suchandra

Spot-on article by Henry Makow, "This is what happens when we deny Moral Order i.e. God."

Making the World Safe....for Bankers

July 19, 2008

by Henry Makow Ph.D.

(From August, 2002, Revised July 18, 2008)

International bankers live in fear.

Not of starvation, disease or war. These are the concerns of children in the Third World.

Bankers are terrified we might object to paying them billions each year in interest for money they create out of nothing, guaranteed by our taxes. (The Federal Reserve Board, a private cartel of mostly foreign banks, finagled this monopoly in 1913.)

The bankers are frightened that, like the homeless man's dog, we might say, "I can do this myself."

They are scared the government might go even further and "default" on trillions of make-believe "debt."

They are frightened of losing "control." They toss and turn at night.

In order to sleep more soundly, the bankers have taken "steps."

These precautions help us to understand the world we live in, why it is becoming safer for bankers but less safe and more bizarre for everyone else.

First, people who own money machines tend to have a lot of friends. The bankers helped their friends establish monopolies in oil, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, transportation, media,etc. and took a healthy stake. As you can imagine, these people are thick as thieves. Lawyers, journalists and intellectuals all vie for a piece of the action. (Servicing this cartel of cartels is what passes for "success" these days.)

The bankers' first precaution is to buy all the politicians. The second is to buy the major media outlets in order to promote the illusion politicians make decisions and represent our interests. The third precaution is to take control of the education system, ensuring that people stop thinking at an early age.

Then the bankers use the government and media to convince us that religion, nationalism and nuclear family are unfashionable, and we want what they want.

We "want" world government ("globalization"). The bankers need to eliminate nation states, freedom and democracy in order to streamline their business and consolidate their power. The UN, the IMF and World Bank, -- glorified loan sharks and collectors -- will make the laws.

We "want" diversity. Countries are not allowed to maintain their national identities or traditions. Last Christmas, my provincial Premier tried to rename the Christmas tree at the legislature a "multicultural tree." Diversity is respecting every culture but our own. Every nation must be heterogeneous as a box of Smarties -- no one in a position to challenge the bankers.

Or take "feminism." Masquerading as equal rights for women, this ideology is designed to spread lesbian dysfunction. If women focus on careers, it means they give less importance to husband and children. They have fewer or no children who will be raised in state day cares.

Under the guise of "womens" and "gay" rights we are being re engineered to behave like homosexuals, easier to control. Psychological and biological differences between men and women are not "stereotypes." But signatories to the latest UN "CEDAW" Convention ( passed by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee) will be required to "take all appropriate measures to modify all social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women." (Article 5)

This kind of Communist-inspired social engineering is simply persecution of heterosexuals. It is intended to arrest our natural development: the birth rate has halved while the divorce rate has doubled. An army of highly paid lawyers, social workers and bureaucrats treat the casualties. These self-serving do-gooders are the bankers' biggest constituency.

People --stunted, love-starved, sex-obsessed -- without family, religious or national identity, are easy to control. (They'll join anything; they're looking for a family.) But in case of resistance, the bankers have created a bogeyman, "terrorism" to justify a huge security apparatus.

The Office of Homeland Security is designed to control us -- the domestic population. Why would this be necessary? We're "in debt" trillions of dollars and the bankers intend that we pay. One day they will take away our toys. In case that's a problem, an Orwellian police state will be in place. But first,the Muslims must be subjugated and robbed.

Talking about the United States as if it were an independent country is silly. American politicians pawned U.S. sovereignty in 1913. Ever since, U.S. soldiers have been bullyboys for international bankers, and nothing else.

SUPERPOWER AS BANKER GO'FER

The American taxpayer and soldier made the First World War possible. It started just six months after the establishment of the "Fed". Its purpose was to increase debt, cripple the great European nation states, slaughter a generation, and establish two of the bankers' pet projects: Communism (Russia) and Zionism (Palestine.) After the war ended, banker world government -- The League of Nations (a.k.a., "The League to Enforce Peace") was established.

The US didn't enter the Second World War in Dec. 1941 to save Western Civilization. England had stood alone against Germany for more than two years. The U.S. entered the war just six months after Hitler attacked Russia. The purpose was to save Communism! [i am indebted to A.K. Chesterton ("The New Unhappy Lords," 1969) for this insight] For the same reason, the USSR got $5 billion in U.S. lend-lease after the war ended.

After the smoke cleared, Communists instead of Nazis tyrannized Eastern Europe. Soviet agents/ US diplomats Alger Hiss and Harry Hopkins established the United Nations on land donated by John D. Rockefeller. One of the UN's first acts was to create the State of Israel.

Ben Hecht (in A Child of the Century) wrote "the Twentieth Century was cut off at its knees by World War One." Before committing suicide in 1942, Stefan Zweig (The World of Yesterday) spoke in the same tones about the demise of Western Civilization.

The planet has been hijacked. Our leaders are dupes, opportunists, traitors or all three. Almost everything we know about modern history is a hoax. A stench of moral compromise hangs over our public and cultural life. Anything promoted by the media, education, or government is suspect. This is what happens when we deny Moral Order i.e. God.

This is what our children will inherit, a world that is safe ... for international bankers.

Now is a good time to start learning Russian, da!

 

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Good to know that there are surely quite enough potential sponsors to build the temple construction - no stressful worries about completion of the huge complex.

http://www.moscowtemple.org/home/index.php?option=com_easygallery&act=categories&cid=13&Itemid=34

Well the big oil people are finally seeing the cash in wind and solar but right now most of the money is being made by buying your right to be an energy hog ( carbon credits ) and take a look at who owns most of those trading companies, the same folks spreading the misinformation.

True energy freedom will NEVER happen in America because most alternative sources are like you said too expensive for the average people to afford and most of them are really untested in large scale long term use.

The real way to change is by simply cutting back and not eating meat

Wonder why people accept all this. Biogas systems - gas produced from cow manure is in India affordable for anyone who keeps 10 cows.

In the West they installed a situation where average farmers can never pay for such a biogas system. They installed a couple of such biogas systems obviously just for fun to show people that they have the knowledge but for normal people impose conditions that make it impossible to produce biogas.

A program local farmers can take part in to build systems that convert agricultural waste into clean energy is already getting criticized.

The 9 million dollar program announced yesterday is to help farmers and rural businesses carry out feasibility studies for the installation of biogas systems.

