suchandra

Smiling spirits in white robes wandering through waist-high grass

Shiny hippy people

http://www.budapesttimes.hu/index.php?art=2037

A valley on the southern bank of Lake Balaton is home to around 130 people, all with a common aim: to be happy. They are not seeking instant gratification, artificial intoxication or superficial joy but rather a lasting state of spiritual bliss. This is reached via endless recitation of a mantra revolving around the words hare, krishna and rama, which puts believers into a trance-like meditative state that, taken to its highest point, can be consciousness altering and lead to a state of perfection they believe.

The landscape that unfurls from the entrance to Krisna-völgy (Krishna Valley) makes a decidedly unreal impression. Within it are perfectly arranged trees, well tended plants, meticulously mowed lawns, a babbling stream and colourful new buildings. The whole area appears so orderly, so tidy and so well arranged that you cannot help but think of a film set. As if to confirm the impression, shrouded women and men with straw hats wander through the scenery. Their robes waft, their step is deliberate, and when they come nearer and voice the greeting “gouranga” (be happy) each one beams the familiar Hare Krishna smile.

Even the small wrinkles on Dvaipáyana dásas face form the shape of a perpetual smile. Previously he was called László Gyöngyösi and worked as a maths and physics teacher in Szeged. He was - as he readily admits - a fully-fledged atheist: “I couldn’t bear it when others talked about God,” he said. Despite this he still had questions which neither teachers nor professors at the university could answer. What is the fourth dimension? How can time be overcome? What lies beyond the boundaries of the universe?

One day, Gyöngyösi met a Hare Krishna on the street who was selling books and collecting donations. He began to discuss these questions with him, and within two minutes he had received answers to his questions. After a sceptical phase and posing many questions bordering on interrogation, his interest in the movement had been awakened.

That interest led him, in 1995, to the Krishna Valley, a kind of village commune which had been established two years earlier under the auspices of the Hare Krishna organisation Iskcon (International Society for Krishna Consciousness). Then 25 years old, he left behind his previous life and even his name. He became Dvaipáyana dása the first part of which literally means “born on the island” whilst the second part means “servant of god”. Initially, his parents were not happy about the idea. Now, however, they visit him regularly. He makes his contribution to the community by guiding tourists, classes of schoolchildren, and the merely curious around the village. He does not receive money for this, but is given a kind of credit that he can spend in the shop in the valley. Dvaipáyana wears a turban on his head and he has drawn a symbol in yellow powder on his forehead. His upper body is covered by a long shirt and he wears brown sandals. The colours of the four-metre long cloth that he wraps around his waist each morning and the ring on the finger of his left hand show that he is married.

Marriages in the Hare Krishna community are arranged. “One decisive point in their favour is that the stars indicate that a couple is compatible,” he said. After a kind of engagement period during which a third person chaperones them, the marriage takes place. Divorce is not allowed. Almost all women marry because they need “the protection of men - first that of the father, then that of the husband and, as a widow, that of the son,” said Dvaipáyana. The same is not true for men. They do not have to marry. “Whoever has the strength in his heart for chastity should use this strength to give up sexuality,” he says.

Not only is marriage strictly hierarchical - society is also organised this way. A five-member temple council is responsible for administration and law making. “They are not elected but selected. They stand on a higher spiritual level and so have the ability to lead,” he explained. In addition to the decisions of the council there are religious rules which regulate the life of the settlement. The four most important ones are abstention from eating meat, forbearance of gambling, the eschewing of drugs of any kind, and sex only within marriage - and even then only for the purpose of procreation.

“These laws might seem strict to many Western people,” says Dvaipáyana, “but they are necessary in order to practice our religion.” Most members of the Hare Krishna movement - he puts the figure in Hungary at 9,000 - lead less regimented lives. They pray daily, eat vegetarian food and practice yoga. The construction of the school, in which four teachers are responsible for two students, was made possible by a Hungarian businesswoman. The other pillars of finance are the income that the village’s inhabitants get from entry fees, events, their restaurant, guesthouse and a clothing and jewellry shop. They also adhere to the principle of leading the simplest and, thus, the least costly lives. The only electricity in Krisna-völgy comes from a couple of solar cells and wind turbines, the kitchen uses a lot of home grown vegetables and milk comes from their 30 dairy cows. To “live on a low level, think on a high level,” is how Dvaipáyana describes it.

People from outside the village are employed to take care of the grounds. The meticulously tended gardens and the many new buildings, the shiny prospectus, the Internet site, and the many entertainment opportunities for tourists do not really point to a life led as simply as possibly. Also, the smiling openness on the face of Dvaipáyana, and his interest in the opinions of others, changes as soon as he enters the colourful and almost clinically spotless temple.

Then he asks about the colour of god’s hair, thereby asserting his existence and form to be an absolute truth, and admits of no further discussion. The once open talk then assumes a rehearsed form and every question and answer oozes with proselytising zeal. Apparently, this evangelical element is also one of his tasks within the village, and of his religion too.

Lysann Heller

"

Originally Posted by Kulapavana

so you deny that Israel dropped over 90% of cluster bombs during the last theree days of war, so they could kill as many civilians as possible?"

 

This is your prejudice showing. You project onto Israel the deire to kill "as many civilians as possible". Wheras Hezbollah only targeted civilians by trying to hit only major civilian population areas. The only Israeli's they killed beside the original 8 where the ones that directly confronted them in southern Lebannon.

 

All during the conflict Israel was petioning the US to deliver the proper type of cluster bombs for the fight asking the particular entrenched positions that Hezbollah had arranged. These had already been approved for sale to Israel by the US congress but the US held up their shipment due to the war. A stupid decision IMO.

Nice instruction manual how to solve BDM's gordian knot - to solve the Islamic question.

Waging War in the Information Age: ISKCON's Role

by Krishna-kirti das September 03, 2006

In the history of warfare, seizing different positions on a battlefield from which it is easier to hit one's enemy than it is for one's enemy to hit back has always been an advantage--often a decisive one. Traditionally, this advantageous position has been the high ground, but over the ages, this "high ground" has progressively evolved. With the advent of air power, whoever controlled the skies also controlled the battlefield--this was true on land as well as on the sea. And later, with the advent of satellite surveillance, space became the new high ground.

