Jahnava Nitai Das

Oh yeah... the same DVD disk will also have the entire Video collection as well. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif

Within a couple years we will get the complete mp3 collection on a single DVD disk for $10 or less. That will be something to look forward to. Imagine being able to carry every recording of Srila Prabhupada's in your walkman.

Another aspect is that culturally and morally Indian society is in a shambles. There may be some who are vegetarian and doing puja in their homes daily, but the same people engage in so many abominable practices such as dowry, caste, prejudices, corruption, contempt for other people, jealousy, lack of empathy, exploitation and harrasment of women etc. And most people couldn't care less if something bad happens to others around them. Selfishness is perhaps one of the underlying qualities of today's india. For example there was just a news report about how after the Kargil conflict the Indian government gave licences to the families of those who died in the battle to run petrol pumps. But some government officers were trying to force these people's relatives to pay huge bribes before they would release the licenses. Here someone died fighting for these officer's country while they were sitting comfortably in their office, and now they are trying to cheat their family out of the little compensation the government is offering. How low can people go? Sadly, this is the Indian mentality today. Cheat and exploit shamelessly, regardless of who is being exploited. As long as there is this shelfishness and exploitive nature, people will not turn to God consciousness or spiritual life. Amazingly, in western countries, where they engage in so many sinful activities, such as killing of cows, they still have much better qualities of humanity. I think this is what makes them more suitable for spiritual pursuits. The westerners have many bad habits externally, but internally they are very good people in a general humanity sense. Whereas most Indians seem to be exactly the opposite. Once in a blue moon there is a Avinash who is concerned about others. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif The other 99.9% of the population has no concern for other's welfare.

I think part of it has to do with the poverty in India. Many people in India have not acquired wealth before, so they believe that is the key to their happiness. In western countries, where people are mostly wealthy, they also may have had the same beliefs while growing up, but on attaining some degree of wealth, they conclude that it doesn't provide any fulfilment to their life, nor inner happiness, and as a result they turn to spirituality for fulfilment. Indians who have gone to the west and have experienced working for software companies (where the salaries are very high), may also begin to realize that money doesn't bring them fulfillment or happiness. I know many who have actually returned to India because they were happier in India (even though their salary was one tenth). I have seen others who admit they were happier in India, but continue working to fulfill obligations to family. Those in India who have never gone abroad have an idea that life will be perfect if they can just get a job overseas.

It would be nice to offer the videos online, but internet connections are mostly too slow to handle it yet.

I have made the light bulb icon the default, so I removed the option of choosing the icon. Before there was a separate light bulb, and a separate icon. Now these have been merged into one. There are regular icons that have two colors (yellow and orange) for new messages and old messages. It made it messy and unclear as to what was new, unlike the light bulbs which stand out. So I removed all the icons and set the default to be the light bulb. But I have not removed it from the edit page yet.

I came across this website for the San Francisco Ratha Yatra: http://www.garrywilliams.com/iskcon/ There is a map with directions how to find the site.

Mormons Plan Temple in Manhattan By Peggy Fletcher Stack The Salt Lake Tribune August 8, 2002 Ending weeks of speculation among Manhattan Mormons, the LDS Church confirmed Wednesday it will create a temple in a six-story building across the street from New York City's Lincoln Center. Of all the temples built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this will be only the second, after the one in Hong Kong, that is not free-standing. The temple will occupy the top two floors of the nondescript church-owned building, which long has been used for Sunday services. There will still be a chapel on the third floor, classrooms, a cultural hall for midweek social activities and a genealogical center open to the public, said LDS spokesman Dale Bills. Design and renovation work has already begun. For more than 11 million Latter-day Saints worldwide, including more than 62,000 in the New York area, temples are where Christ's teachings are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism and other sacred ordinances. "I am absolutely overjoyed," said Sarah Asplund, a singer who lives in upper Manhattan. "This is an incredible blessing to be able to jump on the subway and go to the temple. It feels like Utah -- it's so close." The new space will be "the people's temple," said Chris Carlson, a technology consultant in Brooklyn. "We like the idea of the rich people in Westchester having to come into the city to go to the temple." The church also owns property in Harrison, N.Y., about an hour north of the city, but neighbors oppose plans for a temple there, arguing that traffic would increase and that the building would be too large for the area. The church recently agreed to many concessions, including reducing the size of the temple, but has still not been able to finalize its plans there. The Manhattan building is on a parcel of land between 65th and 66th streets on Columbus Avenue that the church bought in 1972. It leased the property for 99 years to a developer who built a high- rise apartment building and the adjoining six-story building, which had stores on the street level.

The Balarama Sahasranama and Balarama Kavaca both come to us from Duryodhana.

tesh

A picture of Vishnu tilak on an egyptian.

Thank you for writing. This story originates in the 80th chapter of the 10th skandha of the Bhagavata Purana. Therein we find the following details mentioned: yacitva caturo mushtin vipran prithuka-tandulan caila-khandena tan baddhva bhartre pradad upayanam "Sudama's wife begged four handfuls of flat rice from the neighboring brahmanas, tied up the rice in a torn piece of cloth and gave it to her husband as a present for Lord Krishna." "Prithuka-tandula" refers to rice that has been flattened. There is no mention that she prepared it in any way. Later in the verses that describe Lord Krishna's eating the flat rice, it is still referred to as "prithuka-tandula", and not as a prepared or cooked item. The offering of flat rice by Sudama's wife was not one of pure love, but one of desire for wealth. Though Sudama had no material desire and was only interested in worshipping Lord Krishna in devotion, his wife wanted Sudama to approach the Lord as the king and request material wealth from Him. Sudama's wife states (Bhagavata 10.80.10): tam upaihi maha-bhaga sadhunam ca parayanam dasyati dravinam bhuri sidate te kutumbine "Please approach Krishna, who is the shelter of all sadhus, for He will give you abundant wealth to maintain your family and stop your suffering." Her desire was to acquire wealth from Lord Krishna. She knew Krishna was famous for being generous to the brahmanas, so for this reason she requested her husband to go and see Lord Krishna. Due to the immense devotion of Sudama, the Lord accepted the offering of flat rice despite it having already gone bad due to the long journey. Sudama had actually asked his wife to give a gift as an excuse for not going, since he thought they had nothing which they could give. He did not want to visit Dwaraka as he felt bad to approach the Lord for something material. When he finally saw Lord Krishna, he was too embarassed to give the gift to the Lord, for he thought, "How can I allow the Lord to eat this old stale flat rice". The complete story of Sudama Vipra's visit to Lord Krishna in Dwaraka can be read online at the link below (from Srila Prabhupada's "Krishna Book", summary of Srimad Bhagavatam 10th canto): http://www.indiadivine.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB6 Yours in service, Jahnava Nitai Das, Bhaktivedanta Ashram & Bhaktivedanta International Charities http://www.foodrelief.org

The entire process of surrendering to Lord Krishna involves surrendering to Srimati Radharani. Radharani is the internal energy of Lord Krishna. There is no difference between Radha and Krishna - it is the Absolute Truth as enjoyer and enjoyed. Lord Krishna is the shaktiman (controller of energy), and Radha is the shakti (controlled energy). It is not possible to have one without the other. How can there be a shaktiman with out an energy for him to control? In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna speaks in terms of general principles. He says surrender to Me, worship Me, always think of Me. But He does not go into the details of how to accomplish these activities. How do we think of the Lord? In what manner? How do we worship the Lord? Lord Krishna is never alone. He is always surrounded by His devotees, the topmost of whom is Radharani. When we think of Krishna, we will automatically think of the devotees whom He is interacting with. When we think of His pastimes in Vrindavana, we think of the gopis. When we think of His pastime of speaking the Bhagavad Gita, we think of Arjuna. We are always remembering the Lord and His devotees. The Lord must always be approached through His devotees. When we worship the Lord in the temple, in the form of archa-murti, we will always find the Lord with His eternal consort - either Lakshmi, Sita, Radha or Rukmini. When we chant the name of the Lord, we first invoke the Lord's shakti: sita-rama, lakshmi-narayana, radha-krishna. When we chant the Hare Krishna maha mantra, the word "Hare" is calling out to Sri Radha. The word "Hara" is Radharani. According to sanskrit grammar it becomes "Hare" in the vocative. Thus the words Hare Krishna and Hare Rama are calling out to Radha and Krishna, as they are never seperate. This is the process of approaching the Lord as described in the shastras. Those who properly worship Krishna according to the scriptures will be automatically worshipping Sri Radha Devi, the original shakti, as well. Yours in service, Jahnava Nitai Das, Bhaktivedanta Ashram & Bhaktivedanta International Charities http://www.foodrelief.org