Applicants can receive up to 40 per cent of funding needed to set up the systems, to a maximum of 400-thousand dollars.

Biogas systems are fuelled by renewable materials such as manure, crops, crop residues and food processing byproducts. The biogas can be used like natural gas to fuel electrical generators, engines, boilers and burners.

But Susan Antler, of the Composting Council, says the program lacks environmental controls.

Got Biogas? Cow Power to Light Up 50,000 California Homes

photo originally uploaded by troymckaskle

A California startup founded by a dairyman turned entrepreneur has signed an agreement to supply up to 3 billion cubic feet of bovine biogas - methane extracted from cow manure - to utility PG&E (PCG). That's enough cow power - 30 to 50 megawatts - to light up about 50,000 homes and keep a small natural gas plant running for a year. The deal between Bakersfield-based BioEnergy Solutions and PG&E of San Francisco highlights the win-win-win potential of renewable energy - and how global warming laws are creating opportunities for relatively low-tech solutions by companies far outside the Silicon Valley orbit.

In this case, cow power is good for the environment, the economy and entrepreneurs like BioEnergy's David Albers. California is home to nearly 2 million cows and more than 2,000 dairies. Unlike the coastal cows enjoying the ocean view in the photo above, most California cows live on industrial-scale dairies in the Central Valley. Those operations produce enormous quantities of manure and thus methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases. The resulting air and water pollution and other environmental impacts have resulted in stricter state regulations on dairying in recent years. Albers, who also is an attorney, has represented his fellow dairy owners in their tangles with regulators and environmentalists.

California, meanwhile, has imposed a mandate that 20 percent of electricity sold by investor-owned utilities like PG&E, Southern California Edison (EIX) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SRE) come from renewable energy sources by 2010. That's making cow poop look profitable as source of really natural gas. "We found the perfect storm of opportunity," Albers told Green Wombat. "It’s such a great solution on so many levels, given the air quality problems in the Central Valley and the renewable energy mandate." Albers started BioEnergy Solutions last year and began negotiating with PG&E, which had just signed a cow power deal with a company called Microgy. Like its competitor, BioEnergy Solutions will install methane digesters at dairies, where manure will be pumped into covered lagoons. As methane is released from the decomposing manure, the digester will remove the carbon dioxide and impurities before piping the gas to a PG&E plant to be burned to produce greenhouse gas-free electricity. Albers says BioEnergy will install and operate the digesters at no cost to dairy owners while giving them a share of the gas sales (he wouldn't say how much) and any renewable energy credits that result. "Even though there’s been a lot of digester technology out there, there's never been a situation where the dairyman can share in the profits," Albers says.

The first digester will be installed at Albers own 3,000-cow dairy in Fresno County this spring and he expects gas to begin flowing to a PG&E plant by summer through existing pipelines. BioEnergy will need to install between 20 and 30 digesters over the next two-and-a-half years to supply 3 billion cubic feet of methane gas annually to the utility at market rates. Albers declined to reveal BioEnergy's funding but said the company is self-financed.

There's still plenty of room on the range for prospective cow power pioneers. The BioEnergy contract will supply just 10 percent of the 30 billion cubic feet of gas typically used by a single large natural gas power plant each year, according to PG&E spokesman Keely Wachs. The big question, of course, is whether renewable energy startups will be able to step up and meet the ambitious targets set by PG&E and other utilities.

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Teacher's wisdom, student's energy. (TOI Photo)

</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <!-- google_ad_section_start --> Guru Purnima is a day when we pay obeisance to the guru-shishya parampara or mentor-protege lineage .

Vedanta, the science of self-management, was kept alive by generations of great visionaries. The word 'guru' means 'dispeller of darkness'. The guru removes ignorance and gives us the light of knowledge. Knowledge of who we are, how to relate with the world and achieve true success. Most importantly, how to transcend the world and reach the abode of infinite Bliss.

On this day we rededicate ourselves to human perfection. To study, assimilate and live Vedanta so that we may be able to pass it on to future generations. Vedanta makes us rajarishis kingly without, sagely within. Minus the rishihood, even material success eludes us.

A combination of the teacher's wisdom and the energy of the student go towards making a vibrant, progressive society. Today, students tend to undervalue the teacher and this day helps restore the balance. It stresses on the importance of the guru in every walk of life. A sportsperson's natural gift acquires direction under the expertise of the coach. A musician's talent is honed by the dedication of the mentor. In the spiritual path it is the enlightenment of the guru that removes the ignorance in the seeker's mind.

The teacher-student relationship is of paramount importance. The guru is revered as God. Spiritual growth is impossible without the help of a guru who is Brahmavit and Brahmajna established in the state of God-realisation and who has the skills to impart subtle spiritual concepts.

Pranipata or total surrender to the guru is one of the foremost qualifications of a student. This does not imply blind following. The seeker must question, probe and analyse the truths taught so as to understand, absorb and transform his personality to the higher realms. This is called prasna . And finally, an attitude of service or seva is the hallmark of an outstanding student. For it is unconditional service that makes the student learn the value of humility that makes him receptive to the guru's wisdom.

Guru Purnima is also referred to as Vyasa Purnima. Vyasa codified the Vedas. The seat from which any spiritual or Vedic teaching is imparted is referred to as Vyasapeetha in acknowledgement of Vyasa's stellar contribution to Vedanta. All teachers bow to Vyasa before taking the seat. He is revered as the first guru although the guru-shishya parampara started long before his time.

Vyasa was the son of the sage Parashara and a fisherwoman Satyavati, and the grandson of the renowned sage Vasishtha. He personifies the combination of sagely wisdom of his father and the practical approach of the fisherwoman. It is essential to cultivate both to excel in life. Vyasa was born on the full moon day (Purnima) of Asadh, a month of the Hindu calendar. 'Purnima' denotes illumination and Vyasa Purnima points to spiritual Enlightenment.

Vyasa was the author of the epic Mahabharata. The Mahabharata is not only a work of art, poetic excellence and entertainment, it has inspired generations of Indians through the ages with its useful instructions on life and the immortal message of the Bhagavad Gita.

Oliver Goldsmith's words "And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew/ That one small head could carry all he knew" aptly describe what a great sage Vyasa was and we offer our respects to him on Guru Purnima.

