suchandra

Thanks for posting this.

 

Over time I have found that learning what others hold to be true and hearing other points of view has made my consciousness more tolerant, accepting and understanding of others... even those who would want me killed just for believing differently. It may not seem like it, but listening to others does for some reason repair the damage that has been done to humankind.

Thanks bgita67, this article reminded me of all those avatars like Lord Buddha and Sankaracarya who descended on the order of Lord Visnu to propagate knowledge what makes Vaishnavas feel baffled.

We get the explanation this was required as a kind of intermediate stage, to prepare things for the next level, but the opposite happened Buddhism has 300 mio members and increasing.

But as article above points out there could be something else, people stuck in cultural thought pattern that cause one feeling offended when getting a message without special forbearance.

When someone feels offended it is sometimes like that that the offender doesn't actually know what happened, and the offended feels so badly offended that an excuse would even make it worse.

Or, that the offended finds out that the offender even cannot fully understand what he just did and would never talk.

Ok, article by Satya das might be not well investigated.

does that include fanatics from 'Hare Krishna' ?

Surely it does! But these are not actually Hare Krsnas but rather wolves in sheep's clothing. Fake, people who adopted the dress of Hare Krsnas.

The Indian media has presented a distorted version of Hindu-Christian clashes in Mangalore. Here are the facts

posted September 20 2008

http://www.sanghparivar.org/a-distorted-version-of-hindu-christian-clashes-in-mangalore

1. The Following are the list of abuses from one such book – Satya Darshini – distributed by the missionaries of New Life. This book is in Kannada and the translation of the abusive passage is as follows.

•  

  • Urvashi – the daughter of Lord Vishnu – is a prostitute. Vashitha is the son of this prostitute. He in turn married his own Mother. Such a degraded person is the Guru of the Hindu God Rama. (page 48)
    
  • When Krishna himself is wallowing in darkness of hell, how can he enlighten others? Since Krishna himself is a shady character, there is a need for us to liberate his misled followers. (page 50)·
    
  • It was Brahma himself who kidnapped Sita. Since Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva were themselves the victims of lust, it is a sin to consider them as Gods. (page 39)
    
  • When the Trinity of Hinduism (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) are consumed by lust and anger, how can they liberate others. Their projection as Gods is nothing but a joke. (page 39).
    
  • When Vishnu asked Brahma to commit a sin, he immediately did so. How can such a "evil brahma" be a Creator of this Universe? How is it possible for both the sinner and the entity which provoked the sin to be gods? (page 39)
    
  • God, please liberate the sinful people of India who are worshipping False Gods that believe in the pleasures of illicit 'Vyabichari' relationships. (Page 39).

1. All the 16 incidents that took place were not attack on Churches. In fact, unauthorized prayer halls were attacked where the blasphemous pamphlets were distributed and aggressive proselytisation was taking place. These 16 incidents were not localized but took place across three districts of Mangalore, Udupi and Chikmagalur.
   
2. The only place where attacks took place apart from New Life Prayer Halls was at a small prayer hall in the premises of Milagres Church in Mangalore, where some miscreants had damaged a Jesus idol. The VHP and the Bajrang Dal have condemned the attack at this place. Following this incident, a Christian mob gathered and the situation went out of control as the mob started pelting stones and disrupting traffic. The police was forced to intervene and this resulted in unsavoury violence.
   
3. Since the past two days, it is not Hindu-Christian clashes that are taking place. In fact, it is more appropriate to call it"Christian-Police" clashes since the Christians holed up in Churches have engaged themselves in pelting of stones and disruption of traffic. The Police were forced to enter the Church to clear the mob and they found arms inside the Church.
   
4. Incidents of Stabbing were reported in around four or five places across Mangalore district. In fact, an activist belonging to Shri Ram Sena was stabbed which led to a bandh call by Shri Ram Sena – a Hindu outfit that is not connected to Sangh Parivar.
   
5. The VHP and the Bajrang Dal have condemned the desecration of Jesus idol at the prayer hall adjacent to the Milagres Church in Mangalore. They have also clarified that they are not against the Catholic faith and the Churches. However, they have clarified that the public outcry would continue as long as illicit conversion activities and blasphemy of Hindu gods take place.
   
6. Even the Kandhmahal murder — which involved the killing of Hindu monk Swami Lakshmananda by missionaries – seems to have caste a shadow on this incident since the general public seems to have seen through Christian aggression.
   
7. It may be recalled that there was a public outcry against illegal prayer halls in Davanagere district last week. In that case, the administration had closed the unauthorized prayer halls that were mushrooming in the region.

The world has no shortage of religious fanatics.

Not really, rather no shortage of US imperialists who don't hesitate to put on any dress of religiosity when it comes to get one's foot in the door for erecting billable systems in India or anywhere else. The same what happened with the Catholic Church, bankers who adopted the dress of priests and to set up an efficient billing system to collect monthly taxes from 1115 billion Catholics worldwide.

when I failed to see Krishna

This seem to happen quite often, looks like the old Egyptians identified Krsna as Unknown Flying Object. Notice pic below, this is not blue paint but a blue gemstone. They knew that Krsna is blue but couldnt figure His actual position as Supreme Controller of everything and not in need to have wings.

When does it happen that modern medical science is getting very curious about examining the inhabitants of a monastery? To find out how a God centered lifestyle changes our lives? A recent broadcast gave the answer.

No way, modern medical science would never do that.

They found out probably by pure chance that the School Sisters of Notre Dame religious congregation are all between 75 to 106 years of age. And all those elderly 678 American members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame nuns equipped with extraordinary mental power and intellectuality.

The team of scientists headed by David Snowdon went mad, how is it that these old women were not all down with Alzheimer's? They started a huge program of experiments to examine the brains of these nuns to finally find out that they had Alzheimer's in a preliminary state within their brains but the disease wouldn't appear.

