theist

Too funny. Just like this guy who claimed I was going to hell for not being a Christian. Can't remember the verse but I refered to one by Paul. He then said, "Paul who?" bhavini, ritvik just means officiating priest. Like in the olden days a kysatriya would want to do a sacrifice of some kind so he would employ some expert priest to do it on his behalf. Currently some disciples of Srila Prabhupada are claiming that Srila Prabhupada appointed such priests to act on his behalf afer he left his body.

I like this. Not that I feel the need to try and celebrate everything myself but it can expand our understanding of how others are trying to approach God. So can someone explain what the below refers to please? December 4 Maunajiyaras - JAINISM

Good point.

Ask the Lord in the heart to direct you. He knows who His true servant is. If there are several true devotees and servants He will direct you to the one that is most favorable to you according to your pyschology and whatever else He may consider. Don't rely on your mind for direction as in feelings and "I think he must be bona fide cause he seems like a guru and others say he is." Or then there is the "I saw a light around his head" approach. Best to just admit to the Lord that we can't tell who His devotee is and ask Him to direct us. Sticking to that will be found to be fool(us) proof.

let me ask a question that may also help illustrate the answer. The soul is the actual being, correct? It is not that I am a human and have a soul, rather i am a soul presently living as a human. So if the soul is the actual person, the life itself, How could anyone deny the that the animal forms also contain souls? There is an obvious difference between a dead animal body and a living one. The life has left. The soul is the life. The soul has left. Exactly the same with a human form. The mind does not die at the brain's death. It is of a more subtle constitution. Animals are on a natural progression, reincarnating up to the human form. Upon obtaining a human form if someone shows that they prefer to live as an animal just eating sleeping mating and defending then they forfeit the human form. The human form is very special because it is formed to accomodate the process of self and God realization. If we ignore these activities and just live like an animal then we show our preference for an animal form. Then one will be given to us. So the Krsna teachers tell us that no matter what religious form we may have the essential thing is to seek knowledge of our true self and our true relationship with God as His loving servants. This is a very interesting question druze. Hare Krsna

At your Harinam intiation didn't you make a promise to follow the 4 regs and chant 16 rounds a day? Why at the second Prabhupada then said for you only three should remain in effect? Please explain this further. You make it sound like Prabhupada ok'd your animal killing or something at you second intiation. Reminds me of the galva people saying in a secret unrecorded conversation Prabhupada ok'd homosex relations. How will you serve as a ksatriya. Protecting a temple or similar I hope. I would hate to see you one day on the news claiming Prabhupada said that as a ksatriya you had a right to kill miscreants in the streets. Try to recognize the danger of this sort of thinking.

MEVA LOL

exactly what is the point you are trying to make. It is hard to respond to such vaugery. Sorry.

Yeah Govindaram, I know what you mean. I experience that also and often. We fall into patterns that become stale. That is just a signal for us to apply more introspection in order for us to grow. It feels bad but is actually a good sign. The more genuine Krsna consciousness we gain the less we will be bored because Krsna is ever fresh. Eventually we will become bored with every material experience, that is with any experience that does not aim to please Krsna. Haridhams signature phrase comes to mind. If Krsna brings you to it then Krsna will bring you through it. I love that. Remembering it has helped me. Boredom is just a signal that we need Krsna to reveal Himself to us. It is a call to japa and prayer. Hare Krsna

"must be strictly vegetarian" Up that point of commitment we may be indulging in so many bad habits, but eventually they must be given up.

So who cares what people think of you? Nobody really knows themselve what to speak of knowing anyone else. So people relate to me a sentimental Christian, a ritvik,a vegan trouble maker, and so many other labels. You should've been around in the seventies. Anybody that lived outside of the temple was treated as a near non-entity, at least that was my experience. I was told I had only reached an advanced guest level. I was a little hurt at the time but have come to recognize Krsna's mercy. I have come to see that as special mercy from Krsna. He wouldn't let me join the clique. This is mercy to keep us from developing a false sense of religious 'in-crowdism' under the banner of associating with devotees. We SHOULD feel like an outsider in Krsna consciousness. Until we factually realize Krsna and love Him and are controled by the internal energy WE ARE OUTSIDERS. Who cares if we are accepted on an internet forum or a temple or a certain crowd of bhaktas, unless those bhaktas are self realized Krsna conscious individuals. All devotee association is valuable. But most are controlled by their minds just as we are. That means a changing panoramic of accepting and rejecting. The minds basis for this accepting and rejecting needs to be based on sound Krsna conscious realizations or it has no meaning. Eternal meaning is the only meaning we need be concerned with. As far as being "accepted" here or not, that attempt needs an upgrade. Don't desire to be accepted by others on a forum. This forum keeps us all thinking and remembering Krsna. That we should do in a proper and friendly manner of course but to become emotionally attached to being accepted or rejected won't lead anywhere. Heck man, I am in the process of rejecting the persona I displayed on the net last week. We are all evolving and we should remain together and help each other in the process. Hare Krsna

That's good news. I'll look into it.