The Internet, however (and before that the printing press, film, radio, and television), provided a distinctly new high ground that is even above outer space: it is the realm of ideas, the abstract, the high-ground of the symbol. Information can now be considered, along with air power and space, a distinct dimension of any battlefield. And nowadays, because the battlefield of the 21st century has extended into nearly every facet of society, dominating the realm of information has become more important relative to other, traditional areas of the battlefield. On this all-pervasive and increasingly abstract battlefield, winning the hearts and minds of the members of a society is virtually now the only way to win a battle.

In the article "No Neutral Position Left on Islamic Aggression", I argued that ISKCON has no choice but to take seriously Islamic aggression and develop it's own means of countering it. Some recent news gives us hope that ISKCON not only is capable of rising to the task but can also take a lead in the matter of countering Islamic aggression. In a recent email, we have news of the first printing of the Srimad-Bhagavatam in Urdu:

 

Urdu, of course, is the mother tongue of Muslims in Pakistan and much of India. It is also spoken by many Hindus in India, too. Considering that India has close cultural and linguistic ties to Pakistan and India's Eastern neighbor Bangladesh, another Islamic country, South Asia represents the cultural soft-underbelly of the Islamic world with India as the world's best staging ground for a cultural counter-offensive.

On the other hand, the Islamic world's dearth of information of other cultures and religious ideas has allowed radical Islam to persist (bolding added):

A cultural counter-offensive against Islam means dominating the information networks in that culture, or at least keeping them out of the control of their elites, and a protracted Internet and traditional mass-media campaign that presents religious ideas that automatically compete with Islam has the best chance of accomplishing this task. Since we in ISKCON already have a book-in-translation program and are ideologically motivated to pursue it, we are also in a position to take a lead on this.

At a linguistic level, ISKCON can probably leverage more resources to get Urdu translations out faster. This will receive priority in proportion to the urgency ISKCON's leadership gives such a program. (25 years is a long time.)

At a technological level, ISKCON is in an excellent position to leverage existing talent in information technology or recruit it. Getting books out in print should not be our only priority. Getting transcendental information into the hands or computer monitors of people whose mother tongue is Urdu is just as important.

At an artistic level, coming up with creative entertainment mixed with the ideas and precepts of bhakti targeted specifically at Muslims who speak Urdu and Bengali is very important. An illiterate person won't be able to read a book, but he can certainly watch TV or any multimedia presentation. One time, when I was living in India, while I was purchasing printing paper at a paper market run by a Muslim, one of his workers, a young Muslim boy, was singing quietly to himself the "Hare Krishna" song in the movie Pardes. Considering that ISKCON has a number of important ties to the film and television industry in India, it should also be in a position to recruit artistic talent that can produce such entertainment.

At a strategic infrastructure level, what would it take to create an Internet in Kashmir that was fully wireless? What would be involved to create a wireless Internet terminal that had some of these specifications:

1. Runs on standard AC power locally available.
   
2. Can tolerate wide fluctuations and spikes in the power source.
   
3. Does not require the mounting of an antenna or parabolic reflector outside of a residence.
   
4. Fast enough and robust enough to reliably stream multimedia.
   
5. Uses a standard television as a monitor.
   
6. Affordable by most people (even if subsidized).

Technically, creating such a network and its hardware is easily within reach of Indian capabilities. However, it would need the political will to implement it. A coalition of ISKCON and a number of other sympathetic religious or semi-religious organizations could generate the political gumption to implement such a network.

With a widely implemented network capable of streaming multimedia that is not subject to suppression, as one might bomb a television station or issue death threats against a newspaper editor, we might be able to truly win a propaganda war in Kashmir and elsewhere in Islamic South Asia. If ISKCON were to provide quality entertainment and informative programming targeted at an Islamic audience and delivered over such a network, then we can turn the tides against radical Islam and Islamic aggression.

Recruiting technical experts, artists, law enforcement, and politicians to aid in this effort by creating entertainment, the technical means to deliver it, and the political will to implement and protect such an effort will unquestionably be of great benefit to all. This would take the propagation of the bhakti cult and Vedic culture to a new level and provide a spiritual solution to a very serious material problem: Islamic aggression.

Looks like India's police has no means to even find out where these explosives were manufactured.

AMUCO wants whole truth out in ISKCON blast

IMPHAL, Aug 31: The All Manipur United Clubs` Organisation has taken serious view of the chain of events that followed after the ISKCON bomb blast particularly after the arrest of leaders of civil society bodies.

While expressing strong condemnation over arrest of two important functionaries of the Threatened Indigenous Peoples Society in the aftermath of the ISKCON bomb blast, a AMUCO statement stressed that it is against any form of terrorism, be it by state or nonstate actors.

Asserting that the organisation has been vocal in expressing condemnation over any act of terrorism unleashed to the people of Manipur, the AMUCO said it has been keenly observing whether the bomb blast at ISKCON was handiwork of the state or by non-state actors.

Manipur government must be sincere enough in making thorough investigation into the blast incident and all the facts about the ISKCON bomb blast are made public, the AMUCO said adding people deserved to be aware of the truth about the incident or else Manipur government should be termed anti-people.

The AMUCO also appealed to all the underground groups to make a thorough investigation into the incident without any hesitation in the best interest of the people.

Meanwhile, expressing strong concern over the circumstances of the release of a press statement by the Apunba Lup in connection with the ISKCON bomb blast accusing security forces, the AMUCO asked all concerned not to cross organisational discipline in future.

The AMUCO alleged that the contents of Apunba Lup`s press statement was opposed by one of the coordinator namely Ph Deban. However, the Apunba Lup went ahead in distributing the press handout to newspapers offices in Deban`s absence who had suggested deletion of some lines in its contents.

BBC SCIENCE obviously mastered the art how to present scientific content that makes people convinced for the rest of live.

Their magic word is Nano-technology, using a tiny, little Nano-camera which travels through the speech-center within the brain, watch the functioning of a living eye inside the optical nerve, how visual content is being processed and transported to the brain, travel through the inside ear and watch how sound is send to the brain where we become conscious about what just having heard and where in our brain all this is being stored, either in short- or long-term memory. How major parts of our brain actually never sleep but manage all the 120 trillions cells of our body day and night which all are linked and interact and are constantly replaced in such a way that even old people's body cells, even bone cells are only a few years old but are put on in such way to make the person look and feel old. Then travel inside a single body cell which is more complex than a city and consists of 300,000 different proteins which all are linked with each other and receive information from the brain.

Then of course the tiny little Nano-camera shows how our complete genetic material is copied and saved millions of times upon mini hard-disks, how food is being digested 24h daily and transported to each and every of the 120 trillions body cells, the body temperature being kept continual, hostile cells from the outside are averted and when the end comes the brain pours out hormons what prevents the feeling of too much pain when dying.