The Lord's abodes of Dwaraka, Mathura and Vrindavana are not products of the material world. When the Lord descends to the material world, He descends with His entire spiritual abode. These abodes are manifestations of His spiritual opulence. The very name "bhagavan" means one who possesses all opulence. The Lord is the possessor of everything. The appearance of the Lord's abodes are manifested by His internal potency, Sri Lakshmi Devi, for His service. The Lord is situated beyond all material dualities. For Him there is no such thing as good and bad. From His perspective there is nothing material, for everything is His energy. He is neither attracted nor repulsed by any manifestation. He is completely self-satisfied. His transcendental position is revealed in His dealings with the poor brahmana Sudama Vipra. Sudama brought Him some rotten flat rice, which was not even fit for humans to eat. When Sudama came before Lord Krishna, he was too embarased to give such an offering to the Lord. But Lord Krishna asked him what he had brought in his bag. Sudama did not wish to give it to the Lord, but Lord Krishna demanded that he reveal the contents to Him. Then the Lord took the wrotten flat rice, and began eating it with great bliss and happiness. With each bite He took, immense opulence began manifesting in the house of Sudama Vipra. Finally Rukmini grabbed the Lord's hand and told Him, "Please stop eating this. If you take another bite, I Myself will have to become a servant in the house of Sudama." This is the transcendental position of the Lord. He has no attraction to opulence, neither material nor spiritual. But when His devotee offers Him something with love and devotion He becomes purchased by that devotee. Even more so when His devotee chants His name with love. In the Adi Purana Lord Krishna says to Arjuna: gitva ca mama namani nartayena mama sannidhau idam bravimi te satyam kritoham tena carjunah gitva ca mam namani rudanti mam sannidhau tesam aham parikrito nanya krito janardanah "One who sings My name loudly and dances in My presence, such a person purchases Me. One who sings My name loudly and sheds tears in My presence, such a person completely purchases Me and I am not purchased by anyone except him." The Lord is only attracted by the devotion of His devotees, not by material opulences. In the prayers of Satyavrata Muni known as Damodarashtakam (from the Padma Purana) we find the following statement: sthita-graivam damodaram bhakti-baddham "Lord Damodara (Krishna) is bound not by ropes, but only by the love of His devotees." Yours in service, Jahnava Nitai Das, Bhaktivedanta Ashram & Bhaktivedanta International Charities http://www.foodrelief.org

If one is actually a pure person then one is simply an instrument of the Lord 100%. For such a person, there is no personal karma, for the Lord is the owner of everything. The Vedanta sutra states that a liberated soul creates no new karmic reactions, for they slip off of him like oil. For the rest of us, we should be careful of all actions we perform.