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Chant Krishna, be happy

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/faith_values/stories/2008/07/18/harekrishna.ART_ART_07-18-08_B4_JVAO3UQ.html?sid=101

Devotees of Hare Krishna, including 200 in Columbus, are drawn by melodic chanting, peaceful approach to all beings

<!-- begin creation date --> Friday, July 18, 2008 3:18 AM

<!-- end creation date --> By Sarah Pulliam | Photos by Chris Russell

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

<!-- aligning image and caption--> Some are moved to dance during the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra.

Naveen Krishna Das and son Narahari Das, 6, of Columbus, chant together at the New Vrindaban temple in West Virginia. Hare Krishna followers in Columbus have a temple at 379 W. 8th Ave.

Gifts and food are offered to the gods during the 24-hour kirtan, or group chant.

Pilgrims add the sound of their cymbals to the music to increase the power of the group chant.

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Hare Krishna practices

After initiation, devotees of Hare Krishna generally take on a new lifestyle. These are some of the changes they make:

• Devotees do not consume caffeine, nicotine or alcohol to keep their minds clear to concentrate on spiritual goals.

• Men shave their heads to symbolize renunciation of the material life and dedication to a spiritual life. They leave a small tuft of hair in the back to distinguish them from others who shave their heads, such as Buddhists. Some devotees believe Hare Krishna can use that tuft of hair to pull them from a crowd.

• Followers mark their forehead with clay, marking them as devotees of Krishna. The men wear dhotis (robes) and kurtas (shirts), and women wear saris and cholis (blouses).

• Devotees are given names from Sanskrit, the language of the Vedic tradition, by a spiritual master during initiation. The devotees use Sanskrit for most of their formal prayers and songs.

• They consider the cow sacred as a mother to human society because she provides nourishment in the form of milk. They are vegetarian, because they believe animals have souls.

• Before they enter a temple, they bow their heads to the floor as a sign of submission and humility before God.

Source: Hare Krishnas of Columbus

<!-- /freeform --> ON THE WEB

Click here To see a slide show.

Podcast

Dispatch religion writers interview professor Graham Schweig about the Hare Krishna movement.

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<!-- /ptr --> MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. -- Sujoy Bhowmik lives in two worlds. On most days, he is a pharmacist at a CVS in Columbus. Other days, he is Narottama Das, a devotee of Hare Krishna, who finds peace in West Virginia at the Palace of Gold.

Once a religion whose members gave their life to the movement, the Hare Krishnas today welcome the most devoted people and the casual follower. In the 1970s, many of the members lived in communes. Now many, like Bhowmik, have careers and live outside the movement but are still devoted to their religion.

The West Virginia temple, called New Vrindaban, is a place to focus on Krishna and leave the outside world behind.

"We're all trying to become more conscious -- conscious of Krishna," said Bhowmik, 32. " 'Always remember Krishna and never forget him' is what we're all working toward."

Devotees are initiated and study under a guru. Other people are followers of the religion but do not take vows or go through initiation.

Like many of the devotees, Bhowmik grew up in a Hindu family but was later introduced to the Hare Krishna movement, which is a branch of Hinduism more formally known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. While in college, Bhowmik visited a Hare Krishna temple in Dallas and was fascinated by the chanting. He made up his mind to live a more serious lifestyle as a devotee.

In June, during one of New Vrindaban's many festivals, Bhowmik and other devotees gathered in a temple down the road from the Palace of Gold and took turns chanting, clapping and dancing for 24 hours. Families trickled in, kicking off their Crocs, flip-flops and tennis shoes before entering the service.

The devotees quickly knelt to bow their heads to the floor in front of large, golden altars that hold deities. They sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, swaying, singing and clapping their hands to Hare Krishna.

Bhowmik clung to a japa mala, a string of 108 beads used in chanting through the Hare Krishna mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. When he was initiated into the movement, Bhowmik vowed to chant the rounds 16 times every day, which usually takes about two hours.

He is one of 200 Hare Krishna devotees in Columbus, up from 75 two years ago.

The group has a small but public presence in the city. Each month, devotees chant in the streets during the city's Gallery Hop, and at last month's ComFest, they passed out 1,000 cookies. Although they are trying to recruit members, Nityo Dasa, co-founder of the West Virginia temple, said the group in Columbus has become much more focused on its current devotees.

The Columbus group gathers for services on Thursday and Sunday, mostly to welcome people new to the religion. Unlike the men in West Virginia, most of the male devotees in Columbus do not shave their heads, and many of them wear polo shirts and khakis instead of traditional Indian clothing. Most of the women, on the other hand, wear traditional Indian saris in the services.

The Columbus temple is a small, brick house with peach trim at 379 W. 8th Ave. The only thing that sets it apart is the Ohio Historical Society landmark in front of the house, dating the temple's beginning to 1968.

Two devotees live in the house, where people go to perform rituals every day.

In one room, the temple houses the deities, doll-like statues dressed in ornate clothing that devotees believe are a manifestation of Hare Krishna. The devotees "wake" the deities at 4:30 a.m. by chanting and putting a plate of breakfast in front of them. They then put them to sleep at 9 p.m. by chanting again and putting cookies and milk in front of them.

Joshua Bruner, 24, is a new convert who lives in the temple. Unlike most of the devotees, Bruner is not of Indian descent, had little exposure to Hinduism and was an agnostic before he met a traveling monk three years ago at Columbus College of Art and Design.

The monk showed him a verse in the Bhagavad Gita that says, "One who knows me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices ... and the benefactor and well wisher of all living entities, he attains peace from material miseries."

The phrase "all living entities" stood out to Bruner, and he found that following Hare Krishna allowed him to help others.

"It puts me in touch with someone who is able to help every living entity," Bruner said. "Now, I am able to request the Lord to please help them."

Bruner was initiated about a year ago, when he committed himself to studying under a guru, a spiritual master, who gave him a Sanskrit name, Jagannatha Dasa. The blue-eyed devotee shaved his head except for a tuft of blond hair, and he dresses in traditional Indian style.

Some Krishna followers believe that long hair is prideful, and the tuft of hair allows Hare Krishna to pull them from a crowd.

Bruner also took four vows: He does not eat meat, including fish and eggs. He does not ingest intoxicants, such as caffeine, alcohol or nicotine. He does not gamble. He does not engage in sexual activity except to procreate within marriage.