By now the viewer almost bows down of getting so much overhelming inside live recording from this tiny little Nano-camera travelling within a living body and finally they present their conclusion:

Consciousness is being generated by all the brain cells together - something like a huge orchestra, "a soul was not detected". And why the human brain started to develop to become special among all species? In the human evolution the first humans were vegetarians but then “they jumped out of the trees and started to eat red meat and only these natural proteins helped our brain to grow and develop to what it is right now”.

Question, where to find vedic scientific information how to rebut the argument consciousness is generated by all the brain cells in total, but is in fact coming soley from the soul?

Obviously their trick is to use scientific content to make people impressed and pliable and then seduce unsuspecting people to sinful activity under the disguise of this being scientific and of course present evolution as scientific.

I have reason to suspect a person I know may be doing black magic against my family. How do you know for sure if what you are experiencing is do to someone performing black magic against you?

How do you know for sure if black magic really works?

It is known that God is all-merciful, but God is never merciful to the demoniac - those who think they can do black magic on others are nothing but envious and punished by the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. We should never think that such people can harm us, indeed they only harm themselves:

"Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, the demons become envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in their own bodies and in the bodies of others, and blaspheme against the real religion. Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, I perpetually cast into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life. Attaining repeated birth amongst the species of demoniac life, O son of Kunti, such persons can never approach Me. Gradually they sink down to the most abominable type of existence." (Bg. 16.18-20)

Causeless Mercy Needs Beta Testers

 

by Causeless mercy webservant

Posted August 31, 2006

 

The website causelessmercy.com/ is finally completed: 29214 active links (scriptural references to Srila Prabhupada's books) have been added to 4650 web pages (all of Srila Prabhupada's books and tapes). Become a Causelessmercy.com beta tester: Please let me know if you find any glitches: causelessmercy@gmail.com.

 

 

Haribol Pratyatosa prabhu,

PAMHO AGTSP

Nice work! I downloaded the 41.6 MB file - after unzipping about 207 MB, it all works nice, I use Windows Millenium and XP.

Of course when audio files are included it will become a pretty huge file, probably 30 DVDs with 200 GB all together. But for me I'm glad with how it is right now, to have all 3500 Prabhupada lectures as text. I also downloaded "Superior Search" at http://www.download.com/Superior-Search/3000-2248_4-10560797.html?tag=lst-0-1 and with this tool you can search offline in huge text files on your pc for specific words like for example, tulasi.

Again thanks for this valuble tool of having Prabhupada's teachings so nicely put together,

best wishes

ys

Suchandra das

Because large scale transaction is there, therefore the capitalists hoarding.

Talks on Varnashram Dharma, Los Angeles, 1973

by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Morning Walk Conversation, Los Angeles, 31 December 1973

Cheating Business

I don't know who the NWO are. I am an international socialist and a member of the Socialist Worker Party if that helps. I am committed to the development of Varnashrama Dhama through the means of socialist revolution. I'm afraid I am very precariously employed at the moment and only have intermittent access to the internet. If I get caught using it then I'll lose my job. I haven't got the time to trawl through all that stuff about Russian Facists and National Socialism. I've heard it all before and its inconsequential.

 

Anyway, Capitalism as I see it is the current economic order in its entirety, as in the system that the bourgeois class of the 17th and 18th centuries implemented after their bloody revolutions of that era. I don't feel a need to break that down any further because thats all capitalism is. A classical Marxist analysis of capitalism is one I to as his work is more relevant today than ever it was now that Capitalism has dominated the globe in the way he anticipated.

 

Marx's analysis did not offer prescriptions as to what type of society would emerge beyond a socialist revolution he simply pointed out that we have two main classes within the world today, and this is more relevant than it was in his time as the proletariat is growing the further capitalism spreads its greedy tentacles. These two classes stand in contradiction to each other and their conflict can only be resolved through the proletriat recognising how to organise and fight for their interests as a class against the exploitation that the ruling class enforces upon them.

 

If we organised as a class we could get rid of the system which brings degradation to human consciousness the world over, which places people in a position of false need. All people could be catered for economically. Technology has advanced so far that we could feed and clothe the world if that was the desire of the dominant order. But it isn't. This is because Capitalism is entirely wasteful of resources and human potential. It is focused on deriving profits and increasing competition and the logical conclusion of this is that with each technological advancement more bellies go hungry and more jobs get sucked away and therewith people's access to the economic means of survival.

 

What we need to do is to raise the consciousness of the working class to recognise it doesn't need to accept this kind of abuse. People are not machines who can be discarded because of advancements in technology. A better world is possible and only the worker's are capable of achieving it. The dialectical conflict between capital and labour, I believe, is the precuror to the development of a world in which principles of spiritual communism can be implemented. Only the working class at this juncture has the power to bring about the end of the horrors of capitalism. It is important to be aware of this so that we can work with working class movements. Work within them also so that we can influence the trajectory of revolution in a spiritual direction. We need to open our minds to what needs to take place in order to revolutionise human culture.

 

Marx did not prescribe that we live like zombies in a communist/ atheist hell hole. He simply wanted to see an end to the inescapable conflict between capital and labour so that human beings could combine all their potential to bring about a world where humanity can flourish and develop. My addition to that desire is that if we bring about such a world it will make it easier for people to see and understand spiritual values and if we work in combination with this revolutionary force we can purify it along the way.

 

I hope that explains where I'm coming from a bit better and I'm sorry for getting frustrated. I don't feel qualified to be making these statements but nobody else seems to be and I therefore feel compelled to do so. I hope someone from this web site takes some of the things I've said seriously and looks into the forces of revolution with the desire of working with them and purifying them so that Prabhupada's mission can be implemented fully. Iskcon is a joke simply because the GBC have failed to understand material politics and have become nothing but a capitalist organisation with no power to bring about revolutionary change. It is an insult to Prabhupada that that has happened but he wasn't to know that the neoliberal counter revolution was going to come and dispense with all the good work achieved by revolutionary forces evident in the 1960s. Krishna sent Prabhupada at that time for a reason and we have to be keen to the need to analyse the context within which we rebuild that movement.

Your spirit speaks of action not just talk!

I dont know if this is the right target group - members of an internet forum are basically all tarred with the same brush: spineless cyberspace "snobs" who sit all day exposed to electromagnetic waves and basicly unrelated/cut off to reality.

People who transpose important content into the real world and actually get things done you wont find in the world of cyberspace.