The scientists were baffled and perplexed and didn't know what to do.

Finally they came to a conclusion, they made these nuns to sign that they would agree for a postmortem examination.

This is what modern medical science is all about godless rascals examining dead bodies and fooling the public with useless knowledge? They didn't consider that when someone leads a religious life that this is the remedy but wanted to extract the enzymes from the nuns' brains and in this way produce a medicine against Alzheimer's for all the duskritinas and naradhamas.

pic of captured nun: http://www.mc.uky.edu/nunnet/

Whenever it comes to commercialization of vedic knowledge people are getting more and more expert.

The Complete Illustrated Guide To Ayurveda

posted September 19 2008

by Gopi Warrier & Deepika Gunawant, MD

http://hinduism.about.com/od/besttopicalbooks/fr/ayurguide.htm

About.com Rating

By Subhamoy Das, About.com

From Madonna and Naomi Campbell to Cherie Blair and the late Princess Diana, this age-old Indian medical tradition has fascinated the West with its many miracles. At a time when more and more people are turning to the holistic medical system of Ayurveda to stay healthy, this book is a must for reference. But unlike many reference books on the topic, this one is quite enjoyable!

Pleasant & Authoritative

Written by two experts, "The Complete Illustrated Guide To Ayurveda: The Ancient Indian Healing Tradition" is a comprehensive and practical guide to the ancient medical system of ayurveda full of color photographs and charts. It explains how the ancient system works, its current applications — disease, diagnosis treatment and prevention. Presented in a pleasant visual format, which makes the study of such an arcane topic relevant and enjoyable, it answers almost all your questions and every concept is put in the right perspective for the layman. So it makes for a great read for the uninitiated, across age groups. A host of decent illustrations underscore the rich content of the book. It also includes a glossary, useful addresses, further reading suggestions and index.

A Look Inside

The first chapter "The Science of Life" explains what ayurveda is and how it works. Chapter two: "The Traditional Wisdom of Ayurveda" deals with the meanings, mythology, theory and texts. In the heart of the third chapter - "The Principles of Ayurveda" - lie the Theory of Panchamahaphutas, the five elements, and the three "gunas". Chapter four entitled "Ayurveda Today" tells you about how to apply the powerful science of ayurveda in your daily life, and how modern medicine and ayurvedic preparations can co-exist and also work together. The next chapter deals with a complete ayurvedic lifestyle, and what do you need for such a living: The Dinacharyas (daily routine), Ritucharyas (seasonal routine) and an ayurvedic diet. The last two chapters are for the budding ayurvedic practitioner. Chapter six deals with diagnostic ayurveda, causes of diseases, classifying and diagnosing them. The concluding chapter is fully devoted to ayurvedic treatment: From remedies, surgery, medicine and physiotherapy to yoga, spirituality and rejuvenation therapy.

About the Authors

Author Gopi Warrier who founded a management consultancy firm with a special interest in International Development and Herbal Medicine, particularly Ayurveda in 1977, is also the founder of the Ayurvedic Company of Great Britain. Co-author Deepika Gunawant, MD, who is the chief physician of the company, is a doctorate in ayurvedic medicine and an ayurvedic practitioner for 15 years.

The Bottom Line

In sum, 'The Complete Illustrated Guide To Ayurveda' is true to its name — a complete health guide — easy to follow, enjoyable, lucidly illustrated and authoritative. Anyone concerned with wellbeing would want to have it in her collection, and benefit from it.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

On the Oneness of God and Humanity

http://seekpeaceandpursueit.blogspot.com/2008/09/on-oneness-of-god-and-humanity.html

I was the only Jew present at my first meeting of "Thinking Together," the World Council of Churches' think tank on cutting edge issues in interfaith dialogue. For half of the four-day meeting in 2007, I had struggled with powerful reactions to many of the things group members, particularly the Christian theologians present, had to say about conversion, the group's current topic of discussion. Over and over again, my mind shouted, "Do you guys know what it is like to be on the receiving end of Christian conversionary activity?Do you know that when you say, 'mission,' this touches my deep memory of the persecution, exile and genocide that my people has suffered?"

By the end of the meeting, I had learned that these people did indeed know a great deal about the Jewish experience at the hands of Christians. In fact, several of the people at the table had written renowned books on the subject. What is more, some of the Hindus at the table had even more recent reason than I did, as a Jew, to associate conversion with destruction of communities and cultures. I learned that in recent years there has been a great deal of tension, and some violence, related to the aggressive activity of Christian missionaries in Hindu communities. By the end of the week, I had learned far more from these people than they had to learn from me.

This summer I was joined by an old friend, a renowned Jewish educator from Israel, and a long-time participant in the group. No longer the only Jew in the room, free of my internal need to convey "the Jewish perspective," I was open to whatever learning this year's meeting would bring.

As before, I was struck by my good fortune to be sitting with this remarkable group of people. There was a senior Jewish educator from Jerusalem, a progressive imam and Islamic scholar from South Africa, a Buddhist professor of conflict resolution from Thailand, a professor of Hinduism from India and Trinidad, a senior leader of the Presbyterian Church in the US, an internationally known Christian scholar and leader of the interfaith dialogue movement, and a Buddhist monk and scholar from Sri Lanka wearing bright orange robes, among others. I knew that the experience would further develop my identity as a citizen of the world, expanding my perspective and stretching my heart and mind. This happened, though, in a surprising way.

Since the topic was conversion, we expected that challenging moments might arise in conversation between the proselytizing religions represented at the table (i.e. Christianity and Islam) and those religions that tend not to seek converts aggressively (i.e. Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism). To our surprise, this year our attention was drawn to a different fault line in the group, the differences between those who consider themselves monotheists and those coming from traditions that are not theistic, or emphasize multiple manifestations of the Divine.