Bruner said the regulative principles help the devotees focus on God more than please bodily senses.

"I was actively engaging in all of the activities described by the regulative principles," Bruner said. "My thoughts, my words,and my activities changed dramatically."

Before being initiated as a devotee, everyone must take these vows.

Bruner explains what it means to be a devotee of Hare Krishna by using a jingle: Don't sin, you can't win, love God, not the bod, chant Hare Krishna -- that's Krishna consciousness.

Devotees believe that humans and animals are living souls that will never be destroyed. The ultimate purpose of living souls is to love God, which devotees do through chanting and acts of service.

In the end, the devotees follow two main ideas: Chant Hare Krishna, and be happy. Everything will fall into place after that.

spulliam@dispatch.com

crussell@dispatch.com

Ramakrishna and Vivikananda are Mayavadis, if you are a Vaishnava, Lord Caitanya forbid His disciples to hear Mayavadi nonsense trash

algore is so full of ... well I will spare the bad words. His vision of change is simply the fat cats consuming and the little guy having even less than now. Daily more and more researchers are coming out with evidence that global warming is nothing more than a natural orbital cycle.

Thats not to say there is not a problem with sickness being caused by pollution, however the vision algore preaches to sell his companies carbon offsets is false. Hate to break it to ya but algore has no interest in real solutions just in making cash. I will give you 2 easy to figure out examples.

 

1. It is an accepted FACT that factory farming is doing real damage to the enviroment. Most experts agree that going Vegan will have a near immediate effect on the enviroment and as a side bonus it would also allow more crops to be grown and more hungry people to be fed. algore won`t give up his meat and ignores all evidence that this simple lifestyle change will have 100 times the impact all his " visions " will.

 

2. LOOK OVER THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING TWO HOUSES AND SEE IF YOU

CAN TELL WHICH BELONGS TO AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.

HOUSE # 1:

A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas.

Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated

by gas. In ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the

average American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for

electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural

gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property

consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home.

This house is not in a northern or Midwestern "snow belt," either. It's

in the South.

HOUSE # 2:

Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university,

this house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction

can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and

is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central

closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water

through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67

degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The

system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes

25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling

system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000

gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets

goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The

collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Flowers

and shrubs native to the are! a blend the property into the surrounding

rural landscape.

 

Here is a hint one is a true conservationist the other just sees dollar signs.

 

 

 

Meanwhile the companies producing these green energy products all belong to the same people who sell the fossil fuels. And how could it be otherwise, the acquisition costs of all these solar and wind energy paraphernalia no average earner can afford - the whole thing only pays off after 20 years of heavy deffered payment. And in case someone is unable to pay, his whole real estate confiscated by his principal bank.

"I can pay it, but I have nothing left over to eat," says Cambero..........

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/housing/2006-04-03-arms-cover-usat_x.htm

Amazing how things change rapidely - not long ago they said Moscow is like hell - today it says, just as America's economic power and influence appears to be declining, Russia's seem about to grow.

Moscow to Be in the Center of Global Finance

Russia’s Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs is elaborating an action plan to create an international financial center in the country. Its management board will focus on the draft documents at the nearest sitting. Although the Economic Development Ministry that is to submit its own concept by August finds some proposals vital, it says they don’t directly relate to the subject-matter, i.e. the center’s establishment. The list of the Union integrates ideas ranging from establishing a gas OPEC to lowering the profit tax.

The Banking Commission of Russia’s Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs approved yesterday two documents aimed at setting up an international financial center in Russia. Vladimir Putin and then Dmitry Medvedev have been advocating its creation since the second half of 2007. Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina will submit to the government by August 1, 2008 the concept for setting up this center by 2020.

The concept of Russia’s Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs spells out a number of mid-term and immediate actions. In interpretation of the Union, the center could be created provided the ruble turns into a global reserve currency. One of its aims will be investing the money of sovereign funds into the instruments circulating in Russia and it will deal with the international transactions related to the electric power and food (mostly grain) industries.

In essence, the concept of the Union promotes ideas popular in the Economic Development Ministry in time of German Gref and currently discussed by top bureaucrats of the country, including Vice Premier Igor Sechin. The matters at stake are transferring to ruble-settlement the export deals of Russia’s extraction companies and developing international commodity exchanges in Russia with the buyout of key trading floors in the EU (Germany, Sweden), Central Asia (Kazakhstan), South-East Asia (Vietnam) but without competing with the New York and London exchanges.

People in the Economic Development Ministry find the proposals of Russia’s entrepreneurs vital but specify that quite a few of them “have nothing to do with establishing the center in Russia” and the implementation potential of some of them is very low, and therefore, the ministry will hardly add those proposals to the concept.

www.kommersant.com/p913544/Financial_center/

<table class="storycontent" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2">Gore challenges US to ditch oil

 

 

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Oil - they don't even know if oil is restocked by natural metamorphosis or if the oil stock was created once and runs out at a certain point and is gone forever.

What do they know actually? So far it seems only how to burn it.

If he lied once, why do you think he was telling the truth the second time?

 

 

Good point, the answer to that question will probably never be revealed for all times.

yet more venom spewing from this ritvik spammer....

So far best answer! In case of not giving proper reference to immediately stop a discussion, to nip something in the bud so to speak - however tricky it might be staged.

Ritvik/non-ritvik disput seems this problem is solved since disciples cannot bloop into maya anymore presenting the excuse that their guru fell down. They have been enlightened to full capacity about that scenario of a fallen guru and can be immediately engaged in further pure devotional service to serve the cause of Lord Caitanya's Sankirtan Mission.

Because what bigger loss is there in God's creation than to lose new devotees who surrendered to the path of realizing their eternal relationship with Krishna but due to lack of incompetent leadership fall back into samsara? Is there actually something worse? Finaly this debate evolved and this terrible ritvik vs non-ritvik debate is being overcome.

It is not a very good translation. The author misses some really basic meanings, like in the Purusha-sookta hymn - it is completely butchered.

 

Translations by the Indian scholars are far, far superior.

Thanks for clarification. This website reads, //www.sacred-texts.com/

and is in this way inducing people to believe that there're high quality sacred texts. As you say, rather a disservice.