Krishna Book, Chapter Eighty The Meeting of Lord Krsna with Sudama Brahmana King Pariksit was hearing the narrations of the pastimes of Lord Krsna and Lord Balarama from Sukadeva Gosvami. These pastimes are all transcendentally pleasurable to hear, and Maharaja Pariksit addressed Sukadeva Gosvami as follows: "My dear lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna is the bestower of both liberation and love of God simultaneously. Anyone who becomes a devotee of the Lord automatically attains liberation without having to make a separate attempt. The Lord is unlimited, and as such, His pastimes and activities for creating, maintaining and destroying the whole cosmic manifestation are unlimited. I therefore wish to hear about His other pastimes of which you may not have spoken as yet. My dear master, the conditioned souls within this material world have been frustrated by searching out the pleasure of happiness derived from sense gratification. Such desires for material enjoyment are always piercing the heart of conditioned souls. But I am actually experiencing how the transcendental topics of Lord Krsna's pastimes can relieve one from the state of being affected by such sense gratificatory material activities. I think that no intelligent person can reject this method of hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Lord again and again; simply by hearing, one can remain always steeped in transcendental pleasure. Thus one will not be attracted by material sense gratification." In this statement, Maharaja Pariksit has used two important words: visannah and visesajnah. Visannah means "morose." The materialistic persons are inventing many ways and means to become fully satisfied, but actually they remain morose. The point may be raised that sometimes those who are transcendentalists also remain morose. Pariksit Maharaja has used, however, the word visesajnah. There are two kinds of transcendentalists, namely the impersonalists and the personalists. Visesajnah refers to the personalists, who are interested in transcendental variegatedness. The devotees become jubilant by hearing the descriptions of the personal activities of the Supreme Lord, whereas the impersonalists, who are actually more attracted by the impersonal feature of the Lord, are only superficially attracted by the personal activities of the Lord. As such, in spite of coming in contact with the pastimes of the Lord, the impersonalists do not fully realize the benefit to be derived, and thus they remain in exactly the same morose position, due to fruitive activity, with the materialists. King Pariksit continued: "The capacity for talking can be perfected only by describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord. The capacity for working with one's hands can be successful only when one engages himself in the service of the Lord with those hands. Similarly, one's mind can be pacified only when he simply thinks of Krsna in full Krsna consciousness. This does not mean that one has to be very thoughtful, but one simply has to understand that Krsna, the Absolute Truth, is all-pervasive by His localized aspect as Paramatma. If only one can think that Krsna, as Paramatma, is everywhere, even within the atom, then one can perfect the thinking, feeling and willing function of his mind. The perfect devotee does not see the material world as it appears to material eyes, but he sees everywhere the presence of his worshipable Lord in His Paramatma feature." Maharaja Pariksit continued to say that the function of the ear can be perfected simply by engagement in hearing the transcendental activities of the Lord. He said further that the function of the head can be fully utilized when the head is engaged in bowing down before the Lord and His representative. That the Lord is represented in everyone's heart is a fact, and therefore the highly advanced devotee offers his respects to every living entity, considering that the body is the temple of the Lord. But it is not possible for all men to come to that stage of life immediately, because that stage is for the first-class devotee. The second-class devotee can consider the Vaisnavas, or the devotees of the Lord, to be representatives of Krsna, and the devotee who is just beginning, the neophyte or third-class devotee, can bow his head before the Deity in the temple and before the spiritual master, who is the direct manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the neophyte stage, in the intermediate stage, or in the fully advanced perfected stage, one can make the function of the head perfect by bowing down before the Lord or His representative. Similarly, he can perfect the function of the eyes by seeing the Lord and His representative. In this way, everyone can elevate the functions of the different parts of his body to the highest perfectional stage simply by engaging them in the service of the Lord or His representative. If one is able to do nothing more, he can simply bow down before the Lord and His representative and drink the caranamrta, the water which has washed the lotus feet of the Lord or His devotee. On hearing these statements of Maharaja Pariksit, Sukadeva Gosvami became overwhelmed with devotional ecstasy because of King Pariksit's advanced understanding of the Vaisnava philosophy. Sukadeva Gosvami was already engaged in describing the activities of the Lord, and when he was asked by Maharaja Pariksit to describe them further, he continued with great pleasure to narrate Srimad-Bhagavatam. There was a very nice brahmana friend of Lord Krsna. As a perfect brahmana, he was very elevated in transcendental knowledge, and because of his advanced knowledge, he was not at all attached to material enjoyment. Therefore he was very peaceful and had achieved supreme control over his senses. This means that the brahmana was a perfect devotee because unless one is a perfect devotee, he cannot achieve the highest standard of knowledge. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that a person who has come to the point of perfection of knowledge surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, any person who has surrendered his life for the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead has come to the point of perfect knowledge. The result of perfect knowledge is that one becomes detached from the materialistic way of life. This detachment means complete control of the senses, which are always attracted by material enjoyment. The senses of the devotee become purified, and in that stage the senses are engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the complete field of devotional service. Although the brahmana friend of Lord Krsna was a householder, he was not busy accumulating wealth for very comfortable living; therefore he was satisfied by the income which automatically came to him according to his destiny. This is the sign of perfect knowledge. A man who is in perfect knowledge knows that one cannot be happier than he is destined to be. In this material world, everyone is destined to suffer a certain amount of distress and to enjoy a certain amount of happiness. The amount of happiness and distress is already predestined for every living entity. No one can increase or decrease the happiness of the materialistic way of life. The brahmana, therefore, did not exert himself for more material happiness, but he used his time for advancement of Krsna consciousness. Externally he appeared to be very poor because he had no rich dress and could not provide a very rich dress for his wife, and because their material condition was not very opulent they were not even eating sufficiently, and thus both he and his wife appeared to be very thin. The wife was not very anxious for her personal comfort, but she felt very concerned for her husband, who was such a pious brahmana. She was trembling due to her weak health, and although she did not like to dictate to her husband, she spoke as follows: "My dear lord, I know that Lord Krsna, who is the husband of the goddess of fortune, is your personal friend. You are also a devotee of Lord Krsna, and He is always ready to help His devotee. Even if you think that you are not rendering any devotional service to the Lord, still you are surrendered to Him, and the Lord is the protector of the surrendered soul. Moreover, I know that Lord Krsna is the ideal personality of Vedic culture. He is always in favor of brahminical culture and is very kind to the qualified brahmanas. You are the most fortunate person because you have as your friend the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Krsna is the only shelter for personalities like you because you are fully surrendered unto Him. You are saintly, learned and fully in control of your senses. Under the circumstances, Lord Krsna is your only shelter. Please, therefore, go to Him. I am sure that He will immediately understand your impoverished position. You are a householder; therefore without any money you are in a distressed condition. But as soon as He understands your position, He will certainly give you sufficient riches so that you can live very comfortably. Lord Krsna is now the King of the Bhoja, Vrsni and Andhaka dynasties, and I have heard that He never leaves His capital city, Dvaraka. He is living there without outside engagements. He is so kind and liberal that He immediately gives everything, even His personal self, to any person who surrenders unto Him. When He is prepared to give Himself personally to His devotee, then there is nothing wonderful in giving some material riches. Of course, He does not give much material wealth to His devotee if the devotee is not very fixed, but I think in your case He knows perfectly well how much you are fixed in devotional service. Therefore He will not hesitate to award you some material benefit for the bare necessities of life." In this way, the wife of the brahmana again and again requested, in great humility and submission, that he go to Lord Krsna. The brahmana thought that there was no need to ask any material benefit from Lord Sri Krsna, but he was induced by the repeated requests of his wife. Moreover, he thought, "If I go there I shall be able to see the Lord personally. That will be a great opportunity, even if I don't ask any material benefit from Him." When he had decided to go to Krsna, he asked his wife if she had anything in the home that he could offer to Krsna, because he must take some presentation for his friend. The wife immediately collected four palmsful of chipped rice from her neighboring friends and tied it in a small cloth, like a handkerchief, and gave it to her husband to present to Krsna. Without waiting any longer, the brahmana took the presentation and began to proceed toward Dvaraka to see his Lord. While he was proceeding toward Dvaraka He was absorbed in the thought of how he could be able to see Lord Krsna. He had no thought within his heart other than Krsna. It was of course very difficult to reach the palaces of the kings of the Yadu dynasty, but brahmanas were allowed to visit, and when the brahmana friend of Lord Krsna went there, he, along with other brahmanas, had to pass through three military encampments. In each camp there were very big gates, and he also had to pass through them. After the gates and the camps, there were sixteen thousand big palaces, the residential quarters of the sixteen thousand queens of Lord Krsna. The brahmana entered one palace which was very gorgeously decorated. When he entered this beautiful palace, he felt that he was swimming in the ocean of transcendental pleasure. He felt himself constantly diving and surfacing in that transcendental ocean. At that time, Lord Krsna was sitting on the bedstead of Queen Rukmini. Even from a considerable distance He could see the brahmana coming to His home, and He could recognize him as His friend. Lord Krsna immediately left His seat and came forward to receive His brahmana friend and, upon reaching him, embraced the brahmana with His two arms. Lord Krsna is the reservoir of all transcendental pleasure, and yet He Himself felt great pleasure upon embracing the poor brahmana because He was meeting His very dear friend. Lord Krsna had him seated on His own bedstead and personally brought him all kinds of fruits and drinks to offer him, as is proper in receiving a worshipable guest. Lord Sri Krsna is the supreme pure, but because He was playing the role of an ordinary human being, He immediately washed the brahmana's feet and, for His own purification, sprinkled the water onto His head. After this the Lord smeared the body of the brahmana with different kinds of scented pulp, such as sandalwood, aguru and saffron. He immediately burned several kinds of scented incense, and, as is usual, He offered him aratrika with burning lamps. After thus offering him an adequate welcome and after the brahmana had taken food and drink, Lord Krsna said, "My dear friend, it is a great fortune that you have come here." The brahmana, being very poor, was not dressed nicely; his clothing was torn and dirty, and his body was also very lean and thin. He appeared not to be very clean, and because of his weak body, his bones were distinctly visible. The goddess of fortune, Rukminidevi personally began to fan him with the camara fan, but the other women in the palace became astonished at Lord Krsna's behavior in receiving the brahmana in that way. They were surprised to see how eager Lord Krsna was to welcome this particular brahmana. They began to wonder how Lord Krsna could personally receive a brahmana who was poor, not very neat or clean, and poorly dressed; but at the same time they could realize that the brahmana was not an ordinary living being. They knew that he must have performed great pious activities; otherwise why was Lord Krsna, the husband of the goddess of fortune, taking so much care for him? They were still more surprised to see that the brahmana was seated on the bedstead of Lord Krsna. They were especially surprised to see that Lord Krsna had embraced him exactly as He embraced His elder brother, Balaramaji, because Lord Krsna used to embrace only Rukmini or Balarama, and no one else. After receiving the brahmana nicely, and seating him on His own cushioned bed, Lord Krsna said, "My dear brahmana friend, you are a most intelligent personality, and you know very well the principles of religious life. I believe that after you finished your education at the house of our teacher and after you sufficiently remunerated him, you must have gone back to your home and accepted a suitable wife. I know very well that from the beginning you were not at all attached to the materialistic way of life, nor did you desire to be very opulent materially, and therefore you are in need of money. In this material world, persons who are not attached to material opulence are very rarely found. Such unattached persons haven't the least desire to accumulate wealth and prosperity for sense gratification, but sometimes they are found to collect money just to exhibit the exemplary life of a householder. They show how by proper distribution of wealth one can become an ideal householder and at the same time become a great devotee. Such ideal householders are to be considered followers of My footsteps. I hope, My dear brahmana friend, you remember all those days of our school life when both you and I were living together at the boarding house. Actually, whatever knowledge both you and I received in our life was accumulated in our student life. "If a man is sufficiently educated in student life under the guidance of a proper teacher, then his life becomes successful in the future. He can very easily cross over the ocean of nescience, and he is not subjected to the influence of illusory energy. My dear friend, everyone should consider his father to be his first teacher because by the mercy of one's father one gets this body. The father is therefore the natural spiritual master. Our next spiritual master is he who initiates us into transcendental knowledge, and he is to be worshiped as much as I am. The spiritual master may be more than one. The spiritual master who instructs the disciples about spiritual matters is called siksa-guru, and the spiritual master who initiates the disciple is called diksa-guru. Both of them are My representatives. There may be many spiritual masters who instruct, but the initiator spiritual master is one. A human being who takes advantage of these spiritual masters and, receiving proper knowledge from them, crosses the ocean of material existence, is to be understood as having properly utilized his human form of life. He has practical knowledge that the ultimate interest of life, which is to be gained only in this human form, is to achieve spiritual perfection and thus be transferred back home, back to Godhead. "My dear friend, I am Paramatma, the Supersoul present in everyone's heart, and it is My direct order that human society must follow the principles of varna and asrama. As I have stated in the Bhagavad-gita, the human society should be divided, according to quality and action, into four varnas. Similarly, everyone should divide his life into four parts. One should utilize the first part of life in becoming a bona fide student, receiving adequate knowledge and keeping oneself in the vow of brahmacarya, so that one may completely devote his life for the service of the spiritual master without indulging in sense gratification. A brahmacari is meant to lead a life of austerities and penance. The householder is meant to live a regulated life of sense gratification, but no one should remain a householder for the third stage of life. In that stage, one has to return to the austerities and penances formerly practiced in brahmacari life and thus relieve himself of the attachment to household life. After being relieved of his attachments to the materialistic way of life, one may accept the order of sannyasa. "As the Supersoul of the living entities, sitting in everyone's heart, I observe everyone's activity in every stage and order of life. Regardless of which stage one is in, when I see that one is engaged seriously and sincerely in discharging the duties ordered by the spiritual master, and is thus dedicating his life to the service of the spiritual master, that person becomes most dear to Me. As far as the life of brahmacarya is concerned, if one can continue the life of a brahmacari under the direction of a spiritual master, that is extremely good; but if in brahmacari life one feels sex impulses, then he should take leave of his spiritual master, satisfying him according to the guru's desire. According to the Vedic system, a gift is offered to the spiritual master, which is called guru-daksina. Then the disciple should take to householder life and accept a wife according to religious rites." These instructions given by Lord Krsna while talking with His friend the learned brahmana are very good for the guidance of human society. A system of human civilization that does not promote varna and asrama is nothing but polished animal society. Indulgence in sex life by a man or woman living single is never acceptable in human society. A man should either strictly follow the principles of brahmacari life or, with the permission of the spiritual master, should get married. Single life with illicit sex is animal life. For the animals there is no marriage institution. Modern society does not aim at fulfilling the mission of human life. The mission of human life is to go back home, back to Godhead. To fulfill this mission, the system of varna and asrama must be followed. When the system is followed rigidly and consciously, it fulfills this mission of life. When it is followed indirectly, without guidance of superior order, it simply creates a disturbing condition in human society, and there is no peace and prosperity. Krsna continued to talk with His brahmana friend: "My dear friend, I think you remember our activities during the days when we were living as students. You may remember that once we went to collect fuel from the forest on the order of the guru's wife. While we were collecting the dried wood, we by chance entered the dense forest and became lost. There was an unexpected dust storm and then clouds and lightning in the sky and the explosive sound of thunder. Then sunset came, and we were lost in the dark jungle. After this, there was severe rainfall; the whole ground was overflooded with water, and we could not trace out the way to return to our guru's asrama. You may remember that the heavy rainfall--it was not actually rainfall but a sort of devastation. On account of the dust storm and the heavy rain, we began to feel greatly pained, and in whichever direction we turned we were bewildered. In that distressed condition, we took each other's hand and tried to find our way out. We passed the whole night in that way, and early in the morning when our absence became known to our gurudeva, he sent his other disciples to search us out. He also came with them, and when they reached us in the jungle they found us to be very distressed. "With great compassion our gurudeva said, 'My dear boys, it is very wonderful that you have suffered so much trouble for me. Everyone likes to take care of his body as the first consideration, but you are so good and faithful to your guru that without caring for bodily comforts you have taken so much trouble for me. I am also glad to see that bona fide students like you will undergo any kind of trouble for the satisfaction of the spiritual master. That is the way for a bona fide disciple to become free from his debt to the spiritual master. It is the duty of the disciple to dedicate his life to the service of the spiritual master. My dear best of the twice-born, I am greatly pleased by your action, and I bless you: May all your desires and ambitions be fulfilled. May the understanding of the Vedas which you have learned from me always continue to remain within your memory, so that at every moment you can remember the teachings of the Vedas and quote their instructions without difficulty. Thus you will never be disappointed in this life or in the next.'" Krsna continued: "My dear friend, you may remember that many such incidents occurred while we were in the asrama of our spiritual master. Both of us can realize that without the blessings of the spiritual master no one can be happy. By the mercy of the spiritual master and by his blessings, one can achieve peace and prosperity and be able to fulfill the mission of human life." On hearing this, the learned brahmana replied, "My dear Krsna, You are the Supreme Lord and the supreme spiritual master of everyone, and since I was fortunate enough to live with You in the house of our guru, I think I have nothing more to do in the matter of prescribed Vedic duties. My dear Lord, the Vedic hymns, ritualistic ceremonies, religious activities and all other necessities for the perfection of human life, including economic development, sense gratification and liberation, are all derived from one source: Your supreme personality. All the different processes of life are ultimately meant for understanding of Your personality. In other words, they are the different parts of Your transcendental form. And yet You played the role of a student and lived with us in the house of the guru. This means that You adopted all these pastimes for Your pleasure only; otherwise there was no need for Your playing the role of a human being." Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Eightieth Chapter of Krsna, "The Meeting of Lord Krsna with Sudama Brahmana." CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE The Brahmana Sudama Benedicted by Lord Krsna Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul of all living entities, knows very well everyone's heart. He is especially inclined to the brahmana devotees. Lord Krsna is also called brahmanyadeva, which means that He is worshiped by the brahmanas. Therefore it is understood that a devotee who is fully surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead has already acquired the position of a brahmana. Without becoming a brahmana, one cannot approach the Supreme Brahman, Lord Krsna. Krsna is especially concerned with vanquishing the distress of His devotees, and He is the only shelter of pure devotees. Lord Krsna was engaged for a long time in talking with Sudama Vipra about their past association. Then, just to enjoy the company of an old friend, Lord Krsna began to smile, and asked, "My dear friend, what have you brought for Me? Has your wife given you some nice eatable for Me?" While He was addressing His friend, Lord Krsna was looking upon him and smiling with great love. He continued, "My dear friend, you must have brought some presentation for Me from your home." Lord Krsna knew that Sudama was hesitating to present Him the paltry chipped rice which was actually unfit for His eating, and understanding the mind of Sudama Vipra the Lord said, "My dear friend, certainly I am not in need of anything, but if My devotee gives Me something as an offering of love, even though it may be very insignificant, I accept it with great pleasure. On the other hand, if a person is not a devotee, even though he may offer Me very valuable things, I do not like to accept them. I actually accept only things which are offered to Me in devotion and love; otherwise, however valuable the thing may be, I do not accept it. If My pure devotee offers Me even the most insignificant things--a little flower, a little piece of leaf, a little water--but saturates the offering in devotional love, then I not only gladly accept such an offering, but I eat it with great pleasure." Lord Krsna assured Sudama Vipra that He would be very glad to accept the chipped rice which he had brought from home, yet out of great shyness, Sudama Vipra hesitated to present it to the Lord. He was thinking, "How can I offer such insignificant things to Krsna?" and he simply bowed his head. Lord Krsna, the Supersoul, knows everything in everyone's heart. He knows everyone's determination and everyone's want. He knew, therefore, the reason for Sudama Vipra's coming to Him. He knew that, driven by extreme poverty, he had come there at the request of his wife. Thinking of Sudama as His very dear class friend, He knew that Sudama's love for Him as a friend was never tainted by any desire for material benefit. Krsna thought, "Sudama has not come asking anything from Me, but being obliged by the request of his wife, he has come to see Me just to please her." Lord Krsna therefore decided that He would give more material opulence to Sudama Vipra than could be imagined even by the King of heaven. He then snatched the bundle of chipped rice which was hanging on the shoulder of the poor brahmana, packed in one corner of his wrapper, and said, "What is this? My dear friend, you have brought Me nice, palatable chipped rice!" He encouraged Sudama Vipra, saying, "I consider that this quantity of chipped rice will not only satisfy Me, but will satisfy the whole creation." It is understood from this statement that Krsna, being the original source of everything, is the root of the entire creation. As watering the root of a tree immediately distributes water to every part of the tree, so an offering made to Krsna, or any action done for Krsna, is to be considered the highest welfare work for everyone, because the benefit of such an offering is distributed throughout the creation. Love for Krsna becomes distributed to all living entities. While Lord Krsna was speaking to Sudama Vipra, He ate one morsel of chipped rice from his bundle, and when He attempted to eat a second morsel, Rukminidevi, who is the goddess of fortune herself, checked the Lord by catching hold of His hand. After touching the hand of Krsna, Rukmini said, "My dear Lord, this one morsel of chipped rice is sufficient to cause him who offered it to become very opulent in this life and to continue his opulence in the next life. My Lord, You are so kind to Your devotee that even this one morsel of chipped rice pleases You very greatly, and Your pleasure assures the devotee opulence both in this life and in the next." This indicates that when food is offered to Lord Krsna with love and devotion and He is pleased and accepts it from the devotee, Rukminidevi, the goddess of fortune, becomes so greatly obliged to the devotee that she has to personally go to the devotee's home to turn it into the most opulent home in the world. If one feeds Narayana sumptuously, the goddess of fortune, Laksmi, automatically becomes a guest in one's house, which means that one's home becomes opulent. The learned brahmana Sudama passed that night at the house of Lord Krsna, and while he was there he felt as if he were living in a Vaikuntha planet. Actually he was living in Vaikuntha, because wherever Lord Krsna, the original Narayana, and Rukminidevi, the goddess of fortune, live is not different from the spiritual planet, Vaikunthaloka. The learned brahmana Sudama did not appear to have received anything substantial from Lord Krsna while he was at His place, and yet he did not ask anything from the Lord. The next morning he started for his home, thinking always about his reception by Krsna, and thus he became merged in transcendental bliss. All the way home he was simply remembering the dealings of Lord Krsna, and he was feeling very happy to have seen the Lord. The brahmana began to think as follows, "It is most pleasurable to see Lord Krsna, who is most devoted to the brahmanas. How great a lover He is of the brahminical culture! He is the Supreme Brahman Himself, yet He reciprocates with the brahmanas. He also respects the brahmanas so much that He embraced to His chest a poor brahmana like me, although He never embraces anyone to His chest except the goddess of fortune. How can there be any comparison between me, a poor, sinful brahmana, and the Supreme Lord Krsna, who is the only shelter of the goddess of fortune? And yet, considering me as a brahmana, He embraced me with heartfelt pleasure in His two transcendental arms. Lord Krsna was so kind to me that He allowed me to sit down on the same bedstead where the goddess of fortune lies down. He considered me to be His real brother. How can I appreciate my obligation to Him? When I was tired, Srimati Rukminidevi, the goddess of fortune, began to fan me, holding the camara whisk in her own hand. She never considered her exalted position as the first queen of Lord Krsna. I was rendered service by the Supreme Personality of Godhead because of His high regard for the brahmanas, and by massaging my legs and feeding me with His own hand, He practically worshiped me! Aspiring for elevation to the heavenly planets, or liberation or all kinds of material opulences, or perfection in the mystic yoga powers, everyone throughout the universe worships the lotus feet of Lord Krsna. Yet the Lord was so kind to me that He did not give me even a farthing, knowing very well that I am a poverty-stricken man who, if I got some money, might become puffed up and mad after material opulence and so forget Him." The statement of the brahmana Sudama is correct. An ordinary man who is very poor and prays to the Lord for benediction in material opulence, and who somehow or other becomes richer in material opulence, immediately forgets his obligation to the Lord. Therefore, the Lord does not offer opulences to His devotee unless the devotee is thoroughly destitute. Rather, if a neophyte devotee serves the Lord very sincerely and at the same time wants material opulence, the Lord keeps him from obtaining it. Thinking in this way, the learned brahmana gradually reached his own home. But on reaching there he saw that everything was wonderfully changed. He saw that in place of his cottage there were big palaces made of valuable stones and jewels, glittering like the sun, moon and rays of fire. Not only were there big palaces, but at intervals there were beautifully decorated parks, in which many beautiful men and women were strolling. In those parks there were nice lakes full of lotus flowers and beautiful lilies, and there were flocks of multicolored birds. Seeing the wonderful conversion of his native place, the brahmana began to think to himself, "How am I seeing all these changes? Does this place belong to me, or to someone else? If it is the same place where I used to live, then how has it so wonderfully changed?" While the learned brahmana was considering this, a group of beautiful men and women with features resembling those of the demigods, accompanied by musical chanters, approached to welcome him. All were singing auspicious songs. The wife of the brahmana became very glad on hearing the tidings of her husband's arrival, and with great haste she also came out of the palace. The brahmana's wife appeared so beautiful that it seemed as if the goddess of fortune herself had come to receive him. As soon as she saw her husband present before her, tears of joy began to fall from her eyes, and her voice became so choked up that she could not even address her husband. She simply closed her eyes in ecstasy. But with great love and affection she bowed down before her husband, and within herself she thought of embracing him. She was fully decorated with a gold necklace and ornaments, and while standing among the maidservants she appeared like the wife of a demigod just alighting from an airplane. The brahmana was surprised to see his wife so beautiful, and in great affection and without saying a word he entered the palace with his wife. When the brahmana entered his personal apartment in the palace, he saw that it was not an apartment, but the residence of the King of heaven. The palace was surrounded by many columns of jewels. The couches and the bedsteads were made of ivory, bedecked with gold and jewels, and the bedding was as white as the foam of milk and as soft as a lotus flower. There were many whisks hanging from golden rods, and many golden thrones with sitting cushions as soft as the lotus flower. In various places there were velvet and silken canopies with laces of pearls hanging all around. The structure of the building was standing on first-class transparent marble, with engravings made of emerald stones. All the women in the palace were carrying lamps made of valuable jewels. The flames and the jewels combined to produce a wonderfully brilliant light. When the brahmana saw his position suddenly changed to one of opulence, and when he could not determine the cause for such a sudden change, he began to consider very gravely how it had happened. He thus began to think, "From the beginning of my life I have been extremely poverty-stricken, so what could be the cause of such great and sudden opulence? I do not find any cause other than the all-merciful glance of my friend Lord Krsna, the chief of the Yadu dynasty. Certainly these are gifts of Lord Krsna's causeless mercy. The Lord is self-sufficient, the husband of the goddess of fortune, and thus He is always full with six opulences. He can understand the mind of His devotee, and He sumptuously fulfills the devotee's desires. All these are acts of my friend, Lord Krsna. My beautiful dark friend Krsna is far more liberal than the cloud which can fill up the great ocean with water. Without disturbing the cultivator with rain during the day, the cloud brings liberal rain at night just to satisfy him. And yet when the cultivator wakes up in the morning, he considers that it has not rained enough. Similarly, the Lord fulfills the desire of everyone according to his position, and yet one who is not in Krsna consciousness considers all the gifts of the Lord to be less than his desire. On the other hand, when the Lord receives a little thing in love and affection from His devotee, He considers it a great and valuable gift. The vivid example is myself. I simply offered Him a morsel of chipped rice, and in exchange He has given me opulences greater than the opulence of the King of heaven." What the devotee actually offers the Lord is not needed by the Lord, for He is self-sufficient. If the devotee offers something to the Lord, it acts for his own interest because whatever a devotee offers the Lord comes back in a quantity a million times greater than what was offered. One does not become a loser by giving to the Lord, but he becomes a gainer by millions of times. The brahmana, feeling great obligation to Krsna, thought, "I pray to have the friendship of Lord Krsna and to engage in His service, and to surrender fully unto Him in love and affection, life after life. I do not want any opulence. I only desire not to forget His service. I simply wish to be associated with His pure devotees. May my mind and activities be always engaged in His service. The unborn Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna knows that many great personalities have fallen from their positions because of extravagant opulence. Therefore, even when His devotee asks for some opulence from Him, the Lord sometimes does not give it. He is very cautious about His devotees. Because a devotee in an immature position of devotional service may, if offered great opulence, fall from his position due to being in the material world, the Lord does not offer opulence to him. This is another manifestation of the causeless mercy of the Lord upon His devotee. His first interest is that the devotee may not fall. He is exactly like a well-wishing father who does not give much wealth into the hand of his immature son, but who, when the son is grown up and knows how to spend money, gives him the whole treasury house." The learned brahmana thus concluded that whatever opulences he had received from the Lord should not be used for his extravagant sense gratification, but for the service of the Lord. The brahmana accepted his newly-acquired opulence, but he did so in a spirit of renunciation, unattached to sense gratification, and thus he lived very peacefully with his wife, enjoying all the facilities of opulence as prasadam of the Lord. He enjoyed varieties of foodstuff by offering it to the Lord and then taking it as prasadam. Similarly, if by the grace of the Lord we get such opulences as material wealth, fame, power, education and beauty, it is our duty to consider that they are all gifts of the Lord and must be used for His service, not for our sense enjoyment. The learned brahmana remained in that position, and instead of deterioating due to great opulence, his love and affection for Lord Krsna increased day after day. Material opulence can be the cause of degradation and also the cause of elevation, according to the purposes for which it is used. If opulence is used for sense gratification, it is the cause of degradation, and if it is used for the service of the Lord, it is the cause of elevation. It is evident from Lord Krsna's dealings with Sudama Vipra that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very, very pleased with a person is possessed of brahminical qualities. A qualified brahmana like Sudama Vipra is naturally a devotee of Lord Krsna. Therefore it is said, brahmano vaisnavah: a brahmana is a Vaisnava. Or sometimes it is said, brahmanah panditah. Pandita means a highly learned person. A brahmana cannot be foolish or uneducated. Therefore there are two divisions of brahmanas, namely Vaisnavas and panditas. Those who are simply learned are panditas, but not yet devotees of the Lord, or Vaisnavas. Lord Krsna is not especially pleased with them. Simply the qualification of being a learned brahmana is not sufficient to attract the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A brahmana must not only be well qualified according to the requirements stated in scriptures such as Srimad Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, but at the same time he must be a devotee of Lord Krsna. The vivid example is Sudama Vipra. He was a qualified brahmana, unattached to all sorts of material sense enjoyment, and at the same time a great devotee of Lord Krsna. Lord Krsna, the enjoyer of all sacrifices and penances, is very fond of a brahmana like Sudama Vipra, and we have seen by the actual behavior of Lord Krsna how much He adores such a brahmana. Therefore, the ideal stage of human perfection is to become a brahmana-vaisnava like Sudama Vipra. Sudama Vipra realized that although Lord Krsna is unconquerable, He nevertheless agrees to be conquered by His devotees. He realized how kind Lord Krsna was to him, and he was always in trance, constantly thinking of Krsna. By such constant association with Lord Krsna, whatever darkness of material contamination was remaining within his heart was completely cleared away, and very shortly he was transferred to the spiritual kingdom, which is the goal of all saintly persons in the perfectional stage of life. Sukadeva Gosvami has stated that all persons who hear this history of Sudama Vipra and Lord Krsna will know how affectionate Lord Krsna is to the brahmana devotees like Sudama. Therefore anyone who hears this history gradually becomes as qualified as Sudama Vipra, and he is thus transferred to the spiritual kingdom of Lord Krsna. Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Eighty-first chapter of Krsna, "The Brahmana Sudama Benedicted by Lord Krsna".