In my opening remarks on Jewish perspectives on conversion, I had sought to articulate why seeking converts has not been a prominent part of Jewish practice over the centuries. I emphasized that Judaism does seek to serve as a "light to the nations" (Isaiah 42:6), but that this is about bringing the world to God and to justice, not about persuading the peoples of the world to adopt the particularities of Jewish practice. In the course of exploring that point, I cited beloved texts that are central to my own prayer life, such as, "On that day God will be one and God's name one." (Zechariah 14:9, quoted in the Aleinu prayer)

When I finished my introductory talk to the group, my Hindu colleague, Anant Rambachan, offered some appreciative words about what I had said. Then, very gently, he said that my remarks on bringing people to the one God and my reference to the prayer for the recognition of God's oneness were difficult for him. "Such texts," he said, "remind me of times when, growing up in Trinidad, people would break into our Hindu temples and destroy the murti (sacred images)."

Anant is an elegant man, brilliant and gracious, and he commands great respect and love in the group. The room fell utterly silent as he spoke. I, for one, was mortified that I had said something that had been offensive to someone whom I hold in such high esteem. I rushed to tell him that I was sorry to have offended him, that that had certainly not been my intention. He made clear that he had taken no personal offense, but we all realized that something important had happened. We had encountered a profound difference between the self-described monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, on the one hand, and Hinduism, on the other, with its rich teachings of the many different names and manifestations of the Divine in the world. And the monotheists at the table were forced to confront the ways in which belief in one God can convince people that theirs is the only truth, and to make this a rationale for hurting the other.

For me, this was a stunning moment. In my work life, I have spent a good deal of time and energy seeking to help Christians understand that some of the ideas, language, and images that are most precious to them resonate very differently for Jews, evoking memories of many centuries of oppression. I have asked Christians to examine their liturgy and their sacred texts, and to try to take the empathic leap of imagining how these might seem to Jews. As an heir to the profound Jewish historical memory of persecution (and worse), I have argued that Christians have a responsibility to look self-critically at their own tradition and history, to see how it has done harm, and to consider the implications for Christian practice in our own day.

Suddenly, my own religious language – words that I have known since I was a small child and recited daily for decades, was a source of pain to another, who had himself been on the receiving end of religiously motivated violence. The concept of monotheism lies at the epicenter of Jewish tradition and Jewish self-understanding. How could this concept possibly be a source of harm to others? Yet here was my treasured colleague, challenging me to contemplate the damage that had been done in the name of my own cherished belief.

These were the very moments for which the "Thinking Together" project was created. Moments when each of us might enter into an entirely new understanding of our own tradition by seeing it through the eyes of "the other." In relationship with people of different religions and from different parts of the world, we are forced to consider hitherto unimaginable questions. Our relationships of respect and affection lead us to examine unthinkable thoughts, considering our most treasured convictions from multiple perspectives, seeing our own worldview as only one among many imperfect human attempts to make sense of a world far beyond our own understanding.

In such moments, one does have another option. One can say, explicitly or implicitly, "No! I am right and so you must be wrong! My truth is correct and I have no intention of considering your perspective on it!" After all, we see this kind of behavior modeled every day in the public square in our own country, and perhaps in our personal relationships as well.

But for thoughtful people who desire to understand more about God's world and to respond to the sacred call to make peace in our world, we must listen to "the other," even when he or she challenges beliefs that are axiomatic for us.

Having experienced this conversation, what is my obligation? Do I need to stop saying the offending words in my daily prayer? Reconstruct my whole theology to excise monotheism from my beliefs about God and the world? I don’t think this is my obligation, nor did my conversation partners at the table in Geneva want me to abandon my own religion in deference to their feelings. But it is incumbent on me to take in the depth of their challenge, bringing new questions into my ongoing relationship with Judaism based on my relationship with them.

Fundamentally, this is how individuals can contribute to the building of peace in the world: by our willingness to listen deeply to truths very different from our own, to grapple with these truths and allow them to affect how we think and who we are, to stretch our minds and hearts beyond our own comfortable truths. This is the essence of peace-making, of world-repair, one conversation at a time.

Posted by rebamy at <a class="timestamp-link" href="http://seekpeaceandpursueit.blogspot.com/2008/09/on-oneness-of-god-and-humanity.html" rel="bookmark" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" title="2008-09-18T18:53:00-07:00">6:53 PM</abbr>

I have just started making kefir. Anyone thinks it's tamasic?

 

I wonder how the gopas in vraja used to conserve their milk.

There wasnt any need to conserve milk since there were millions of cows and milk was there in abundance.

This is how modern demoniac political leaders have brainwashed their own fellow citizens, to enforce the killing of the cow and make us think there is so less milk that we have to conserve it. Kefir is like yoghurt or clabber.

Only thing tamasic is to allow present sinful karmis to milk the cows.

Sheesh! May all religious fanatics from all religions kill each other quickly and leave the rest of us alone.

Question asked by many, are there actually anywhere "religious fanatics"?