Although I personally believe that dementia is not a disease but the natural shut down of the human brain after misusing the human form of life, still it seems there's light at the end of the tunnel of this epidemically spreading phenomenon, also known as Alzheimer's.

Dementia patient makes 'amazing' progress after using infra-red helmet

By David Derbyshire

Last updated at 2:26 AM on 15th July 2008

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1034936/Dementia-patient-makes-amazing-progress-using-infrared-helmet.html?ITO=1490

Two months ago Clem Fennell was fading fast.

The victim of an aggressive type of dementia, the 57-year-old businessmen was unable to answer the phone, order a meal or string more than a couple of words together.

In desperation, his family agreed to try a revolutionary new treatment - a bizarre-looking, experimental helmet devised by a British GP that bathes the brain in infra-red light twice a day.

To their astonishment, Mr Fennel began to make an astonishing recovery in just three weeks.

Dr Gordon Dougal, a GP from County Durham, treated dementia patient Clem Fennell with his infra-red device

"My husband, Clem, was fading away. It is as if he is back" said his wife Vickey Fennell, 55. "His personality has started to show again. We are absolutely thrilled."

While the helmet has yet to be proven in clinical trials, the family say the effects of the 10 minute sessions are incredible. Mr Fennell can now hold conversations and go shopping unaccompanied.

The treatment is the brainchild of Dr Gordon Dougal, a County Durham GP. He believes the device could eventually help thousands of dementia patients.

"Potentially, this is hugely significant," said Dr Dougal, who is based in Easington, County Durham and is a director of Virulite, a medical research company.

Developed with Sunderland University, the helmet has 700 LED lights that penetrate the skull. They are thought to be the right wavelength to stimulate the growth of brain cells, slowing down the decline in memory and brain function and reversing symptoms of dementia.

Clem Fennell - the head of a family engineering firm in Cincinnati, Ohio - travelled to the UK after neurologists told him nothing could stop the decline of his dementia. The family's friends had seen a report about the helmet on CBS.

"Honestly I can tell you that within ten days, the deterioration was stopped, then we started to see improvements," said Mrs Fennell, from North Kentucky. "He started to respond to people more quickly when they talked to him."

Three weeks later, the father of two is still making gradual improvements.

His daughter, 22-year-old Maggie said: "When we go to the restaurant we usually have to order his meals for him, now he can order for himself."

"Now we are okay about letting him go to the bank or the post office but he would not have been able to do that three weeks ago.

Mr Fennell could hardly string two words together. But since using the infra-red helmet, he can hold a conversation.

"Dr Dougal has been a godsend to our family. There was nothing anyone could do to help Clem until now."

It is too soon to say whether Dr Dougal's invention could help other sufferers. The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and dementia can vary from day to day - and relapses are not unusual. And not all patients may benefit from the treatment.

Dr Dougal stressed that a full, clinically controlled trial would be needed before his anti-dementia helmet could be licensed for public use. A trial of 100 patients is expected to start later this year.

"I made it clear to the Fennells that I didn't know for a fact whether it would work or not, but the results are good," said Dr Dougal.

"He was monosyllabic when I first saw him, but if I ring up now he will answer the phone. He didn't have the verbal skills to do that three weeks ago."

The Fennells have been told they can take the prototype helmet back to the US with them so they can continue the treatment at home.

Commercial versions of the helmet will include 700 LEDs and cost around £10,000.

The Alzheimer’s Society said: "’A treatment that reverses the effects of dementia rather than just temporarily halting its symptoms could change the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people who live with this devastating condition.

‘Non-thermal near infra-red treatment for people with dementia is a potentially interesting technique. We look forward to further research to determine whether it could help improve cognition in humans. Only then can we begin to investigate whether near infra-red could benefit people with dementia.’

One in three people will end their lives with a form of dementia. Around 700,000 suffer from dementia - with more than half having Alzheimer's disease.

Seems the topic of allowing female priests is dividing the followers of the Anglican Church.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/11/europe/letter.php

By Alan Cowell

Published: July 11, 2008

LETTER FROM EUROPE

<!-- ISI_LISTEN_START --> A divide widens in the Anglican Church

<!-- /kicker & headline --> <!-- subhead --> <!-- /subhead --> <!-- byline -->

PARIS: There are times when the great events of the day are glimpsed through a prism of small, personal rituals and routines that offer new insights, almost a kind of truth.

And so it seemed for some Christians contemplating the convulsions within the hierarchy of the Anglican Church over the vexed question of allowing the appointment of women bishops.

Finally, 16 years after permitting the ordination of women priests, the General Synod of the Church of England took the first step this past week toward the consecration of female bishops, following the practices prevalent in the United States, Australia and Canada.

But far from being feted as a progressive step forward, the moment seemed drowned out by the minority voices of clerics and lay worshipers opposed to the elevation of women to the bishopric.

Barely had the votes of the General Synod been counted when senior clergymen (and they were, indeed, men rather than women of the cloth) began to complain that the church was, in the words of one traditionalist, "mean-spirited and shortsighted" in rejecting the idea of so-called superbishops to oversee those parishes opposed to female bishops.

<!-- sidebar --> <!-- today in links -->

<!-- /sidebar --> There was talk - increasingly common in the worldwide Anglican Communion - of schism, of rebel clerics abandoning their ministry within the Church of England to march toward the Church of Rome, reversing the historic split within Christendom inspired by Henry VIII in the 16th century.

For centuries, the break with Rome molded the identity of many English worshipers, and yielded a central element of the Anglican self-perception as tolerant, pragmatic and, most of all, independent. Now, for some, the Vatican itself - profoundly opposed to female clergy - offers a beacon of faith.

The Anglican Communion claims a global membership of almost 80 million, an increasingly fractious body riven by debates between reformers and traditionalists, pulled this way and that by the liberalism of the Episcopal Church in the United States and by the conservatism of many African church leaders.

But the debate about the appointment of female bishops in the Church of England - the historical wellspring of the communion - seemed curiously at odds with the practices that have become normal in many ordinary parishes, where the place of women in the church is not even an issue except at the level of theological debate.

Indeed, it is hard to imagine how many churches would survive as bastions of male exclusivity.

It is perhaps a conflict of interest for a reporter to cite something as familiar and personal as experiences at a local church. But there is some value in juxtaposing the wordy debate among the primates, or church leaders, against the parochial reality of the priest.

