dangerously at stakes here... So i gave all that up. Whether you pray to Durga, Shiva, Ganesha... or any demigod, Krishna sees and knows how sincere you are... If you seek the truth you'll get the truth and if you seek maya, you'll get maya... If i have to choose between chanting one more round and winning a spiritual argument over someone i'd rather go for the extra round! And again this is just my personal opinion.