Conversion has US backing, says VHP

ENS

18 Sep 2008 10:50:00 AM IST

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?artid=|st5gZk7kUU=&Title=Conversion+has+US+backing,+says+VHP&SectionID=9R67TMeNb/w=&MainSectionID=w44iAeuGCu8=&SectionName=gUhH3Holuas=&SEO=VHP;%20%20Vedantham;%20conversion;%20%20Missionaries

KOCHI: The mass conversion undertaken by the Christian Missionaries with the connivance of White House was a deliberate attempt to wipe out the culture and civilisation of the country, said Vishwa Hindu Parishad international vice-president Vedantham.Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, he said that there was a nefarious design by the Christian Missionaries with the support of the US to convert 20 percent of Hindus to Christianity by 2030, under a project called ‘Joshua Vision 1 and 2’.In 2000, the Pope had called for harvesting souls in Asia, especially in India. The VHP is against violence, but people are upset and they revolted, he said. The violence in Orissa is a natural response to the forcible conversion by the Christian Missionaries, He said.The government should ban conversion by bringing in a legislation, Vedantham said.Vedantham said that the killing of Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati was a calculated move by the Christian Missionaries. But, the Union Government was exerting pressure on the Orissa government to avoid the arrest of the real culprits behind the killing, he said.Vedantham said that the Union Government was giving a free hand to terrorists by not invoking stringent anti-terrorist laws. The Prime Minister and the Home Minister were not serious about the people’s life and property but are more worried about signing nuclear deal with the US.VHP central joint secretary Kashi Viswanathan, state joint secretary K P Narayanan and district secretary N R Sudhakaran also attended the press conference.

Anti-Jew, Muslim attitudes rise in Europe: survey

By Michael Conlon, Religion Writer

Reuters

Wednesday, September 17, 2008; 2:06 PM

 

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish feelings are rising in several major European countries, according to a worldwide survey released on Wednesday.

 

 

This is of course a racist nonsensical lie since there's no more such thing as a typical European. Take Germany, every fifth "German" is a foreigner, more than 5 million Muslims live alone in Germany. Muslims work there, are having their families and live peacefully in that country and are fully represented in the government by Muslim members of Parliament.

Concerning anti-Jewish feelings, the Germans voted Angela Merkel as their Federal Chancellor who is Jewish. Looks rather like some rascal opportunists making some propaganda, motive - incitement of the American people.

This is how many German families look like, adopted children from Africa, Vietnam, India.

China suffers so badly from milk shortage that since years there's only adulterated milk for sale. Now some foreign journalists report about this scandal - thousands of children who were fed fake milk are of bad health. As mentioned earlier, Buddhism combined with cow killing is not tolerated by the devas. And China's newspapers threatened by the government to report about this nation wide milk scandal.

China: Milk Scandal Of Unexpected Dimension

http://vweb.youth.cn/cms/2006/gjpd/news/china/200809/t20080918_793820.htm

2008-09-18 11:03:00 <table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="98%"><tbody><tr><td class="td4" align="center">

</td></tr><tr><td class="td4" align="left">In the wake of the contaminated baby milk powder scandal, Chinese quality watchdog on Wednesday cancelled all kinds of national inspection exemptions previously given to food producers.

"Considering the particular characteristics of food products and the complexity in the cause of food safety problems, and with a view to further enhancing supervision over food producers, ensuring food safety and protecting consumers' interests," said the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) in an explanation of the move.

It said relevant companies must stop activities of publicizing their national inspection exemption qualifications. The national inspection exemption labels printed on food products and their packages became invalid from Wednesday.

To help companies avoid repeated examinations and reduce their burden, the country began exempting those producing top-quality and globally-competitive products from quality inspections in 2000.

According to previous regulations, any company in China could apply for the inspection-exemption if they had a long standing quality record, large market share, and implemented standards up to or above national or international levels.

The products that passed state or province-level inspections on three consecutive occasions were awarded the qualification. While producers still must report the inspection-free products' quality status on a regular basis, AQSIQ organized spot checks on these products annually.

Before the move, AQSIQ had cancelled the exemption qualification of Shijiazhuang-based Sanlu Group and the "Famous Brand" titles of its baby milk powder, other kinds of milk powder and sterilized milk.

It was amending quality standards of dairy products targeting non-food additives. It would adjust its baby formula standards to allow tests of poisonous substances such as melamine.

No melamine tests were conducted on dairy products in the past. New standards would be published later this year, AQSIQ said.

The country's Certification and Accreditation Administration also said on Wednesday it revoked all certificates given to Sanlu and its products, including the sanitation registration qualification of food for export.

The government on Wednesday announced comprehensive nationwide tests for melamine on every dairy product by every producer after a third infant died after drinking contaminated milk powder.

The latest fatality occurred in the southeastern Zhejiang Province, Minister of Health Chen Zhu told a press conference in Beijing. He gave no further information about the latest fatality.

The first two deaths both occurred in northwest Gansu Province. A five-month-old boy died on May 1 and an eight-month-old girl succumbed on July 22.

Both were fed with Sanlu formula and had suffered kidney failure

Another 6,244 infants were ill after consuming the tainted formula as of 8 a.m. on Wednesday, including 158 with acute kidney failure, of which 94 were in stable condition, Chen said.

Inspectors had found the chemical in 69 batches of baby milk powder produced by 22 companies nationwide. The seized items included such well-known brands as Sanlu, Mengniu, Yili and Yashili, among others.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce, which supervises product quality at the retail level, on Wednesday ordered all the tainted products to be immediately removed from shelves.

The contaminated products were to be sealed at the site and kept from re-entering the market.

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, which owns a 43-percent stake in Sanlu, said on Tuesday its own Chinese business had voluntarily recalled one batch of Anmum Materna milk.

The company said the particular batch had been manufactured and distributed under licence by Sanlu using what it believed to be contaminated local raw milk.

Melamine is a toxic chemical, banned in food. It is rich in nitrogen and was illegally added to raw milk for protein tests that raise nitrogen levels.

</td></tr></tbody></table>

Looks like ISKCON offers mushrooms.

Kurma dasa, AU : Mushrooms

Kurma dasa, AU : Mushrooms

I have never published a blog about mushrooms, but I am asked about them constantly. Since the Hare Krishna diet appears to be almost identical with many classic Buddhist vegetarian diets where mushrooms are used profusely, people usually presume that mushrooms would be acceptable.