Take, for instance, St. Anne's Church in Highgate, north London, where a thriving, middle-class congregation listens to a woman lay-preacher's sermons, takes communion from female lay assistants (albeit to the male vicar) and depends on energetic women not only for tasks like flower arranging and running rummage sales and the church shop - the lowly tasks long delegated to women by men - but also for high-powered fund-raising to replace the leaky roof.

The cantor is a woman, the organist a man, the congregation mixed.

Surely, it cannot be a sustainable argument that, in the 21st century, when, as The Guardian newspaper put it, "the equal treatment of women is quite simply one of the great moral causes of humankind," the contribution of women should be limited to their ordination as priests, or flower-arrangers.

The dissenting voice against female bishops is a powerful one, arguing that Jesus' exclusive choice of men as disciples offers theological justification for their beliefs.

And it is worth noting that, in the General Synod's voting, the appointment of female bishops was approved by the narrowest margin - 111 to 68 - among lay representatives at the gathering, not among bishops (28 for, 12 against) or lesser clergy (124 for, 44 against).

In journalists' shorthand, the question of females in the priesthood is frequently mentioned in the same breath as the appointment of openly gay clerics to describe the Anglican fault line.

From many perspectives, these are separate issues, driven by different doctrinal arguments and social perspectives. Yet, divisions over both these matters will almost certainly overshadow one of the most significant Anglican gatherings - the 10-yearly assembly of 800-plus bishops, known as the Lambeth Conference, beginning in Canterbury, England, on July 16.

Already the Anglican mainstream - personified in the archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Rowan Williams - is reeling from the creation of the Global Anglican Future Conference, a traditionalist movement created last month in Jerusalem by conservatives, mainly but not exclusively from Africa, who say they represent a majority of the world's Anglicans.

Next page: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/11/europe/letter.php?page=2

This is good news, 16 percent of US biology teachers believe God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years.

Posted on July 17, 2008 12:59 AM

Recent study analyzes teachers' views on intelligent design

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2008/07/17/recent_study_analyzes_teachers.aspx

By Erin Rowley

Collegian Staff Writer

<!-- div class="bylineinfo" --> <!--START STORY--> By Erin Rowley

COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | emr5089@psu.edu

Adam Allshouse saw the effects teaching intelligent design can have firsthand when his senior high's school board mandated the theory be taught.

The year was 2004, the place was Dover, Pa., and Allshouse (junior-business administration) and his Dover Area High School classmates were bombarded with media attention by the decision.

Allshouse believed the situation in Dover was "blown out of proportion" and didn't have a problem with the teaching of intelligent design, which says that life is too complicated to have evolved on its own and must have been created.

"You can say we evolved, but you need to present the other side, too. Some people believe we were created by God. Since we don't know for sure, you need to present all points," he said.

The events in Dover partly inspired Penn State professor of political science Michael Berkman and his colleagues to create a survey about the teaching of evolution, creationism and intelligent design in American high schools.

What they found was 12 percent of United States high school biology teachers consider creationism a "valid scientific alternative to Darwinian explanations for the origin of species," and believe "many reputable scientists view these as valid alternatives to Darwinian theory."

In 2005 Dover's intelligent design policy was ruled unconstitutional, because in 1987 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states cannot require public schools to balance evolution lessons by teaching creationism.

"The Court decision was not surprising. The law is fairly clear on this. They don't have to teach evolution, but they can't teach theories rooted in religion," Berkman said.

Although 32 percent of biology teachers said creationism and intelligent design should be taught as inaccurate theories and 40 percent said they are religiously valid but should not be taught in class, 25 percent of respondents said they spent time dis-

cussing creation or intelligent design in their classrooms. The poll questioned more than 900 teachers and was published in the Public Library of Science Biology in May.

"The focus of the study was how teachers approach the subject of evolution," Berkman said.

The most surprising statistic to Berkman was 16 percent of biology teachers believe God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years.

"Personal beliefs do influence what they teach," Berkman said.

Another interesting statistic was 17 percent of biology teachers don't mention evolution at all, and 50 percent don't spend more than two hours on the subject, Berkman said.

Creationism should not be taught in a science class, said Jeffrey A. Kurland, associate professor of biological anthropology and human development.

"Creationism and intelligent design is not science; it's a variety of fundamentalist religion," said Kurland, who teaches courses about anthropology and evolution.

Kurland often talks about the lack of validity of creationism and intelligent design during his classes and has had few complaints about it, he said. The director of his department backed him up when a student wrote a letter saying she was offended by his refusal of religious theories.

"For some students, evolution is difficult to accept," Berkman said.

The first Hindi social network in the world

posted 17 July 2008

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=137746

So far, no social network had paid much attention to Hindi, but for Kindo it was an easy choice. Hindi is among the top five languages spoken in the world, with over 500 million native speakers, 330 million in India alone..

KINDO, THE free family tree builder and photo sharing site launched its popular website in Hindi on July 15 (Tuesday). With the launch of Hindi, Kindo takes another important step towards the vision of creating a family network for the entire world.

So far, no social network had paid much attention to Hindi, but for Kindo it was an easy choice. Hindi is among the top five languages spoken in the world, with over 500 million native speakers, 330 million in India alone.

"We’re excited about this launch" said Nils Hammar, co-founder of Kindo. "We believe internet access and usage will grow among Hindi speakers over the next few years, and that many Indians will want to use the service in their mother tongue. Apart from connecting typical Indian homes, Kindo will provide great assistance to families of many Indians who are based all over the world. Kindo is meant for all generations, so it’s important to make everyone feel at home."

For Indians, the family is central to the daily life. This is another reason why Kindo decided to launch in Hindi.

"We’re Other Articles by Mario

• Kindo.com: A safe place for family photos
  
• Families in 54 countries spread around the globe
  
• Kindo launches in Arabic and Chinese

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trying to get families from all over the world to interact online, by sharing information about themselves and photos from family events. I think this is especially attractive to cultures where family ties are strong, such as in India.” said Hammar.

About Kindo:

Found in 2007, London-based Kindo is an internationally-focused web-based family networking platform that spans generations. On Kindo, users can build their free next generation family tree and stay in touch with their loved ones. Kindo is available in 18 different languages with Arabic, Turkish and Russian being exotic examples.

..this is rather a startling quotation.....