Not that this is all what happens at internet forums,

but often it's just like that.

Like all demonic personalities they drag the consciousness of those around them down unless they are kept in check. I am suggesting we have the power to collectively shout "Enough!" and bring an end to the use of force, at least for a good age. There is enough people with no vested interest in the continuation of capitalism for it to be overthrown. They are the few. We are the many. The world belongs to Krishna not George Bush.

I find your work well researched and quite interesting, since you started this topic on spiritual socialism you surely want to discuss details in order to make things more clear. My question is who actually controls the monetary system in your model of spiritual socialism?

When looking at the root of modern global "capitalism" we soon discover a very questionable global monetary system. Without changing this how you want to introduce socialism? Wherever you find nations stuck within huge indebtedness it should be clear that they have a corrupt monetary system installed.

Under the Federal Reserve Bank Act, private bankers control our economy. The private FED controls interest rates and the amount of money in the economy. These factors determine either economic prosperity or the lack thereof. If we don't change this system in near future the only thing our taxes will pay is the interest on the national debt.

By abolishing the FED, we would not pay interest on Federal Reserve Notes. So, the first way is to have the government print the money, debt and interest- free, and circulate it through the economy for use as a medium of exchange. There is no tax levied to pay interest on the currency in circulation because it is debt and interest-free.

Under the FED system, when a new dollar is issued, we pay taxes to pay for the dollar as the principal (debt) plus interest on the dollar. We pay for each new dollar twice, and who gets most of the money? The private bankers, who control this money.

England never gave up on owning the United States. They are still silently fighting the same Revolutionary War. The private Bank of England, owns and controls the FED - not only the FED - the ECB, Bank of India, Bank of China as well, in sum 98% of the global currencies.

The private FED banking system collects billions of dollars in interest annually and distributes the profits to its shareholders. The Congress illegally gave the FED the right to print money (through the Treasury) at no interest to the FED. The FED creates money from nothing, and loans it back to us through banks, and charges interest on our currency. The FED also buys Government debt with money printed on a printing press and charges U.S. taxpayers interest. Many Congressmen and Presidents say this is fraud.

But how to introduce socialism on the basis of a global monetary system controlled and owned by private bankers?

--

MyWay, Thursday, March 16, 2006--Senate Passes $2.8 Trillion 2007 Budget

The Senate on Thursday passed an election-year budget plan forsaking President Bush's tax cuts and Medicare curbs, hours after lifting the ceiling on the national debt to $9 trillion.

BY Andrew Taylor

Treasury Secretary John Snow applauded Congress for "protecting the full faith and credit of the United States." He said it ensures that the government "can deliver on promises already made, such as Social Security and Medicare payments and aid for the victims of the 2005 hurricanes."

The present limit on the debt is $8.2 trillion.

The increase is an unhappy necessity - the alternative would be a disastrous first-ever default on U.S. obligations - that greatly overshadowed a mostly symbolic, weeklong debate on the GOP's budget resolution.

Democrats blasted the bill, saying it was needed because of fiscal mismanagement by Bush, who came to office when the government was running record surpluses.

"When it comes to deficits, this president owns all the records," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "The three largest deficits in our nation's history have all occurred under this administration's watch."

------------------------------

Morning Walk with Srila Prabhupada, Johannesburg, October 16, 1975

You are cheated

Harikesa: So actually this money doesn't even exist in Vedic society—money.

Prabhupada: Money is not required. You require things. Just like instead of money, you are getting papers. Money means gold. Where is gold? You are cheated. Money means gold. So instead of possessing gold, you are possessing some paper, written there, "hundred dollars." And you are such a fool, you are satisfied. You are being cheated. Bank's cheque and currency notes, you keep it in your...—"Oh, here is my money." Is that money? Just see.

Devotee: They only do that to make it easier for them, because they've got so much money that they can't carry it...

Prabhupada: That's all right, but actually it is not money. You are befooled. You are such a fool that you accept a piece of paper as money. Therefore I say you are rascal. That is my business. If I say "Government, give me gold," and government has passed law, "No, you cannot possess gold," that means cheating. How I shall keep gold, that is my business. First of all you give me gold. It is due to me. But you are giving me paper. That means cheating is begun from you.

Harikesa: How will the government decide what my gold is and what his gold is? How does the gold get distributed?

Prabhupada: Gold coins. Formerly there was gold coins. We have seen in our childhood gold coins, silver coins. There was no paper.

Harikesa: But you have to do something to get it.

Prabhupada: Yes. I will have to do something. That is another thing. But why you are cheating me? Instead of gold, you are giving me paper.

Food and drinks high in sugar should be taxed just like cigarettes, say economists who believe it is the only way to combat the global crisis in obesity.

Leave it to an economist to be ignorant of science.

The Obesity "epidemic" is the result of the chemicals added to food that make people want to eat MORE, to increase the profits of food companies.

First is MSG, or Monosodium Glutamate. This compound is actually prescribed for eating disorders, and used to create overweight rats for lab tests (rats normally will not over-eat). Disguised under numerous names to conceal its presence, MSG is found in almost all processed foods and is billed as a "flavor enhancer". But the reality is that it makes you want to eat more food, which means you BUY more food. That is why food companies love it so much and resist public calls for discontinuance of it.

Another chemical villain is Aspartame, the artificial sweetener. Billed as a diet-aid, in point of fact use of Aspartame creates cravings for carbohydrates. This is why supermarkets will often have bundled product deals where you purchase diet soft drinks together with various corn and potato chip products.

Finally, there are the growth hormones fed to farm animals to increase their growth which get into the meat and dairy products, and from those products into humans. Humans react to those hormones as do the farm animals. They put on weight.

I have avoided MSG for years because it triggers migraines, but earlier this year I quit all aspartame and use only hormone free dairy products. So far, I am down 25 pounds without changing my exercise level or otherwise altering my eating habits.

"We have to do it as a devotional act in order to make the world a place fit for Krishna to be worshipped in all His glory."

If I understand you correctly your approach is to first of all remove material injustice (rampant capitalism) from this world and then start to make people self-realized and God-conscious?

Introduce socialism as preliminary state towards the goal of a spiritual human society?

This is of course a most noble way of thinking - not just a few rare souls as Krishna says..

"After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare."

...but instead changing the whole world into a place of transcendentalists, pure servants of Krishna.

Actually one is wise when surrendering unto the Lotus feet of Krishna, but such a mahatma, great soul, is very rare.