And why are there no mushroom recipes in my books? The reason is that in the ancient culinary Bhakti Yoga tradition to which I , mushrooms are not cooked. No Vishnu, Krishna or Rama (Vaisnavaite) temple kitchen will ever prepare them. They are considered unfit foods to prepare in sacred food offerings due to their fungal nature.

Yes, they are nutritious, and yes some Hare Krishna devotees will occasionally eat them. The following exchange, originally about yeast, will shed some light:

Karthick from Houston Texas writes:

"I was wondering about some of your recipes, some of them have yeast in it, I was wondering if this is acceptable to be offered to Krishna. I thought yeast is a living organism, just like mushroom is. Please forgive my ignorance and help me understand this."

My reply:

"Thanks for your letter. Yeast is not a traditional ingredient in Vaishnava cookery, yet we do prepare and offer to Krishna fermented things like khamir poori, dosa, idli, jalebis etc. These are all fermented naturally, with the help of airborne yeasts.

Yes, yeast could be compared with mushrooms. However, it was not specifically banned by our founder Srila Prabhupada (like meat, fish, eggs, garlic, onion, alcohol are). When he first arrived from India, Prabhupada tasted western yeast-risen breads, but he said he found them dry, and much preferred his hot, freshly cooked unleavened chapatis.

Prabhupada did not eat mushrooms, and recommended we don't. Most Hare Krishna devotees never touch them, though some do. I have seen devotees in Russia pick them from the forest and cook them. So why this apparent grey area?

Here's a recent exchange of letters about mushrooms:

Malati devi: "And, what about mushrooms? We don't offer them to the (temple) Deities. However, in France, at the Nouvelle Mayapur Chateau (perhaps Kanti will recall this), they found very exotic expensive type of mushroom known as truffles on the property, and the devotees wondered about it." Kanti devi: "yes, I do recall that, because I started making cream of mushroom soup for the devotees. We had mushroom pizza, mushroom rice, mushroom pakoras, so many mushrooms. There was one French devotee who would bring in crates full that he collected in the forest.

Naturally the devotees (Bhagavan dasa specifically) asked Srila Prabhupada before we did anything with them. The mushrooms were 'cèpes', (not truffles) a large mushroom that grows in the forest, and we had thousands of them. Srila Prabhupada said that 'Lord Caitanya ate mushrooms when he was travelling in the Jarikhanda Forest, and we could as well'. We did not have Radha Krishna Deities at that time, we had a Pancha Tattva altar and Srila Prabhupada said they were offerable to (on the altar to the sacred deity forms of) Pancha Tatva, so we did cook and offer them."

This was a specific circumstance. Prabhupada wanted that the cooks in France did not waste them. But generally, Hare Krishna temple cooks don't use mushrooms; but as you can see in this case, they were not specifically banned like, say, onions and all other members of the allium family. If Kanti devi had been delivered crates of onions picked from the fields, for instance, she would not have prepared them in the temple kitchen. So there is a distinction.

Yamuna Devi, in her entire cookbook collection, has provided one or two recipes that contain mushrooms.

I have only one unpublished recipe containing mushrooms. Otherwise I hardly touch them. They are, after all, a fungus, and do not help to elevate the consciousness like 'satvic' foods do. Hence they are generally included in the category of 'tamasic' foods (foods touched by the lower modes of ignorance).

Hope this is clear. Best wishes, Kurma"

Since there are lately many articles on japa workshops - chanting Hare Krsna mantra in front of Tulasi Devi. To take care of Tulasi Devi and to chant in front of Tulasi Devi seems the traditional system of Gaudiya Vaishnavas how to chant attentively - Tulasi Devi grabs your attention.

It is said that chanting in front of Tulasi plant magnifies the power of the mantra 1000 times. Srila Haridasa Thakura constructed a cottage in a solitary forest. There he planted a Tulasi, and in front of Tulasi Devi he would chant the holy name of the Lord 300,000 times daily. Since Srila Haridasa Thakura is by the way namacarya for this yuga, why not give it a try?

When Narada Muni made the hunter a disciple, so he dragged him to the riverside, Ganges, and gave him a Tulasi plant, that: “You sit down here and chant Hare Krsna mantra. And the Tulasi plant is here. You offer obeisances.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.40

by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Māyāpura, October 20, 1974

Narada Muni gave them one Tulasi plant, and they sat down near the Tulasi plant, and he advised that “Go on chanting Hare Krsna mantra.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.9

by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Nellore, January 7, 1976

For instance, we are worshiping this plant, Tulasi. We are not worshiping all plants, but because this Tulasi has a very intimate connection with Krsna, Visnu, we are therefore worshiping her.

Deciding for the Future

New York—July 4, 1972

Offering Tulasi leaves and Ganges water, He cried for the Lord s appearance. The Lord, being satisfied by His pure devotees, descends to satisfy them.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - Adi-lila - 3

Vivekananda said, “What is the use of pouring water in Tulasi? Better pour water in a eggplant saka. You’ll get some eggplant.” This is…. Vivekananda said. Eggplant is also a small tree, and Tulasi… So if somebody is pouring water on a Tulasi leaf for bhakti, he condemns him, “Why you are wasting time? Pour water on this eggplant. Tomorrow you’ll get two.” This is karmi. “God is fictitious. God’s service is another sentiment. Do something practical.”

Room Conversation

with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

January 8, 1977, Bombay

Hindu temple sets world record

http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2008/09/hindu-temple-se.html

September 18, 2008

This amazing Hindu temple is in the new Guinness World Records as the biggest in the world. Read our story on it here, along with some other interesting religious records, such as the world's longest pilgrimage. Some more photos, from the temple consecration, of its lotus garden and showing the presentation of the Guinness certificate, are reproduced below. The temple in India is part of the same movement as our own Neasden temple in north west London, and Brits familiar with the beautiful architecture of the UK temple will see echoes in its newer, if larger, cousin.