It should be clear that whenever the league/camp of academic critics/opponents of Prabhupada's teachings are getting really excited to know about the authenticity of a "Prabhupada said", they don't want to actually glorify Prabhupada but the opposite, to concoct a plan for the opposite, to isolate, twist, construe something harmful to discredit Prabhupada's lifework. Just like one prominent leader once said, yes, it is fact, Prabhupada told me to be his successor and become the next acarya. Short time later when people were going against him, he all off a sudden said, no, Prabhupada never told me to sit on the vyasasana, I did the greatest disserve for the mission of our guru. Interpreting Prabhupada's words seems a big topic what still is not actually solved.

Tamal Krsna Goswami: Actually, Prabhupada never appointed any gurus. He didn't appoint eleven gurus. He appointed eleven ritviks. He never appointed them gurus. Myself and the other GBC have done the greatest disservice to this movement the last three years because we interpreted the appointment of ritviks as the appointment of gurus.

TKG called for an open discussion at Nrsinghananda's Pyramid House in Topanga Canyon, CA.

It is the model of the new Mayapur temple, http://www.ipatrix.com/the-sri-mayapur-vedic-temple-and-planetarium/

 

“The Sri Mayapur Vedic Temple and Planetarium will be built in Mayapur in the province of West Bengal, India, and is expected to reach the height equivalent of 35 stories and making it only a smidgeon shorter than the Great Pyramid of Giza” [

source

].

 

What makes this temple project interesting is that it will be built along with a planetarium. Mayapur is already known for being the headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON). The planetarium is supposed to be more than just a visual delight center but in fact purports to be a research base that would be staffed with ‘top level space researchers’.

 

It is of course right that everyone has his likes and dislikes about how a temple should look like or what is in analogy of a particular succession.

Millions of pilgrims in Mathura for Hindu fair

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/millions-of-pilgrims-in-mathura-for-hindu-fair_10072336.html

July 16th, 2008 - 8:11 pm ICT by IANS

live cam: http://mayapur.org/live/webcams

Goverdhan (Uttar Pradesh), July 16 (IANS) In one of northern India’s biggest religious congregations, almost one million pilgrims are arriving in this Hindu holy town everyday to mark the Mudhiya Poonau fair. Devotees of Lord Krishna consider the fair - observed ahead of full moon day Friday - an auspicious occasion and descend in hordes to Goverdhan in Mathura district. The pilgrims will try to walk a length of over 21 km around the Goverdhan hill, which legend says Lord Krishna had lifted on his little finger to shield the villagers from torrential rains. This walk is called the ‘parikrama’.

Most of them also take a dip in the Mansi Ganga pond. The fair climaxes on full moon day Friday.

Mathura district authorities have deployed more than 1,000 policemen, closed circuit cameras and metal detectors.

Fire brigade and ambulance teams are ready both at the parikrama route and the Mansi Ganga pond.

The State Roadways Wednesday pressed into service more than 1,000 buses to transport pilgrims to and fro Goverdhan, while the railways are ready with eight special trains.

Already the authorities estimate that more than 1.5 million pilgrims have visited the holy town in the last three days.

“The parikrama route is open the whole night and is floodlit for the convenience of devotees,” said a police official.

“The Kumbh Melas and other fairs are extended affairs, spread over two months or so. But this one is only for three days, when more than five million pilgrims visit Goverdhan,” Hindu scholar Gopi Ballabh said.

Bali ignites spectacular Hindu celebration of the dead

<!-- /kicker & headline --><!-- subhead --><!-- /subhead --><!-- byline -->

By Seth Mydans

Published: July 15, 2008

<!-- /byline --><!-- body text -->http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/15/asia/bali.php?page=2

<!-- /email article --><!-- audionews -->UBUD, Indonesia: Tiny bits of bone, plucked from the ashes of a royal cremation, found their final resting place in the sea early Wednesday, empty of the soul that had been liberated by fire.

It was the last step in an elaborate cremation ceremony three months in the making, the most spectacular royal funeral in Bali in at least three decades.

In a roar of orange flames, the body of Agung Suyasa, head of the royal family of Ubud, was reduced to its earthly elements Tuesday in a mass cremation that included three royal figures and 68 commoners.

In a Balinese tradition, the bodies of the commoners had waited to join Suyasa and two other members of his extended family in a royal cremation, although the pyres of the commoners were in a separate location.

Some of them had waited months or even years, buried or mummified, for the spectacular rites that combine the energy, mysticism and creativity of this Hindu island.

<!-- sidebar --><!-- multimedia -->

<!-- /multimedia item -->

<!-- /multimedia --><!-- today in links -->Deep in the night, the bones continued to burn, when all the crematory superstructure had been demolished by flames. Once the embers had died down, family members plucked bits of bone from the ashes and prepared them for disposal in the ocean, a half-hour drive away.

The cremation and the disposal of the last bits of bone are part of a journey of purification and renewal in which, according to Balinese belief, the soul can return to inhabit a new being - generally a member of the same family - until, once again, it is freed through cremation.

"None of us is brand new," said Raka Kerthyasa, the younger half-brother of Suyasa who is now the guardian of the ancient but symbolic royal family and who oversaw the cremation. "We are part of the cycle of life."

That ever-changing cycle may one day claim the cremation rites themselves, and some here say that in the face of a globalizing world, Bali may never again see a cremation ceremony to match this one.

"They'll have things in the future, but elaborate and grand like this one, I don't think so," said I Nyoman Suradnya, an artist whose older brother was one of the commoners cremated Tuesday.

"Cultures come and go," he said. "It is just a matter of time. Don't be afraid of change. There is nothing absolute."

The culture, though, was vividly alive Tuesday as thousands of volunteer porters in purple shirts carried the giant emblems of the ceremony like armies of ants bearing impossibly large objects.

Hunched under a huge bamboo platform, the porters - 200 at a time in 100-meter, or 330-feet shifts - bore an 11-ton tower as tall as a three-story building that carried the coffin of Suyasa under a nine-tiered pinnacle.

Whooping and laughing, sometimes breaking into a run, the porters swung the platform crazily from right to left and back to confuse the spirits.

Along with the platform came a huge, undulating dragon, terrifying to behold with its bulging eyes and splayed teeth. After that came a giant black wood bull that would serve as the sarcophagus at the cremation.

