gHari

" The philosophical conclusions on the path of bhakti available in the Srimad Bhagavatam have no parallel in any other scripture. Just as all the incarnations of the Lord, like Matsya, Kurma and so on are self manifest and appear and disappear at will similarly, the Srimad Bhagavatam is not a text composed by ordinary mortals. It is transcendental, hence it also appears and disappears by God's will. The Bhagavatam having disappeared has once again appeared on the tongue of Srila Vedavyasa by the causeless mercy of Lord Krsna. The esoteric truth about the Supreme Lord is inconceivable as is the Srimad Bhagavatam. This is the verdict of all the scriptures."

The Srimad-Bhagavatam is johnnie-come-lately? It is sometimes manifest and sometimes covered but it is eternal. krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [<a href=http://vedabase.net/sb/1/3/28/en target=new>SB 1.3.28</a>] establishes Lord Krishna as the greatest incarnation for He comes in the 8th advent in His original most intimate form.

Here's an everyday story from the The "Science of Self Realization" by A.C. Bhaktivedanta:<blockquote>A screw that is connected with a machine is valuable because it is working with the whole machine. And if the screw is taken away from the machine, or if it is faulty, it is worthless. My finger is worth millions of dollars as long as it is attached to this body and is serving the body. And if it is cut off from this body, then what is it worth? Nothing. Similarly, our relationship is that we are very small particles of God; therefore our duty is to dovetail our energies with Him and cooperate with Him. That is our relationship. Otherwise we are worthless. We are cut off. When the finger becomes useless the doctor says, “Oh, amputate this finger. Otherwise the body will be poisoned.” Similarly, when we become godless we are cut off from our relationship with God and suffer in this material world. If we try to join again with the Supreme Lord, then our relationship is revived. </blockquote>

Yet we are still too dull to see through our own sham as we stand tall dressed in saffron for the play, expecting soon to be gopis. We shrink Sri Krsna until we feel He is qualified to enter our world. It is not that Krsna that I want.

Yes, people will continue to use God to support their own desires for fortune and fame, murder, theft and ego-maintenance. Sa mahatma sudurlabhah who can overcome their basic nature and approach the goal ... one in many millions. We are indeed little more than animals.

But can't you see the difference in the people around you at Christmas as they all chant Merry Christmas? You can see the effects of electricity all around. We need to see beyond the words - it is in the heart where it all happens.

Someone listening to their iPod reading this thread on their computer is debating the existence of electricity. It all seems so far-fetched at Christmas.

From a lecture about the Teachings of Lord Caitanya [...] The word caitanya means living force. As living entities, we can move, but a table cannot because it does not possess living force. Movement and activity may be considered to be signs or symptoms of the living force. Indeed, it may be said that there can be no activity without the living force. Although the living force is present in the material condition, it is not amrta, immortal. The words caitanya caritamrta, then, may be translated as "the character of the living force in immortality." [...]