<!-- technorati tags --> Technorati Tags: Guinness World Records, Hinduism

Posted by Ruth Gledhill on September 18, 2008 at 04:17 PM in

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja wrote a book on astrological compatibility which is somehow not available for download, has even mysterously disappeared?

According to the Vedic system, the parents would consider the horoscopes of the boy and girl who were to be married. If according to astrological calculations the boy and girl were compatible in every respect, the match was called yoṭaka and the marriage would be accepted. Even fifty years ago, this system was current in Hindu society. Regardless of the affluence of the boy or the personal beauty of the girl, without this astrological compatibility the marriage would not take place. A person is born in one of three categories, known as deva-gaṇa, manusya-gana and rakṣasa-gaṇa. In different parts of the universe there are demigods and demons, and in human society also some people resemble demigods whereas others resemble demons. If according to astrological calculations there was conflict between a godly and a demoniac nature, the marriage would not take place. Similarly, there were calculations of pratiloma and anuloma. The central idea is that if the boy and girl were on an equal level the marriage would be happy, whereas inequality would lead to unhappiness. Because care is no longer taken in marriage, we now find many divorces. Indeed, divorce has now become a common affair, although formerly one’s marriage would continue lifelong, and the affection between husband and wife was so great that the wife would voluntarily die when her husband died or would remain a faithful widow throughout her entire life. Now, of course, this is no longer possible, for human society has fallen to the level of animal society. Marriage now takes place simply by agreement. Dampatye ’bhirucir hetuḥ (Bhāg. 12.2.3). The word abhiruci means “agreement.” If the boy and girl simply agree to marry, the marriage takes place. But when the Vedic system is not rigidly observed, marriage frequently ends in divorce.

SB9.18.24

 

Present Vaishnava institutions more or less have banned Astrology, "Astrology doesnt say when we receive Krsna mercy".

Somehow Astrology never says of being for this purpose.

What is astrological compatibility anyway, do we need it also for efficient teamwork?

A horoscope has different fields, like in partnership the most important field is communication, the planet displaying your quality to communicate is Mercury.

Mercury displays the way you think and the way you talk.

Now there're four elements, Water, Fire, Air, Earth.

What we do now is to find out if the Mercury of your partner/teammate is in a compatible element of your Mercury. Let's say your Mercury is in Capricorn, element Earth, your partner's in Sattigarius element Fire. Element Earth and Fire are not compatible, communication will be easily prone to misunderstanding, "I didn't say that, you misunderstood."

For a married couple a fatal situation.

Moon, emotional requirements, living quarters are also attributed to Moon. Living with a person in the same household requires compatible Moons.

Let's say your partner has Moon in Lion, element Fire, your Moon is in element Water, Pisces, you cannot live together in the same household for a longer periode of time.

Element Water is not compatible to element Fire. Fire is compatible to element Air, Aquarius, Gemini, Libra is in element Air.

Then Venus, quality of how one relates to others, how you relate to others. Venus also stands for esthetics and fine art. Believe it or not there're people getting married with incompatible Venus. Reason is often Mars.

Mars stands for physical constitution, bodily ability to assert oneself and the quality how you quarrel. If there's a compatibility of Mars there's also sexual attraction and that's what many people consider as most important.

Incompatible Mars causes quarreling.

Sun stands for personality and Ascendant for the temperament. There're Lions with Ascendant Cancer what makes a Lion introverted, a Lion with Aquarius Ascendant, extroverted.

If for example Moon of husband and wife are incompatible but Moon of husband is in direct conjunction with a personal planet of wife, this incompatibility is balanced.

The capability of having a relationship is looked at in the individual horoscopes.

These are some basics from Steven Arroyo's books, Astrology, Karma, Transformation and Psychology of the Four Elements.

I personally believe

Thanks Sarva, this is the understanding that rules. "I personally believe". There is of course nothing wrong with this but why you people also insist that this is what Prabhupada wanted? Prabhupada's last statements concerning sannyasa were as posted above without the necessity to interpret, "First of all there will be no sannyasi anymore. I have got very bad experience. And at least, we are not going to create new sannyasis".

What you're doing is clearly 100% to interpret like, Prabhupada said no more sannyasis, but the actual meaning is, we should go on creating sannyasis.

This is opposing, violating and rejecting the clear order of the acarya, Krsna's representative. No ifs and buts.

Second, if ISKCON would have done what you're saying, having matured, then they would have at least done one thing. To give sannyasa only to those who did already some really impressive preaching work like making 10,000 people to become fixed up Vaishnavas, not halfheartedly pseudos.

Sannyasis who are of mature age like 60 when people naturally feel to retire.

Instead we have sannysis like recently interviewed by Caitanya dasa, from whom one again doesnt know what will be the whereabout of them in 5-10-20 years?

Again creating the situation of people being forced to dissociate from such decisions.

And why people are so mad for this sannyasa dress, to collect donations, to get the big money. It's that simple.

http://www.dandavats.com/?p=6416

Present ISKCON is hardly able to properly perform to let's say an auditorium filled up with students, to convince these students that we are not this body but spirit souls. To make them fired up, what I just heard is so true! I have to stop doing things that end below a stupid gravestone.

At least all over Europe very sloppy preaching performance. Preachers have stopped to transport Prabhupada's teaching into present situation, are just repeating like audiotapes and people accept it that way, knowledge which was relevant in the sixties but is today some nostalgia, something to smile benignly.

And it is of course not about rhetoric, it is about actual realization. And this is what Prabhupada meant, when saying stop sannyasa, stop hypocricy, fakery of something what is not actually fully realized.