Dont you assume that the world's population is already so advanced that they consider spiritual live as worthwhile?

What about if the opposite is true, the whole world wants to enjoy materialism? Introducing socialism by force and then forcing people to develop love of God? May be I'm too realistic, but for me it's even hard to see presently a lot of human beings in this world, rather I see animal consciousness within human bodies, so called humans but acting like crocodiles and rattlesnakes. Socialism like you say has to be introduced by force - but how does it work to change peoples heart of becoming detached from all those pleasures of this world?

 

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The Blessed Lord continues:

 

 

 

 

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.

 

 

 

 

One who is not Krsna conscious is subjected to material desires while contemplating the objects of senses. The senses require real engagements, and if they are not engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, they will certainly seek engagement in the service of materialism. In the material world everyone, including Lord Siva and Lord Brahma--to say nothing of other demigods in the heavenly planets--is subjected to the influence of sense objects, and the only method to get out of this puzzle of material existence is to become Krsna conscious. Lord Siva was deep in meditation, but when Parvati agitated him for sense pleasure, he agreed to the proposal, and as a result Kartikeya was born. When Haridasa Thakura was a young devotee of the Lord, he was similarly allured by the incarnation of Maya-devi, but Haridasa easily passed the test because of his unalloyed devotion to Lord Krsna. As illustrated in the above-mentioned verse of Sri Yamunacarya, a sincere devotee of the Lord shuns all material sense enjoyment due to his higher taste for spiritual enjoyment in the association of the Lord. That is the secret of success. One who is not, therefore, in Krsna consciousness, however powerful he may be in controlling the senses by artificial repression, is sure ultimately to fail, for the slightest thought of sense pleasure will agitate him to gratify his desires.

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...........in my many postings i've presented many practical points about this matter..............

Seemingly your practical points were worthless - where is peace?

When suggesting spiritual solutions you call this "utopian".

"As you sow, so shall you reap" - why blame others for a bad result?

Israeli reservists slam leaders over Lebanon war

By Jeffrey Heller Mon Aug 21, 5:04 AM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli reservists, in a scathing open letter published on Monday, accused government leaders and top army officers of inept handling of the war in Lebanon and called for a broad investigation of their actions.

The letter, which appeared in the newspaper Haaretz, was signed by hundreds of veterans of the Lebanon campaign, the left-leaning daily said.

An Israeli general said the military had been "guilty of the sin of arrogance" in its approach to the 34-day battle against Hizbollah guerrillas, remarks that appeared to justify growing public criticism of the conduct of the campaign.

"I failed to prepare the infantry better for war," Brigadier-General Yossi Heiman, the outgoing chief infantry and paratroops officer, told troops on Sunday in comments broadcast a day later and not directly related to the reservist manifesto.

In the letter, troops of the Spearhead Paratroop Brigade did not challenge the decision to go to war after Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12, reflecting a national consensus the campaign was justified.

But they raised questions about how the government and senior officers conducted a war in which the Israeli military failed to deliver a knockout blow to the Lebanese group or prevent it from firing nearly 4,000 missiles into Israel.

"At the back of his mind, each and every one of us knew, that for the just cause of protecting the citizens of Israel, we would even put our lives on the line," said the letter, published a week after a ceasefire went into effect.

"But there was one thing we were not and would not be willing to accept: We were unwilling to accept indecisiveness."

"COLD FEET"

The soldiers, who were called up for duty on July 30, said "the cold feet" of decision-makers was evident everywhere.

"The indecisiveness manifested itself in inaction, in not carrying out operational plans, and in canceling all the missions we were given during the fighting," the petition said.

"This led to prolonged stays in hostile territory without an operational purpose and out of unprofessional considerations, without seeking to engage in combat with the enemy."

Accusing the army of failing to prepare properly for war against Hizbollah, the reservists demanded "a thorough and worthy investigative commission under the auspices of the state."

Such a commission would have broader powers, including a mandate to investigate Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other cabinet members, than an inquiry panel, set up by Defense Minister Amir Peretz, that began work on Sunday.

Olmert indicated on Sunday that he might order a wider inquiry going beyond the Peretz-appointed panel, which is examining only the military and the defense ministry.

One security official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters that military intelligence on Hizbollah's strength and positions in southern Lebanon had been inadequate.

The official said troops were often sent into villages with little idea of the type of opposition they would face.

Reservists have formed the backbone of Israel's fighting forces in past wars.

After the 1973 Middle East war, in which Egypt and Syria scored initial successes that caused heavy Israeli casualties, demobilized reservists were at the forefront of public criticism that ultimately forced Prime Minister Golda Meir to resign. Nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis were killed in the latest conflict in which villages across southern Lebanon and areas of Beirut were heavily damaged by Israeli air strikes, and northern Israel was shut down by Hizbollah rockets.

Please could we have a discussion about socialism. I am a socialist and an aspirant Vaishnav and have no Guru to mediate between these two positions. I know I cannot rely on my own conclusions in this regard but I've never met anyone who can convince me of any contradictions between these two apparently opposing doctrines.

First of all it would be important to know how far you came in understanding varnashrama dharma, the vedic idea of socialism? You say you're a socialist, could you explain this more precise how you define socialism?

Bickering over who is right and who is wrong, Quoting articles that supports Hezbollah or Israel is not going to solve anything.

 

I see no other solution, no other solution, no other solution in this "soeg doeg dham" (place of happiness or distress) but to chant and try your best to expose people to Krsna Bhakti. Instead of using your Energy and vigor for supporting Israel or the Palestinians rather use it in serving Lord Krsna.

Not for some mundane cause of who is more more right or more justified in this War.

 

Just my opinion..... Some may say it is an easy escape from reality and I would say yes I am escaping Your Reality.

 

Jay Sirla Prabhupada

Haribol

Indeed Yogesh, wise words - just googled around and found this:

CC Madhya 18.202: "I have studied the Muslim scripture very extensively, but from it I cannot conclusively decide what the ultimate goal of life is or how I can approach it.

CC Madhya 18.203: "Now that I have seen You, my tongue is chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. The false prestige I felt from being a learned scholar is now gone."

CC Madhya 18.204: Saying this, the saintly Muslim fell at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and requested Him to speak of life's ultimate goal and the process by which it could be obtained.

CC Madhya 18.205: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Please get up. You have chanted the holy name of Kṛṣṇa; therefore the sinful reactions you have accrued for many millions of lives are now gone. You are now pure."

CC Madhya 18.206: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then told all the Muslims there, "Chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa! Chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa!" As they all began to chant, they were overwhelmed by ecstatic love.