Sixth Sense filmmaker changes his approach to focus on emotion and spirituality By Glenn Whipp Los Angeles Daily News Aug 5, 2002 M. Night Shyamalan knows you didn't like Unbreakable as much as you did The Sixth Sense, and it bothers him. Deeply. This is a man whom actress Cherry Jones describes as an "utter showman," and the showman was bothered that people didn't turn out in big numbers for his last movie. So he wanted to rectify that with his new film, Signs. We'll let Mel Gibson, who stars in Signs, tell the story. "He was sitting in Denny's one day, kind of scratching his head, and he watched this family come in and go to the smorgasbord," Gibson says. "And they were all eating and laughing and having a great old time. And he watched them for a while; he really likes watching people. And he thought, `I know why I wasn't as happy with Unbreakable as I was with The Sixth Sense. I forgot about those people there, the family eating the $5.99 pancake buffet.' "So he wanted to make a movie for everybody -- the parents, the kids and the grandkids -- and sort of unite himself to the human experience," Gibson continues. "And to me, that's the mark of a great filmmaker, the desire to make great art that everyone can enjoy in a vicarious way and not be the slightest bit elitist about it." Of course, elitists don't usually eat at Denny's. And elitists don't set out to make movies that will set box-office records, much less tell the world that that is their intention. So when Shyamalan's slow-moving superhero thriller Unbreakable did about a third the business of The Sixth Sense, he knew he needed to go back to the drawing board to reclaim his audience. "What I realized with Unbreakable is that it doesn't matter if you have technical prowess if you don't connect with the people in the theater," the 31-year-old Shyamalan says. "So I decided to just let myself be myself on this one and show the two things about me that I don't think I've let audiences see -- joy and emotion." That said, Signs remains very much an M. Night Shyamalan movie. As he did with The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, Shyamalan with Signs takes another B-movie genre -- in this case, the alien invasion movie -- and uses it to spin a tale of faith and belief. Gibson plays a former minister and father of two who has renounced God in the aftermath of his wife's tragic death. The family, which includes the minister's good-natured younger brother (Joaquin Phoenix), has never really dealt with the shock of the loss, but some extraordinary circumstances (in the form of extraterrestrials) force them to finally come to grips with what has happened. The film has everything you'd expect from Shyamalan -- an unsettling atmosphere, ethereal children, gripping tension -- and a few things (namely humor) that will come as a surprise. Mostly, though, Shyamalan used Signs as a vehicle to heighten his characters' emotions and eliminate the detached, distant feeling of his last two films. Without emotion "My first two little movies were so emotional in tone and did so poorly that I thought that was something that was not connecting with audiences," Shyamalan says of Praying With Anger (1992) and Wide Awake (1998). "So I held myself back a lot on The Sixth Sense and only let myself feel emotion at the end. And the response was so great, I thought, `I'll hold back even more on Unbreakable.' "And in the process, I feel I forgot a part of myself because the emotional side is a big part of me. So I just went back to that, and I'm really glad I did." Shyamalan, aware of Gibson's Catholic faith and large family (the 46- year-old actor has seven children), wrote the part of the conflicted minister with him in mind. He phoned Gibson, and the two talked for half an hour, and Gibson agreed to take a look at the script. That same day, Shyamalan sent his cousin to Gibson's Los Angeles home to hand-deliver the screenplay. "It came with a padlock and chains on it," Gibson jokes. "I was instructed to never show it to anyone else or I'd be left in a shallow grave somewhere." That kind of secrecy points to another Shyamalan trademark -- the twist ending. Yes, Signs contains a revelatory moment, but it arrives in a different context. Explains Phoenix: "The epiphany is there, it's just that it's more subtle and it's for the characters" relationships. What the audience did at the end of The Sixth Sense, the characters do here. They say, `Oh my God, this is what it all means. There is purpose.'" Shyamalan is big on purpose and meaning. If he's first and foremost an "utter showman," he is also determined that his movies tackle some Big Issues. In Signs, it's clear the crop circles and flying saucers and aliens are merely plot devices that spur Gibson's character to examine the meaning of life. For Shyamalan, the scariest thing in Signs isn't the possibility of an alien invasion. It's that a good man could lose his connection with God. "The humanity in the film comes from the spiritual element," Gibson says, "because all of us have within us an instinctual thing that wants to reach for a higher place, that has a suspicion that there is a higher realm outside ourselves that exists and influences who we are. We all ask that question: `Why the hell am I here?' That's human nature. And Night gives us a big dose of that human nature in the film." Shyamalan says he doesn't consider himself "religious." He was born in India but raised in the affluent Penn Valley suburb of Philadelphia. Shyamalan went to Catholic school for 10 years, so he had the dual influence of his parents' Hindu background along with what he learned in school. Ultimately, he considers himself a mystic who's interested in spirituality but not organized religion. A man of faith "Faith is something very different than religion for me," Shyamalan says. "Religion is some group saying their particular version of God is the right version, and that's hard for me to accept. The world has become such a smaller place. It makes it hard for me to believe that the guy in Nepal and the little boy in Africa and the old man in Maine, all three of them with different versions of God, and yet maybe none of them are right. I just can't believe that. There has to be some unifying thing." The central theme of Signs -- that there are no coincidences -- pops up in just about every religious teaching. The fact that a movie about the resilience of the human spirit began shooting on Sept. 13, 2001, wasn't lost on anyone, particularly Cherry Jones, an acclaimed stage actress who came directly to the rural Pennsylvania shooting site from her apartment in New York City. "You want to talk about coincidences? The parallels are a little eerie," says Jones, who plays a police officer in the movie. Adds Shyamalan: "We just all kind of shook our heads at the parallels between the movie and what happened on 9/11. If you wanted to, you could read a lot into this fictional story of this alien threat and its implications on one family. So much of the dialogue was now loaded with meaning." And some of that meaning may connect with audiences. Then again, it might not. Signs has so many different layers that it will likely provoke very different reactions from those who see it. Some people will dig the sci-fi thriller aspects of the movie; some will appreciate the spiritual subtext. And probably more than a few will scratch their heads and say the combination doesn't work. For Gibson though, that strange synthesis of elements was the reason he signed up for Signs. "Films do three things if they're really great," Gibson says. "They entertain, they educate, and they take you to a higher plane of existence or a spirituality, reaching outside your own realm. I think Night has pulled off the hat trick with this one."