Although it seems that modern science is quite impressed about the dimension of Antares - 28,000 times the size of our Earth, it should be clear that this is nothing but a particle of dust compared with the planets in Vaikuntha, Goloka Vrindavan.

<arttitle>5 families ostracised for not paying tax to temple</arttitle>

17 Sep 2008, 1433 hrs IST,PTI

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/5_families_ostracised_for_not_paying_tax_to_temple/articleshow/3494046.cms

MADURAI: Five families of Pappanam Patti village in Ramanathapuram district, who recently converted from Hinduism to Christianity, have reportedly been ostracized by the villagers for refusing to pay annual tax of Rs 200 to the local temple for a festival.

According to officials, the families had filed a complaint with Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police, Duraisamy saying that three generations of their family have been living in the village and regularly paying tax. After their conversion to Christianity recently, they stopped paying for the Muniappaswamy temple festival.

Following this, the villagers disconnected their water connections and prevented them from using common facilities like pathways. Hence, they were not in a position to reside in the village, they said and sought the intervention of the DYSP to settle the matter.

"We were stopped from using the common facility from September 7. We are now living in the church at Natham village. The Kamuthi Thasildhar did not take any action though we gave a complaint," said Rajangam, one family member.

Christian Liberation movement president Stanley Babu Raj threatened to hold a demonstration in front of the Kamuthi taluk office if no action was taken by the authorities concerned.

That's how basically all of Africa converted to Islam.<arttitle>

'Inducements lure poor to convert'</arttitle>

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Inducements_lure_poor_to_convert/articleshow/3491637.cms

17 Sep 2008, 0210 hrs IST, Rishikesh Bahadur Desai,TNN

BANGALORE: Raju Gouda of Ucchangi Durga in Davanagere district has changed his religion twice, but not his name. He was born a Veerashaiva and converted to Christianity in his 20s.

A few years later, he met VHP ]volunteers who were involved in reconversion. He came back to Hinduism after a few meetings with them. Now, Gouda leads the re-conversion movement.

Similar is the case of many others. "The reconversion movement is slowly taking root across Karnataka. We have already succeeded in bringing back over 50,000 converts," said Ga Ra Suresh, who oversees VHP's Paravarthana movement.

He is convinced that none of the reconverts have gone back to Christianity. To him, the process is not reconversion. "We call it mainstreaming," he added. Paravarthana focuses on the recent convert. "We are not bothered about Christians who have been converted centuries ago. They embraced that faith under different socio-political conditions. Christian beliefs and practices are ingrained in them. We don't touch them. Our primary targets are those who have been converted by inducement, or under duress, in recent decades," Suresh said.

According to him, Protestant para-church organizations like the New Life institution (that was targeted in Mangalore and Chikmagalur) are into large-scale illegal conversions. "Such organizations can't be called churches. They are run by salaried employees whose job is proselytizing," he said.

According to him, such people are more likely to become the targets of attacks by rightist organizations, rather than priests. They choose particular caste groups in different districts.

In Hyderabad-Karnataka region, they target Madigas (scheduled castes). In North Karnataka districts like Bijapur and Gadag, they have converted Lambanis, and in Bagalkot and Dharwad districts, Kurubas have been converted.

"Most of the time, they use a neo-convert to carry on conversions," he said. According to him, converts are induced with land, free education for children and other gifts like sewing machines. "Most conversions happen in hospitals. The poor who are denied quality healthcare are impressed by the way missionary hospitals are run. They become easy targets," he said.

He does not completely accept the argument that low caste Hindus convert to escape untouchability and atrocities by the upper castes. "This is not fully true. There may be some such cases. But escaping caste-based discrimination is not the only reason behind conversion," he said. According to him, caste-based discrimination exists even among Christians.

"There are separate churches for Dalit Christians. Upper caste converts don't marry lower caste converts. In fact, several churches in Kollegal have —— for Dalit Christians and others," he said. The process of reconversion is simple. Paravarthana volunteers visit the house of the converts regularly, and convince them of the need to come back. They are told stories about the achievements of saints and leaders from lower castes. The volunteers ensure that they regain pride in their community and Hinduism.

When the family is ready to reconvert, the members are given Ganga jal or 'gomutra' (cow urine) to drink. A swamiji of the same caste or from a Veerashaiva mutt visits their house and performs the 'ling dharana' ritual to bring them back. Most of these families embrace Veerashaivism.

"They become followers of Basavanna, who had produced saints from all castes," Suresh said. Paravarathana also seeks the Arya Samaj, which has been carrying out the Shuddhi reconversion movement for nearly a century. Arya Samajis perform a small homa and issue a certificate. This works well for large-scale reconversions.

While many Vaishnavas meanwhile also adopted the believe that life comes from chemicals, modern science admits that they even haven't discovered all of the ants species.

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New ant species discovered in the Amazon likely represents oldest living lineage of ants

http://www.physorg.com/news140716045.html

General Science / Biology

This new species of blind, subterranean, predatory ant, Martialis heureka, was discovered in the Amazon by Christian Rabeling at the University of Texas at Austin. It belongs to the first new subfamily of living ants discovered since 1923, and is a descendant of one of the first ant lineages to evolve over 120 million years ago. Credit: Christian Rabeling, the University of Texas at Austin

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A new species of blind, subterranean, predatory ant discovered in the Amazon rainforest by University of Texas at Austin evolutionary biologist Christian Rabeling is likely a descendant of the very first ants to evolve.

The new ant is named Martialis heureka, which translates roughly to "ant from Mars," because the ant has a combination of characteristics never before recorded. It is adapted for dwelling in the soil, is two to three millimeters long, pale, and has no eyes and large mandibles, which Rabeling and colleagues suspect it uses to capture prey.

The ant also belongs to its own new subfamily, one of 21 subfamilies in ants. This is the first time that a new subfamily of ants with living species has been discovered since 1923 (other new subfamilies have been discovered from fossil ants).