CC Madhya 18.207: In this way Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu directly initiated the saintly Muslim by advising him to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. The Muslim's name was changed to Rāmadāsa. Another Pāṭhāna Muslim present there was named Vijulī Khān.

CC Madhya 18.208: Vijulī Khān was very young, and he was the son of the king. All the other Muslims, or Pāṭhānas, headed by Rāmadāsa, were his servants.

CC Madhya 18.209: Vijulī Khān also fell down at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and the Lord placed His foot on his head.

CC Madhya 18.210: After bestowing His mercy upon them in this way, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu left. All those Pāṭhāna Muslims then became mendicants.

CC Madhya 18.211: Later these very Pāṭhānas became celebrated as the Pāṭhāna Vaiṣṇavas. They toured all over the country and chanted the glorious activities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

...and - the cat and the rat make peace over a corpse...

 

So suchandra dasa - what do you propose to solve the middle east conflicts and please don't say that you'll tell them all to chant as your solution - nor should you present any other 'utopian' programs - only practical observations and recommendations.

 

Please tell us what must be done - to create peace - with groups like hezbollah hamas and their like-minded sponsor nations - like Iran and Syria? You may say that a resolution of the Palestinian conflict would do that but that isn't so because these groups and nations are calling for an end to the state of Israel and - as indicated through the well known written words of the president of Iran - even the western nations are a target - why we may ask - just read again his letter to George Bush.

 

How shall these noted groups and nations become pacified on their present course?

 

You mention cats and dogs - but - the truth is that simplistic analogy doesn't fit these circumstances...

The circumstance might be complex but many say that Israel and all those Muslim countries in neighborhood are more or less in war since the very foundation of the State of Israel.

Muslims are well aware that they are more in number - how to expect there will be a normal living side by side with people who follow such a primitive religious system which cant even be called religion? For example in material sense, Australia is made for Australian creatures, if animals like rabbits are mixed into their nature's situation the whole organic equilibrium collapses like WTC. Same happened when at the Galapagos islands goats could aggrandize unchecked and in order to maintain the original biological balance they all had to be removed. This is of course the material platform. As long people are stuck on the material bodily concept of live there wont be living side by side as long they aren't forced to stay in their territory.

People feel threatened wherever Muslim communities start to grow fast and build a state within the state. There're 30 Mio Muslims all over Europe and they demand to be treated according Human Rights Convention respectful. Meanwhile 95% non-Muslims believe that the Muslim strategy is to produce 5 times more children than any other people only for that reason to ultimately take over due their superior number. Since there isnt anymore a solution on the material plane to have a peaceful living on earth there's only one solution: Lord Chaitanya's strategy to convert Muslims. Basically Lord Chaitanya made Muslims to reject Islam like nobody else. Haridas Thakur (chief of this Universe, Lord Brahma) took birth in a Muslim family only for that reason - to teach the world how to forswear of being a militant Muslim rascal by chanting Hare Krishna.

Otherwise Bush is presently in pretty bad shape :

We... I made my position clear about this war on terror and I... by the way, the enemy made their position clear, yet again, when they... when we are able to stop them.

 

...

Hezbollah doesn't wish to disarm

Amazing news: Hezbollah doesn't wish to disarm! In other words, same situation like the past 40 years, if things go on like this another Hundred Years' War without solution. "Because I'm a dog a have to fight the cat, and because I'm a cat I have to fight the dog."

Nice animal kingdom!

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Are you Jonathan Cook ?

I doubt it so I wont even bother responding with facts to someone who cant even type out their own opinion.

Type out their opinion? Whats to type? - 154 Israelias killed are 154 too many. Did those 154 souls go back to the spiritual world? They of course have to take birth again. What's the nonsense to present opinions?

This forum 'world review' is about facts and this activist with Gush Shalom has the facts:

The death rate at present in this world stands at 106 people - per minute! Each passing 60 seconds finds another 106 people leaving their present body for destinations unknown! Most without having heard or recited the Holy Names even once!

Thirty three days of war. The longest of our wars since 1949.

Uri Avnery - August 17, 2006

On the Israeli side: 154 dead--117 of them soldiers. 3970 rockets launched against us, 37 civilians dead, more than 422 civilians wounded.

On the Lebanese side: about a thousand dead civilians, thousands wounded. An unknown number (400?) of Hizbullah fighters dead and wounded.

More than a million refugees on both sides.

So what has been achieved for this terrible price?

"Gloomy, humble, despondent," was how the journalist Yossef Werter described Ehud Olmert, a few hours after the cease-fire had come into effect.

Olmert? Humble? Is this the same Olmert we know? The same Olmert who thumped the table and shouted: "No more!" Who said: "After the war, the situation will be completely different than before!" Who promised a "New Middle East" as a result of the war?

The results of the war are obvious:

* The prisoners, who served as casus belli (or pretext) for the war, have not been released. They will come back only as a result of an exchange of prisoners, exactly as Hassan Nasrallah proposed before the war.

* Hizbullah has remained as it was. It has not been destroyed, nor disarmed, nor even removed from where it was. Its fighters have proved themselves in battle and have even garnered compliments from Israeli soldiers. Its command and communication stucture has continued to function to the end. Its TV station is still broadcasting.

* Hassan Nasrallah is alive and kicking. Persistent attempts to kill him failed. His prestige is sky-high. Everywhere in the Arab world, from Morocco to Iraq, songs are being composed in his honor and his picture adorns the walls.

* The Lebanese army will be deployed along the border, side by side with a large international force. That is the only material change that has been achieved.

This will not replace Hizbullah. Hizbullah will remain in the area, in every village and town. The Israeli army has not succeeded in removing it from one single village. That was simply impossible without permanently removing the population to which it belongs.

The Lebanese army and the international force cannot and will not confront Hizbullah. Their very presence there depends on Hizbullah's consent. In practice, a kind of co-existence of the three forces will come into being, each one knowing that it has to come to terms with the other two.

Perhaps the international force will be able to prevent incursions by Hizbullah, such as the one that preceded this war. But it will also have to prevent Israeli actions, such as the reconnaissance flights of our Air Force over Lebanon. That's why the Israeli army objected, at the beginning, so strenuously to the introduction of this force.

In Israel, there is now a general atmosphere of disappointment and despondency. From mania to depression. It's not only that the politicians and the generals are firing accusations at each other, as we foresaw, but the general public is also voicing criticism from every possible angle. The soldiers criticize the conduct of the war, the reserve soldiers gripe about the chaos and the failure of supplies.