Sept. 11 Hero Buried in Israel By Celean Jacobson Associated Press Jerusalem, Aug. 5--(AP) A computer programmer hailed as a hero for remaining with his quadriplegic friend rather than flee the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center was laid to rest in Israel on Monday. In an act of final closure, the family of Abraham Zelmanowitz, 55, buried his remains next to his parents at the cemetery overlooking Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives, a revered resting place for many religious Jews. "We are fulfilling his final wishes," said his sister-in-law Evelyn Zelmanowitz who was among a small group of family members who accompanied Zelmanowitz's remains from New York. "He's able to have a final resting place, which is something that we all had hoped for, for his sake and ours too, some place we could come to mourn him and pay tribute to him," she said. Zelmanowitz, whose remains were identified late last week, was hailed as a hero and praised by President Bush for his act of compassion. Zelmanowitz, who worked on the 27th floor of the trade center's south tower, refused to leave behind his co-worker of many years, Ed Beyea, who couldn't descend the stairs in his wheelchair. Both died when the tower collapsed. "For us he's a big enough hope and inspiration for all mankind at a time of such unspeakable evil that someone could teach us how to behave, to feel compassion for one's fellow man," Evelyn Zelmanowitz said. She said she spoke to her brother-in-law by phone soon after the plane plowed into the tower. Zelmanowitz told Beyea's nurse to leave the building, since she had children to think of, she said. "He was very calm. He said the air was clear and that they were waiting for a medical team to help evacuate his friend. That was the last we heard of him," she said. In a moving ceremony in Hebrew and Yiddish held at a yeshiva religious school in Jerusalem, friends paid tribute to Zelmanowitz, a key member of the ultra-Orthodox community in Brooklyn and a regular visitor to Israel. "He was the epitome of kindness and good deeds," said family friend Herzel Schechter. "He was a real hero who gave up his life to help his co-worker." Later a small procession moved onto the cemetery where a small bundle of Zelmanowitz's remains, wrapped up in a white cloth, were buried in a grave in front of his parents. The cemetery is considered an important place for its closeness to the site where the first and second temples of Judaism stood, in what is now the Old City. "He appreciated the holiness of Israel and this cemetery," Schechter said.