Rabeling says his discovery will help biologists better understand the biodiversity and evolution of ants, which are abundant and ecologically important insects.

"This discovery hints at a wealth of species, possibly of great evolutionary importance, still hidden in the soils of the remaining rainforests," writes Rabeling and his co-authors in a paper reporting their discovery this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Rabeling collected the only known specimen of the new ant species in 2003 from leaf-litter at the Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária in Manaus, Brazil.

He and his colleagues found that the ant was a new species, genus and subfamily after morphological and genetic analysis. Analysis of DNA from the ant's legs confirmed its phylogenetic position at the very base of the ant evolutionary tree.

Ants evolved over 120 million years ago from wasp ancestors. They probably evolved quickly into many different lineages, with ants specializing to lives in the soil, leaf-litter or trees, or becoming generalists.

"This discovery lends support to the idea that blind subterranean predator ants arose at the dawn of ant evolution," says Rabeling, a graduate student in the ecology, evolution and behavior program.

Rabeling does not suggest that the ancestor to all ants was blind and subterranean, but that these adaptations arose early and have persisted over the years.

"Based on our data and the fossil record, we assume that the ancestor of this ant was somewhat wasp-like, perhaps similar to the Cretaceous amber fossil Sphecomyrma, which is widely known as the evolutionary missing link between wasps and ants," says Rabeling.

He speculates that the new ant species evolved adaptations over time to its subterranean habitat (for example, loss of eyes and pale body color), while retaining some of its ancestor's physical characteristics.

"The new ant species is hidden in environmentally stable tropical soils with potentially less competition from other ants and in a relatively stable microclimate," he says. "It could represent a 'relict' species that retained some ancestral morphological characteristics."

Source: University of Texas at Austin

» Next Article in General Science - Biology: Photosynthesizing bacteria with a day-night cycle contain rare chromosome

source: http://www.samtsai.com/p318

Ok, so how big is our planet Earth? I mean, compare to other planets… In the following pictures, you’ll start to appreciate how small earth is!!!

In solar system, Earth > Venus > Mars > Mercury > Pluto

Note: On August 24, 2006, Pluto loses its status as a planet, declared by International Astronomical Union’s (IAU), after several years of debate since its discovery in 1930. What’s the definition of a planet? Read more here.

Jupiter > Saturn > Uranus ≈ Neptune > Earth

So, earth is the 5th biggest planet in the solar system.

The sun is way bigger than earth, yet it looks so small in the sky.

Ok, let’s get serious. There are stars bigger than Sun. For examples, Sirius, Pollux, Arcturus…etc. Jupiter is only 1 pixel in the picture and the Earth is invisible in this scale.

Ok, how about stars bigger than Arcturus? You bet! Antares > Betelgeuse > Aldebaran > Rigel > Arcturus. Our sun is only 1 pixel in this scale and Jupiter is invisible now!!! Holy cow, imagine that the Earth is sitting beside Antares. Earth will be totally torched and the water evaporates. Hold on…there ARE stars even bigger than Antares. See this video.

sannyasa is not authorized after 1977

"Sannyasa Ashram Outlawed in ISKCON after 1977 BY: BHAKTA HARRY Sep 15, USA (SUN)

Srila Prabhupada Conversation, 7/1/ BY: BHAKTA HARRY 'No more sannyasis' another instruction not followed by ISKCON.

"If you talk in the modern society they will laugh: "What nonsense this man is... 'By sex life one becomes conditioned.' " They cannot understand. Hare Krsna...This should be strictly outlawed, no more sannyasis. And those sannyasis who have fallen, you get them married, live like a... No more this showbottle, cheating. It is very ludicrous. Even there is a promise that "We shall not fall down again," that is also not believable. What is the use?"

(Srila Prabhupada Conversation, 7/1/77)

"And this kind of hypocrisy--they have taken sannyasa and mixing with woman. This is not to be allowed. If you want woman you get yourself married, live respectfully. We have no objection. But this hypocrisy should be stopped. There have been so many fallen down. First of all there will be no sannyasi anymore. I have got very bad experience. And at least, we are not going to create new sannyasis. And those who have fallen down, let them marry, live like respectable gentlemen. I have no objection. [...] Get one wife and live like a gentleman. Similarly woman. Live with one husband fastidiously, with children. What is the wrong there? We have so many grhastha devotees. [...] But what is this nonsense that you take sannyasa and make relation with...? This should be completely stopped."

(Srila Prabhupada Conversation, 7/1/77)

Another interesting point, at Mahesa-dhama, the liberated soul does not get an opportunity to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead there, has to return to Bhurloka. As said again and again, planet Earth is the only place for performing devotional service and the time after Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance the most auspicious..

ei tina dhamera haya kṛṣṇa adhisvara

goloka-paravyoma — prakṛtira para

TRANSLATION

"Krsṇa is the supreme proprietor of all dhamas, including Goloka-dhama, Vaikuṇṭha-dhama and Devi-dhama. The paravyoma and Goloka-dhama are beyond Devi-dhama, this material world.

PURPORT

When a living entity is liberated from Devi-dhama but does not know of the opulence of Hari-dhama, he is placed in Mahesa-dhama, which is between the other two dhamas. The liberated soul does not get an opportunity to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead there; therefore although this Mahesa-dhama is Lord Siva's dhama and above Devī-dhāma, it is not the spiritual world. The spiritual world begins with Hari-dhama, or Vaikuṇṭhaloka.

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 21.54

- Where is Acyutananda (swami) who sang those wonderful bhajans in 1970?

Listen to this class and Bhakta Prabhu talks about how he talked to Acyutananda (ex-Swami) a few days ago. The same Acyutananda who sings the beautiful bhajans in the early 70s