In all parties, there are new opposition groupings and threats of splits. In Kadima. In Labor. It seems that in Meretz, too, there is a lot of ferment, because most of its leaders supported the war dragon almost until the last moment, when they caught its tail and pierced it with their little lance.

At the head of the critics are marching--surprise, surprise--the media. The entire horde of interviewers and commentators, correspondents and presstitutes, who (with very few exceptions) enthused about the war, who deceived, misled, falsified, ignored, duped and lied for the fatherland, who stifled all criticism and branded as traitors all who opposed the war--they are now running ahead of the lynch mob. How predictable, how ugly. Suddenly they remember what we have been saying right from the beginning of the war.

This phase is symbolized by Dan Halutz, the Chief-of-Staff. Only yesterday he was the hero of the masses, it was forbidden to utter a word against him. Now he is being described as a war profiteer. A moment before sending his soldiers into battle, he found the time to sell his shares, in expectation of a decline of the stock market. (Let us hope that a moment before the end he found the time to buy them back again.)

Victory, as is well known, has many fathers, and failure in war is an orphan.

From the deluge of accusations and gripes, one slogan stands out , a slogan that must send a cold shiver down the spine of anyone with a good memory: "the politicians did not let the army win."

Exactly as I wrote two weeks ago, we see before our very eyes the resurrection of the old cry "they stabbed the army in the back!"

This is how it goes: At long last, two days before the end, the land offensive started to roll. Thanks to our heroic soldiers, the men of the reserves, it was a dazzling success. And then, when we were on the verge of a great victory, the cease-fire came into effect.

There is not a single word of truth in this. This operation, which was planned and which the army spent years training for, was not carried out earlier, because it was clear that it would not bring any meaningful gains but would be costly in lives. The army would, indeed, have occupied wide areas, but without being able to dislodge the Hizbullah fighters from them.

The town of Bint Jbeil, for example, right next to the border, was taken by the army three times, and the Hizbullah fighters remained there to the end. If we had occupied 20 towns and villages like this one, the soldiers and the tanks would have been exposed in twenty places to the mortal attacks of the guerillas with their highly effective anti-tank weapons.

If so, why was it decided, at the last moment, to carry out this operation after all--well after the UN had already called for an end to hostilities? The horrific answer: it was a cynical--not to say vile--exercise of the failed trio. Olmert, Peretz and Halutz wanted to create "a picture of victory", as was openly stated in the media. On this altar the lives of 33 soldiers (including a young woman) were sacrificed.

The aim was to photograph the victorious soldiers on the bank of the Litani. The operation could only last 48 hours, when the cease-fire would come into force. In spite of the fact that the army used helicopters to land the troops, the aim was not attained. At no point did the army reach the Litani.

For comparison: in the first Lebanon war, that of Sharon in 1982, the army crossed the Litani in the first few hours. (The Litani, by the way, is not a real river anymore, but just a shallow creek. Most of its waters are drawn off far from there, in the north. Its last stretch is about 25 km distant from the border, near Metulla the distance is only 4 km.)

This time, when the cease-fire took effect, all the units taking part had reached villages on the way to the river. There they became sitting ducks, surrounded by Hizbullah fighters, without secure supply lines. From that moment on, the army had only one aim: to get them out of there as quickly as possible, regardless of who might take their place.

If a commission of inquiry is set up--as it must be--and investigates all the moves of this war, starting from the way the decision to start it was made, it will also have to investigate the decision to start this last operation. The death of 33 soldiers (including the son of the writer David Grossman, who had supported the war) and the pain this caused their families demand that!

But these facts are not yet clear to the general public. The brain-washing by the military commentators and the ex-generals, who dominated the media at the time, has turned the foolish--I would almost say "criminal"--operation into a rousing victory parade. The decision of the political leadership to stop it is now being seen by many as an act of defeatist, spineless, corrupt and even treasonous politicians.

And that is exactly the new slogan of the fascist Right that is now raising its ugly head.

After World War I, in similar circumstances, the legend of the "knife in the back of the victorious army" grew up. Adolf Hitler used it to carry him to power--and on to World War II.

Now, even before the last fallen soldier has been buried, the incompetent generals are starting to talk shamelessly about "another round", the next war that will surely come "in a month or in a year", God willing. After all, we cannot end the matter like this, in failure. Where is our pride?

The Israeli public is now in a state of shock and disorientation. Accusations--justified and unjustified--are flung around in all directions, and it cannot be foreseen how things will develop.

Perhaps, in the end, it is logic that will win. Logic says: what has thoroughly been demonstrated is that there is no military solution. That is true in the North. That is also true in the South, where we are confronting a whole people that has nothing to lose anymore. The success of the Lebanese guerilla will encourage the Palestinian guerilla.

For logic to win, we must be honest with ourselves: pinpoint the failures, investigate their deeper causes, draw the proper conclusions.

Some people want to prevent that at any price. President Bush declares vociferously that we have won the war. A glorious victory over the Evil Ones. Like his own victory in Iraq.

When a football team is able to choose the referee, it is no surprise if it is declared the winner.

Modern warfare is a complex affair and doesnt necessarily come along with highly advanced weapons. Rather a take over can also be triggered by raising unemployment and indebtedness. Indebtedness of US households has risen 45.7% and although the Government might proclaim, "the number of unemployed persons (14.0 million) was essentially unchanged in June, and the unemployment rate held at 8.6 percent", this doesnt say anything about the constant abolition of well-paid jobs by assisting economic invasion.

Chinese Regime Eyes Texas Port Facilities

Mike Blair – American Free Press August 14, 2006

Negotiations are under way for communist Beijing to utilize as a “logistics hub” the former Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, which was closed in 1995 during the Clinton administration’s base reduction program.

If the deal is consummated the Chinese will also gain access to two major Texas ports at Corpus Christi and Houston on the Texas coast of the Gulf of Mexico, an 11,000-foot-long airstrip, which is part of the Kelly base facilities, rail links with railcar switching facilities and links with five interstate highways. The Chinese are keenly interested in the deal because the San Antonio base will help facilitate its trade with Mexico.

San Antonio will give China access to a highway corridor along I-35, linking San Antonio to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, which is just across the border from Laredo in west Texas.

Nuevo Laredo is a major staging ground for Mexican drug cartels, which have fostered an atmosphere of lawlessness in the city. Almost daily people, including police, are shot in the streets. In addition, frequent clashes occur between drug smugglers and U.S. Border Patrol and state and local police on the U.S. side of the border in Laredo.