Lutherans Divided Rift in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod widens over post-Sept. 11 prayer service By Jim Suhr Associated Press August 2, 2002 ST. LOUIS (AP)--Twelve days after terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, the Rev. David Benke, a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod pastor, joined with clergy from other faiths in a New York City prayer service for the victims. The LCMS president, the Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, gave the church's top New York leader his blessings to take part in what he considered an innocent public event. Kieschnick never envisioned the fallout from that day within one of the most theologically conservative Protestant denominations. (The 2.6 million-member LCMS is a more conservative cousin to the 5.2 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.) Benke was suspended in June, months after 21 of the synod's pastors and three of its congregations complained about his role in the gathering at Yankee Stadium. And just last month, the LCMS second vice president, who disciplined Benke for praying with ``pagans,'' was pulled from his role as the main speaker on ``The Lutheran Hour'' radio program - the synod's prominent pulpit - for deciding the matter. Now Kieschnick is struggling to bridge a gulf in the church. It's just the kind of situation he had hoped to avoid when he was elected a year ago. His goal has been to make the denomination more unified and tolerant. ``While some may see it as a rift, I see it as a pivotal moment in defining who we are and why we're here,'' said Kieschnick, who is standing by Benke. ``We're faced with opportunities and challenges galore to take the Gospel to the marketplace. That's where our struggle is - whether it should be in a congregational setting or public one.'' Benke is appealing his suspension by the Rev. Wallace Schulz. Meanwhile, Schulz isn't discussing that decision or his own suspension as chief preacher on the gospel program carried by more than 1,000 radio stations. While Lutheran Hour Ministries took no stand on Benke's conduct, Schulz's decision unwillingly dragged the independent auxiliary of the Missouri Synod into the debate, spokesman Jim Telle said.