"Strange as it seems, it is in their cremation ceremonies that the Balinese have their greatest fun," Miguel Covarrubias wrote in his classic work, "Island of Bali," published in 1946.

"A cremation is an occasion for gaiety and not for mourning, since it represents the accomplishment of their most sacred duty" to liberate the souls of the dead, he wrote.

For most of the time since he died on March 28, the body of Suyasa had been lying embalmed, as if asleep, in his palace, as the people of Ubud came to pay their respects.

On a continuous vigil, the family brought daily offerings and symbolic meals and prepared coffee and tea by the bier. A comb, toothbrush and mirror were kept handy nearby.

On Tuesday, poised between heaven and earth in the steep funerary tower, Suyasa's white and gold coffin entered the cremation site, gliding on the backs of its 200 porters as smoothly as if it were on ice.

Porters carried the coffin down a soaring white chute, then paraded it three times around the waiting bull, trailed by men and women with pyramids of offerings on their heads.

On the crematory platform, the hollow back of the bull was opened and the body was placed inside. A second, smaller bull stood by its side holding the body of another royal, Gede Raka.

The sun was sinking as the back of the giant bull was closed and the crematory plaza, packed with thousands of onlookers, twinkled with the flashes of cameras.

Suddenly, bright shoots of flame appeared under the belly of the bull, quickly caught its gold colored necklaces and traveled upward. Smoke seemed to pour from its nostrils and flames shot from its eyes. Its curved horns and ears were on fire.

As the bull fell away, the iron bars that formed its frame remained, and within them hung the burning skeleton, its skull tilted downwards, its right foot spurting flames.

Acting with ritual disrespect for the now-useless body, workers poked and prodded at it with long bamboo poles to stoke the fire and it swayed slightly in the flames.

The body disintegrated into its five earthly elements: earth, wind, water, fire and ether. Its soul disappeared into the night sky, escorted by a shower of sparks.

One of Suraya's sons, Indrayana, sat on the ground nearby, dressed in ritual gold, holding his hands in prayer toward his father. Then, fire to fire, he lit a cigarette, looked up, and inhaled.

<!-- pagination -->

Looks like Lord Caitanya's Sankirtan Movement is chosing others to efficiently present Krishna-bhakti to the world.

Hindu Temple of Florida - Tampa, FL

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM46M0

View waymark gallery

Hindu Temple of Florida - Tampa, FL

in Hindu Temples

Posted by: Marine Biologist

N 28° 02.638 W 082° 32.204

17R E 348955 N 3103025

Quick Description: The Hindu Temple of Florida is an absolutely beautiful structure located in Tampa, Florida, USA.

Location: Florida, United States

Date Posted: 7/15/2008 1:46:53 PM

Waymark Code: WM46M0

Reviewed By: The Wild Road

Long Description:

From a 2005 news article about the Temple (visit link): "The inside of the 14,573-square-foot temple is not overly opulent, with wide open carpeted flooring and no chairs, as Hindus sit on the floor during services. In each corner, and in the center front, however, are recesses that contain deities. The gods are carved in black granite or white marble and are elaborately adorned in brass, silver and fresh flowers."

New temple construction completed in Florida.

"The outside walls of the temple have yet to be painted their final eggshell white, but the embellishments are profound. Through a process dubbed Indianization, sculptors, also called shilpis, have converted the masonry structure into an ornately sculptured traditional Hindu temple."

The Rajagopuram (Raja meaning king, Gopuram meaning gateway in Hindi, the language of India) mentioned in the news article has been completed and serves as the entrance to the Hindu Temple of Florida.

Temple Hours:

Monday-Friday: 9:30AM-11:30AM; 6:00PM-09:00PM

Saturday & Sunday: 9:30AM-9:00PM

Daily Pooja for all Deities: 10:00AM-11:00AM; 06:15PM-07:00PM

<TABLE id=Table1 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Web Address: Related website

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Nice article concerning vegetarinism by John Dear.

Srimad Bhagavad Purana on How to Develop True Love and Non Attachment

Posted by abhilash on 16 July 2008

http://www.hindu-blog.com/2008/07/srimad-bhagavad-purana-on-how-to.html

Religion is not for the purpose of securing a place in heaven. It is an inquiry into Truth, and its ideal is the knowledge of the realization of the Truth. This true love and non-attachment can be developed gradually by these means:

• By inquiry into the Truth with faith and reverence.
  
• By patiently bearing the opposites in life, such as pleasure and pain, success and failure.
  
• By gaining the knowledge of Self through studying the scriptures.
  
• By taking delight in the company of Truth.
  
• By overcoming passions through knowledge and discrimination.
  
• By avoiding the association of the worldly-minded.
  
• By devotion to spiritual practices.
  
• By rendering of services to the great souls who have realized the Truth.
  
• By learning to love solitude.
  
• By injuring no creature.
  
• By control of the senses through Pranayama.
  
• By not speaking against other religions.
  
• By singing in praises and glory of Divinity.

Srimad Bhagavatam

Source: ‘Timeless Wisdom – The book of All Religions’ by Art of Living Publication

Posted by abhilash on 16.7.08

Garlic and Onion are considered as tamsic food. So are meat and they are said to arouse tamasic nature in human.

 

What foods are considered as spiritual and is it possible to have complete nutritional requirement from them?

If we can practice accepting only remnants of food offered to Krishna, it is possible to get free from maya's victimization. Vegetables, grains, fruits, milk products and water are proper foods to offer to the Lord, as Lord Krishna Himself prescribes.

Patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati: "Anyone who is offering Me with devotion these vegetables, fruits, flowers, milk--I accept that." So we are determined to satisfy Krsna, and therefore, we are selecting foodstuffs from these groups.

Insofar as cooking is concerned, you can cook according to your own taste. But the food groups must be these. Not flesh. Because Krsna does not say, "Offer Me flesh."

Gauri das Found Guilty of Child Abuse

BY: SADHUSHASTRA DASA

Jul 13, UK 2008 — The President of Bhaktivedanta Manor has been found guilty of child abuse and removed from his position as Temple President. He will not be allowed to work with children again. He is not allowed to give class or hold any position in ISKCON for 3 years.

But much to the anger of local devotees, and I am sure to children who suffered under him, it has been reported that he he is being allowed to keep an ISKCON house worth half a million pounds. If this is true, why would ISKCON be rewarding a guilty child abuser?