There have also been reports that Chinese military units have been operating with Mexican army troops, who assist the drug smugglers and have made incursions into the United States.

“San Antonio is a strategic site for commerce between China and the United States and for the exportation of Chinese products to Mexico and Latin America,” Zhou Ming, general director of the Chinese State Agency of Promotions and Chinese Investments, said after a Chinese delegation visited San Antonio last year, according to a report in the Spanish-language newspaper Rumbo, which reports on activities in Mexico and U.S. border states.

Like most Chinese industrial, investment and commerce kingpins, Ming has ties to the People’s Liberation Army, which controls most industry in China with much of the profits going to build up the Chinese military.

Considerable slave labor is used, making it impossible for U.S. workers to compete.

A year ago, San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger and other municipal officials traveled to China to promote the former air base facilities, now renamed the San Antonio Port Authority.

The mayor’s office is working with the Port Authority, the Free Trade Alliance San Antonio and the San Antonio based Omega Group International, which maintains offices in Austin, Texas, San Francisco, Mexico City and Beijing and Qingdao, China.

According to <>Rumbo<>, Omega International sponsored visits by Chinese officials last year to San Antonio. J.J. Saulino, press secretary to Hardberger, told AFP that the mayor is interested in the project and traveled to Guangdong province in China to promote it.

Jorge Canavati, vice president of the San Antonio Port Authority, claimed the Rumbo article was “not accurate” and abrasively brushed off questions about the effort to get the Chinese into the former U.S. air base facilities.

The former air base, often referred to as a “dry port” or an “inland port,” because it is not a coastal facility or located on a navigable waterway, “has no limits for the products, from toys to heavy equipment [from China],” Vivian Lee, president of the Omega Group, was quoted by Rumbo as saying.

AFP was told by Rogello Garcia, a spokesman for the Free Trade Alliance San Antonio, that a Chinese delegation was in San Antonio last spring to further work out details of the project.

Kelly Air Force Base was opened in 1916 as a training facility. Nearby Lackland Air Force Base was a spin-off from Kelly. The Texas Air National Guard 149th Fighter Wing still utilizes the facility, along with the Air Force Reserve 433rd Airlift Wing.

A spokesperson with the Port Authority told AFP that the base has been used to repair and maintain C-5A Galaxy transport planes, which are the largest aircraft in the Air Force. The base has an 11,000-foot runway to accommodate the C-5A, which the military shares with the Port Authority.

In addition to the airstrip, the Port Authority has a 1,200-acre yard operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. The Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad is also linked to the inland port.

A retired Air Force intelligence officer told AFP that taking over the San Antonio base would likely streamline Chinese exports to the United States and would give them access to ports in Houston and Corpus Christi on the Gulf coast.

The Chinese already control the Panama Canal, through the Hutchison-Whampoa Company, and maintain a major airfield and port facility at Freeport, Bahamas, where Hutchison-Whampoa has a contract through the Bush administration to provide security for container ships bound for U.S. ports on the East Coast.

Chinese state-owned shipping company Cosco has taken over port facilities and warehousing space at the California ports of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Long Beach. This is one of the reasons cited for China’s interest in the San Antonio inland port, as it has extensive space available for constructing warehouse buildings. According to Port Authority sources, a 108,800-square-foot warehouse facility has already been built at the former base at a cost of $5 million and a slightly smaller 102,400-squarefoot building has also been built.

I read on one site that Lord Rama was on earth around 10,000 yrs. ago, then I read on another site that it was 1 million yrs ago. What do the Gaudiyas teach on this? There is a huge difference between 10,000 and 1 million yrs, not sure how these conflicting timetables came to be.

We are presently in the kali-yuga of the 28th maha-yuga of the 7th manvantara (Vaivasvata) of Brahma’s day. The last time Lord Ramacandra appeared on earth was in treta-yuga of the 5th maha-yuga of this manvantara. Duration of one maha-yuga is 4,320,000 years - so we have to count 23 maha-yugas back to come to the 5th maha-yuga of this manvantara and then go to the treta-yuga, starting in that maha-yuga after 1,728,000 years (duration of satya-yuga) and lasts for 1,296,000 years.

Sorry, I should have said that the 7 Pleiades stars are considered the wives of the 7 Rishi stars.

 

7 is a very important esoteric number, as I am sure you aware. For example, there are 7 major chakra centers in the sushumna channel. I do not think it is a coincidence that we see this number 7 staring at us as we look into Outer Space, just like we find when we look into Inner Space.

This disc (efficient luminaries compass) was recently found, they say it was made 1600 B.C. The seven Pleiades stars are seen together between Sun and Moon. They say that the Pleiades announce the proper time for sowings and crops.

Actually Dhruva Maharaja appeared in the first manvantara of this day of Brahma which is called Svayambhuva. Each of the 14 manvantaras on one day of Brahma consist of 71 maha-yugas. Right now we are in the 28th maha-yuga of the 7th manvantara which is called Vaivasvata. Dhruva Maharaja appeared in a Satya-yuga of the first manvantara but since each manvantara consists of 71 maha-yugas in which maha-yuga of the Svayambhuva manvantara Dhruva appeared. Any suggestions?

suchandra what does that have to do with the yakshas being a Himalayan tribe like the Tibetans?

 

My feeling is that the "another kalpa" thing is just an excuse. I view the Bhagavatam as the revelation of perfect and flawless knowledge. That perfect knowledge does not include the cosmology of this temporary world IMO. I really don't care if the Bhagavatam says the universe is six billion miles across or whatever the number was and that has been proven to be woefully small compared to the actual facts.

sorry prabhu, this wasnt actually a reply to your post but to the main topic in general:

At "Online Vegetarian Restaurants Guide", http://www.naturalnirvana.com/Braja-Mandala/Braja-Mandala/Madhuvana-Forest.htm we find:

 

 

"Krishna appeared in Madhuvana in all four yugas. In Satya-yuga He appeared before Dhruva Maharaja. In Treta-yuga He came as Satrughna and killed the demon Lavanasura. He came as Lord Krishna in Dwapara-yuga and as Lord Caitanya in Kali-yuga."

 

 

But do we know which Satya-yuga from the 1000 Satya-yugas of this Kalpa (one day of Lord Brahma)?

Or was it a Satya-yuga of the 1000x360x49 Satya-yugas from the past 360x49 Kalpas (days) of our present Lord Brahma who just became 50?