Bush Denounces 'False Religion' By the Associated Press August 1, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP)--After President Bush condemned ``some kind of false religion'' for motivating Mideast terror attacks, his spokesman hastened to emphasize Thursday that the president believes Islam is a peaceful religion. In a picture-taking session with Jordan's King Abdullah, Bush said he grieved for the seven people killed in a bomb blast in Jerusalem on Wednesday, including five Americans. ``I just, I cannot speak strongly enough about how we must collectively get after those who kill in the name of some kind of false religion,'' Bush said. Asked about the remark, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush was referring to terrorists who distort Islam to justify violence. ``The president believes very deeply that Islam is a religion of peace,'' he said. ``There are people who use the pretext of religion as an excuse to kill Jews, to kill Israelis, and now to kill Americans. And the president will oppose that with every fiber in his body.'' Muslims were angered last year when Bush described his war against terrorism as a ``crusade.'' The Crusades were wars fought in the Middle Ages after Christian armies traveled to Palestine, or what is now Israel, to attack the Muslim armies that then controlled Jerusalem.

Anglican Archbishop Becomes Druid By Al Webb United Press International London, Aug 5--(UPI) The newly designated archbishop of Canterbury donned a white cloak, stepped into a stone circle and became a druid at sunrise Monday--and immediately drew accusations of paganism from within the Church of England. The ceremony in the Welsh cathedral city of St. David's made Rowan Williams, currently archbishop of Wales, an honorary white druid in the highest of the three orders of the Gorsedd of Bards, a 1,300-strong society of Welsh-speaking poets, writers and musicians. Sniping from within the Anglican Church, of which Williams has been chosen the 104th archbishop of Canterbury, was quick in coming. "This ceremony certainly looks pagan," the Rev. Angus Macleay, a leading member of the church's evangelical wing, told British Broadcasting Corp. radio. Williams swiftly struck back, insisting it was "deeply offensive" to label either himself or the Celtic Gorsedd of Bards as pagan. "Some people have reached the wrong conclusion about the ceremony," he said. He described the druidic award as "one of the greatest honors which Wales can bestow upon her citizens." Supporters pointed out that the Welsh cleric was in good company, since the late actor Richard Burton and Queen Elizabeth II's late mother also were white druids. The Gorsedd actually started in London in 1792 as a society dedicated to promoting Welsh descendants who have made a distinguished contribution to Wales. It was the nature of the hour-long ceremony itself, at the National Eisteddfod celebration of Welsh culture, that appeared to rile some of the Anglican Church's conservative evangelicals. As the sun dawned over St. David's, Rowan Williams--clad in a long, white cloak with no headdress--arrived at the circle of stones to a fanfare of trumpets and the sheathing and unsheathing of a 6-foot 6-inch sword. As hymns were sung and poetry recited in Welsh, Williams took the Bardic name of ap Aneuri, after a 6th century Welsh poet and a modern politician, Aneurin Bevin, the architect of Britain's National Health Service more than a half-century ago. Angus Macleay, a member of the Anglican Church's Evangelical Reform Group, said Williams, who will succeed to the archbishopric when George Carey steps down in October, "needs to consider what will other people, non-Welsh members of the Anglican communion, think he is doing." "How will it help African bishops and pastors seeking to draw people away from paganism to follow Christ, when they see him involved in this sort of activity?" Macleay asked. Williams insisted the ceremony had no links with the "pot-smoking layabout" pagans and druids who meet regularly at Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument of monoliths on England's Salisbury Plain. He said the suggestion "that the Gorsedd is even remotely associated with paganism is deeply offensive--not just in the suggestion that I would wish to associate myself in any way with paganism, but also to those people of goodwill in Wales who appreciate the Gorsedd and Eisteddford for the color and culture which they bring to Wales's national life." "The word 'druid'," Williams explained, "is used because when the Gorsedd was founded ... (founder) Iolo Morganwg had a fantasy that ancient Britain, prior to the Romans, Saxons and the English, was a country where druids had supremacy." "Not in the religious sense," he added, "but as leaders of their communities."

Economically Stressed Argentines Pray to Patron Saint of Work By Brian Byrnes Associated Press Buenos Aires, Aug. 7--(AP) The line stretched for blocks Wednesday as tens of thousands of worshippers, carrying rosary beads and long stems of wheat, descended on a church where they believe all their prayers will be answered. Even as U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill was visiting the Economy Ministry with hopeful talk of an economic turnaround, jobless Argentines were calling on their favorite saint to get the job done. Wednesday was Saint Cayetano day, when Argentina's Roman Catholics pay annual homage to the patron saint of work and prosperity. With the unemployment rate now at a record 22 percent and more than half of Argentina's 36 million people living in poverty, the number of visitors to Saint Cayetano Church has soared in recent years. Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to visit and pray before the end of the day this year. "Every time I come here I ask him to help me find a job. It has not happened yet, but he will help me. I'm sure of it," said Voldanero Alvarez, a former factory worker who has been unemployed for four years. For the past 70 years, thousands have made the pilgrimage on Aug. 7 to the working class district of Liniers, northwest of Buenos Aires, to pay respects to Saint Cayetano, whom many Catholics believe can bring them "peace, food and work." Lastenia Morales, a 67-year-old retiree, said she barely survives on her pension of 100 pesos a month, worth only dlrs 35 these days. "We've never had a time like this in Argentina. I suffer every day for the mistakes of our government and leaders. That is why I come here to ask for salvation," she said, shuffling along on a rusty metal cane. Many stood in line for hours - some camped out for days or weeks - waiting to touch the faded red and white statue of Saint Cayetano. Church workers kept the crowd moving. After some touched the icon, they hugged the waiting priests. Others prayed on their knees, weeping. "I came here to ask for work to help my family eat," said Antonio Frutos, 48, who came with his wife, five children and four grandchildren. I haven't worked for several months, but thankfully my older sons help put food on the table for all of us," he said as he clutched white plastic rosary beads dangling from his neck. His grown daughter sat in an old beach chair, breastfeeding her infant grandson. Like many others, she had waited all night. "We came to ask Saint Cayetano for our continued health and for work. We always have hope," said Frutos. Hope is the only thing that many in Argentina have these days. But even that is hard to come by. Four years of crippling recession, hunger and desperation sparked deadly riots in December that claimed 29 lives. Those protests toppled an elected president, and triggered default and devaluation, and brought about continued denials of fresh international assistance from international lending agencies. A parish priest, Carlos Bernardone, said the people are suffering but find solace by coming together at this time of year. "The people of Argentina's faith is always strong," he said, pausing between taking confessions. "Lots of these people can't even afford to take the train or bus here anymore, so they walk, some of them for hundreds of kilometers (miles)." But if faith is strong, the commercial aspect of the saint's day is even stronger outside the church walls. Narrow streets surrounding the church bustled with boisterous food vendors selling homemade meat pies and chocolates. Inside the stores, shoppers mulled over rows of religious candles and crosses. Business was brisk inside Cuzco Cien, a shop where owner Raul Sanchez was busy restocking sweet-smelling incense. "I'm selling lots of things, but it is all the cheap stuff, for one or two pesos. Nobody is buying anything expensive this year." While most people came to pray for work and food, others came to mourn. It's been a year of joblessness, poverty and rising crime, all blamed on the crippling crisis. "I come here every year to ask San Cayetano for help, but this year I am here to say a prayer for Franco," said Hector Cisneros, who was wearing a button with the picture of his 19-year-old cousin who was killed six months ago in a robbery attempt.

Bishop Denounces Defectors' Helpers The Associated Press Havana, Aug. 7--(AP) A Roman Catholic bishop said Wednesday that young Cubans were pressured to stay in Canada during Pope John Paul II's visit there last month. "Never before has a church delegation been wrapped up in something similar," said Bishop Carlos Baladron, president of the youth commission of Cuba's Conference of Catholic Bishops. "From our first days in Canada there were notable pressures by some people living there ... exhorting the Cubans not to return to their country," Baladron said in a statement sent to international news organizations. Of 200 people who traveled to Canada with the Cuban church delegation, 23 stayed behind, the bishop said. Baladron, bishop from Cuba's eastern province of Guantanamo, headed the delegation. The prelate said several dozen young people from other countries also stayed behind in Canada during the World Youth Day encounter with the pontiff in Toronto. Baladron said news coverage of the Cubans' defection "indicates that a religious event such as this ... can be taken advantage of by those with determined politic interests." The Cuban delegation left for Canada on July 18 and returned Aug. 2. It was the first time that the communist government had authorized such a large group to travel abroad for a Roman Catholic gathering.

China Gets Dalai Lama Barred from Cambodian Conference By Chris Decherd Associated Press Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 7--(AP) The Dalai Lama will not be invited to Cambodia for an international Buddhism conference in December because of China's opposition, a government spokesman said Wednesday. The presence of the Tibetan spiritual leader would have infuriated China and violated Cambodia's own policy of supporting Beijing's view that Tibet is part of China, Khieu Kanharith said, adding, "China requested that the Dalai Lama not be invited." He said Cambodia agreed to the request several months ago "for diplomatic and political reasons." The World Buddhist Summit will be held Dec. 5-7 in Cambodia and attract some 100 Buddhist leaders from at least 16 countries, Cambodian organizers said. More than 1,200 members of Japan's Nenbutsushu sect, the summit's primary sponsor, are also expected, they said. The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, attended the first World Buddhist Summit in Japan in 1998. He was not invited to the 2000 conference in Thailand, they said. Chorn Iem, secretary of state for the Cults and Religion Ministry, said Wednesday that organizers would have been honored to have the Dalai Lama in attendance. "If China agreed to invite him, we would have done it," Chorn Iem said. A civil war split China and Taiwan 53 years ago, and Beijing says the self-ruled island must unify eventually or face war. Khieu Kanharith said Beijing requested that the Taiwanese delegation attending the conference be formally recognized as being from a Chinese province. China is the fifth-ranking foreign investor in Cambodia and its government has provided the Cambodian government millions of dollars in loans and grants for development projects.

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