From original Macmillan 1972 Bhagavad-gita 2.20p [...] Qualitatively, the small atomic fragmental part of the Supreme Spirit is one with the Supreme. He undergoes no changes like the body. Sometimes the soul is called the steady, or kUTastha. The body is subject to six kinds of transformations. It takes its birth in the womb of the mother's body, remains for some time, grows, produces some effects, gradually dwindles, and at last vanishes into oblivion. The soul, however, does not go through such changes. The soul is not born, but, because he takes on a material body, the body takes its birth. The soul does not take birth there, and the soul does not die. Anything which has birth also has death. And because the soul has no birth, he therefore has no past, present or future. He is eternal, ever-existing, and primeval--that is, there is no trace in history of his coming into being. [...] From Back to Godhead 1956 'Shri Krishna - the Supreme Vedantist' [...] In order to clear the matter more distinctly the Supreme Vedantist Shri Krishna says that 'Sarbani Bhutani' i.e., all the living common entities beginning from 'Brahma,' the original grandfather of the living being, down to the insignificant ant all are fallible creatures whereas the Supreme Brahman is 'Kutastha' or one who never changes his place or position. In the "Amarkosha" the word "Kutastha" is explained as follows: "That which remains in perfect order for all the time is called 'Kutastha.'" So the Kutastha Purusha or the "Akshara Purusha" or the Vishnu Tatwa is different from the Kshara Purusha or the ordinary living being subjected to the conditions of material nature. This distinction between the ordinary living being and the Supreme Lord is explained in the Bhagwat (11.16.11) [...] [...] So the ordinary 'yogins' in the state of trance do experience the presence of localized aspect of 'Paramatma.' This Paramatma is Iswara or the Supreme Lord but not the 'Jivas' or the controlled being. 'Paramatma' is the Super Soul. The thesis that 'Paramatma' and 'Atma' is equal and the same is a wrong theory. Had it been so then there was no need of adding the word 'Param' or the superior to the word 'Atma.' That makes the difference more clear. Paramatma is Abyaya i.e., Akshara or Kutastha without any change. He does not become subjected to the conditions of material nature. This is the truth in all Upanishad. The Paramatma and the Atma both have been compared with two birds sitting on the tree of this material body. But one is observing the activities of the other as witness and not taking part in the action. The neutral observer is therefore Paramatma and the stage actor is the Atma. When the Atma stops his material activities in the state of nirvikalpa samadhi, he is called a perfect yogi. So this 'yogi' is better spiritualist than Jnanin who will after many births of speculation become a Mahatma to observe the lotus feet of Vasudeva. [...]

One might ask "What is this universal Christ consciousness that Yogananda calls Krsna consciousness".

CC Adi 5.224 quotes Bhakti-rasAmRta-sindhu (1.2.239): "My dear friend, if you are indeed attached to your worldly friends, do not look at the smiling face of Lord Govinda as He stands on the bank of the YamunA at KezIghATa. Casting sidelong glances, He places His flute to His lips, which seem like newly blossomed twigs. His transcendental body, bending in three places, appears very bright in the moonlight."

Svarupa, you should have just apologized and never done it again. That's all I care to say, or to hear. You can see me a sentimental fool if you like - that too is meaningless.

Here's a brief introduction into the mystery of our existence from the <a href=http://vedabase.net/iso/en target=new>Sri Isopanisad</a> (to listen to it click HERE): <center> oM pUrNam adaH pUrNam idaM pUrNAt pUrNam udacyate pUrNasya pUrNam AdAya pUrNam evAvaziSyate </center> oM--the Complete Whole; pUrNam--perfectly complete; adaH--that; pUrNam--perfectly complete; idam--this phenomenal world; pUrNAt--from the all-perfect; pUrNam--complete unit; udacyate--is produced; pUrNasya--of the Complete Whole; pUrNam--completely, all; AdAya--having been taken away; pUrNam--the complete balance; eva--even; avaziSyate--is remaining. The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance. PURPORT The Complete Whole, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is the complete Personality of Godhead. Realization of impersonal Brahman or of ParamAtmA, the Supersoul, is incomplete realization of the Absolute Complete. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is sac-cid-Ananda-vigraha [bs. 5.1]. Realization of impersonal Brahman is realization of His sat feature, or His aspect of eternity, and ParamAtmA realization is realization of His sat and cit features, His aspects of eternity and knowledge. But realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all the transcendental features--sat, cit and Ananda, bliss. When one realizes the Supreme Person, he realizes these aspects of the Absolute Truth in their completeness. Vigraha means "form." Thus the Complete Whole is not formless. If He were formless, or if He were less than His creation in any other way, He could not be complete. The Complete Whole must contain everything both within and beyond our experience; otherwise He cannot be complete. The Complete Whole, the Personality of Godhead, has immense potencies, all of which are as complete as He is. Thus this phenomenal world is also complete in itself. The twenty-four elements of which this material universe is a temporary manifestation are arranged to produce everything necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. No other unit in the universe need make an extraneous effort to try to maintain the universe. The universe functions on its own time scale, which is fixed by the energy of the Complete Whole, and when that schedule is completed, this temporary manifestation will be annihilated by the complete arrangement of the Complete Whole. All facilities are given to the small complete units (namely the living beings) to enable them to realize the Complete Whole. All forms of incompleteness are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the Complete Whole. The human form of life is a complete manifestation of the consciousness of the living being, and it is obtained after evolving through 8,400,000 species of life in the cycle of birth and death. If in this human life of full consciousness the living entity does not realize his completeness in relation to the Complete Whole, he loses the chance to realize his completeness and is again put into the evolutionary cycle by the law of material nature. Because we do not know that there is a complete arrangement in nature for our maintenance, we make efforts to utilize the resources of nature to create a so-called complete life of sense enjoyment. Because the living entity cannot enjoy the life of the senses without being dovetailed with the Complete Whole, the misleading life of sense enjoyment is illusion. The hand of a body is a complete unit only as long as it is attached to the complete body. When the hand is severed from the body, it may appear like a hand, but it actually has none of the potencies of a hand. Similarly, living beings are part and parcel of the Complete Whole, and if they are severed from the Complete Whole, the illusory representation of completeness cannot fully satisfy them. The completeness of human life can be realized only when one engages in the service of the Complete Whole. All services in this world--whether social, political, communal, international or even interplanetary--will remain incomplete until they are dovetailed with the Complete Whole. When everything is dovetailed with the Complete Whole, the attached parts and parcels also become complete in themselves.

Our life is centered on God. We should be always conscious of that and of His relationship with everything, including ourselves.

The place where the infinitesimal individual soul meets the infinite Supersoul is known as bhakti (devotion, love). They meet in a loving relationship. Each living being has three things, eternally: the self, God and devotion. Devotion joins the self with God. That relationship is our reality, our hidden forgotten identity.

FYI: I choked on the spelling 'Xmas". It may put off others too.

Today, everybody became like me. I didn't feel like the odd-ball at work yesterday as almost everyone was engaged in Hari nama as they left the office. Hare Krishna they said as they left. It sounded like Merry Christmas, but it was Hare Krsna. Yes, indeed, Merry Christmas! Welcome to my world. We defeated the political correctness of silence at last.

I don't get it. I like the quotes/videos from various gurus and sadhus. Merry Merry

It is about always being conscious of God.

Will they now try to force ISKCON to murder sheep? The Ratha Yatra should proceed as scheduled, as Prabhupada would have it. The rabble-rousers are already defeated. Who in ISKCON believes that they have been dragging Lord Jagannatha out of His temple against His will all these years? Don't listen to these buffoons.

These MP3 files can be put on a CD as audio. This is what my car likes to hear: http://www.radiokrishna.com/rkc_archive_new/index.php?q=f&f=%2FMusica+-+Music+L-Z%2FVrindavana+Mellows And two half-hour japa sessions: http://www.radiokrishna.com/rkc_archive_new/Musica%20-%20Music%20A-K/Bhaktivedanta%20Swami%20Prabhupada/RKC%20Live%20Stream%20-%20Bhaktivedanta%20Swami%20Prabhupada%20-%20Chanting%20Japa%20Part%2001.mp3 http://www.radiokrishna.com/rkc_archive_new/Musica%20-%20Music%20A-K/Bhaktivedanta%20Swami%20Prabhupada/RKC%20Live%20Stream%20-%20Bhaktivedanta%20Swami%20Prabhupada%20-%20Chanting%20Japa%20Part%2002.mp3

1974

So in BG 7.7 quoted above Krsna sees two things: 1. sarvam idam - all that be which we see 2. mayi - Me These are the two, but one rests on Him like pearls are strung on a thread. Therefore both are Him and yet He sees them as different -- Him and all that He can see.

We all have a ticket for the show. You can't put a price on that.

I wish I was rich when they sold the Gitas for a buck. I could have just given them away walking down the street. If they aren't attracted they'll give the Gita to their friends who may be, and on and on, until someone with ears to hear finds it in ther hands. Buck versus a quarter - I'd take the buck. Better shelf-life. If I was giving out small books on computer-printed paper I wouldn't even suggest a donation. Some people will just give to cover your costs because of a good upbringing, while others will feel like you're doing business in the street. God is rich and powerful; surely He can manifest some paper or a book. Quality not quantity is what we learned in sales school. Qualifed prospects produce sales (of tickets to the Kingdom) - shotgun campaigns rarely hit the mark. Let Krsna qualify the prospects.