She will grow up with all these stories and people seeing her in the street and praising her. What a hassal. Reminds me of that squirt Guru Maharaja ji. He was supposedly put up on the altar with a peacock feather stuck in his head and then worshipped as God from a very early age. Of course his mother fired him from his godhood when she found out he got into meat and woman. She then appointed his older brother Bhagavan(?) to be God in his place. Went to court and I lost track on which one the courts decided was the real God. Man, what morons. All they had to do was flip a coin and surely the real God would have made it come up for himself. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Thank you, it was a nice read. Too long to post all of. Here are a couple of excerpts that are the only ones I could find that might pertain to what you are talking of. ------------------- Prabhupäda: Four principles essential. Essential. But only the südras or the ksatriyas... Just like ksatriyas, they have to learn how to kill. So practically, they should go to the forest and kill some animal. And if he likes, he can eat also. If he likes, he can eat also. Hådayänanda: What he kills. Prabhupäda: Yes. But not from the slaughterhouse. Those who are ksatriyas, they can, they’re allowed sometimes to eat meat. It is understood Bhima, Bhima also eating sometimes meat. Bhima. Amongst the Pändavas, only Bhima. Not others. So if the ksatriyas, they want to eat meat, they can be allowed on particular occasions. But they must go to the forest and kill the animal. Not that for meat-eating regular slaughterhouses should be maintained. This is all nonsense, degradation. If you want to eat meat, you go to the forest. And the südras, they also sometimes eat meat. Or the candälas. Hådayänanda: But never the cow. Prabhupäda: No. Cow... The südras, they can take a goat and sacrifice before the deity, goddess Käli, and then eat. Nobody should be given unrestricted freedom to eat meat. Or wine. If one is adamant to drink wine, then there is Caëòé-püjä, Durgä-püjä. That means restriction. That means restriction. Under certain condition. <snip> Hådayänanda: So just to clarify, Prabhupäda, I want to make sure I have it very clear, that if someone comes to our varnäsrama college, even though this may be preliminary help, in general—you’ve made some exceptions—but in general, when they come to our college, they have to follow the four regulative principles, also learn something about Bhagavad-gétä and then, side by side, they learn a... Prabhupäda: Four regulative principles compulsory. Hådayänanda: Yes. Prabhupäda: But if some of the ksatriya or the südras, they want, so that is our prescription: “Go to the forest and kill some animal and eat that.” That’s all. You can kill one boar. Some disturbing elements, you can kill. You can kill some tiger. Like that. Learn to kill. No nonviolence. Learn to kill. ------------------------ So someone being trained as a ksatriya could be allowed to go to the forest and kill some animal like a boar of tiger who is disturbing some village or something, TO LEARN HOW TO KILL MISCREANTS IN HUMAN SOCIETY. He was allowed to eat what he himself killed. aside Pritha, How did you copy and paste that without having to go through it and edit out all the fancy (and distracting) diacritics? I hate those things. /images/graemlins/mad.gif

ISKCON, Prabhupada's matha was not rying to represent itself as all of Vedic history and tradition. It has been a while but I have read those references and I don't recall seeing anything about Prabhupada allowing his disciples to eat meat. If you think you are Prabhupada's disciple and are eatting animal flesh I must say you are in illusion on the matter. It would be helpful if guests' would sing their posts in some way as to differentiate themselves.

If one has accepted a spiritual master then these questions should be addressed to him for clarification I think.

I am unclear on what you are saying. Are you saying that at your second intiation ceremony someone told you what your varna was? And if your varna was one in which meat eating was supposedly allowed you could still be officaly in the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya and eat meat? And this was acknowledged somehow by Prabhupada? Forgive I am very confused.

WHAT?!?!????

Yes, all initiated Hare Krsna's agree to obstain from eating meat and moreover they offer all their food to Krsna before eating. Most (90%)of unitiated people who make up the general congregation also abstain from eating meat. But just from my own point of view not eating animals for food is not to me a religious tenent. The thought of inflicting such suffering on another living entity just so that I could taste it's body is abhorrent. I could not care less if we sudras can or cannot kill animals to eat. It is a foul practice. It is bad enough we are forced by nature's laws to eat veggies. Even strict fruitarians step on insects as they approach a tree to harvest its fruit. This material world, notwithstanding its emense beauty, is rightly called the place of death. Prabhupada cautioned not to be proud of being a vegetarian.

Muralidhar prabhu.

Along with the previous good advice make sure you are getting enough calcium and magnesium. Try 1,000 mg(gm) calcium to 500mg of magnesium. Also lots of water. The stretching that shiva mention should also be done, slowly and gently. For your condition you want to stretch the toes backwards so the muscles on the back of your leg feel the stretch. Just sit with the leg outstretched and pull back on the toes. A standing alternative can be done on the stairs or with a block of wood. On the stairs place the toes only on a step and slowly lean forward a little and try to touch to the stair or floor below with your heel. Horse chestnut sounds interesting and you can never go wrong with a full and balanced circulation. Good luck Hare Krsna

Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya 13.18: If a devotee accepts Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as the universal guru and Lord Jagganatha as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna, he is benefited by the combined mercy of Krsna and guru. Your cousin to you could be seen as a type of instructing spiritual master that has shown you the way. No need for some formal guru disciple relationship. That may actually slow his progress. Lord Caitanya is your guru. The holy name is also your eternal guru. The Lord in your heart is is your guru. Srila Prabhupada's instruction, his books, are your guru. And if the Lord in your heart desires it based upon your sincerity of purpose , He may bring someone else, His purified devotee, bodily into your life for even more association. No one is without guru. It is only a question of are we sincere enough to accept guru' instructions. As far as your desire to immediately start chanting God's names please do so. Even now as you are reading this post you can say Hare Krsna Hare Rama and even systematically start chanting on some beads. There is NO prior purification necessary. NONE. Krsna is the very source of your being. Your dearmost friend. You don't require anyone's permission to speak to your Lord who resides in your heart. He is the Soul of all souls. Who could be more intimate? Who is the most likely to steer us straight without fail? Many guru's will come into your life to teach you valuable lessons. Put your faith in the Lord in the heart to guide you. That guidance will be harmonious with what Prabhupada taught and we can pray to Him to hook us up with those that can help us understand Prabhupada and the previous teachers. Chanting Krsna's name is more natural than our next breath, so don't delay and start now. The details will follow in due course. Hare Krsna Hare Rama

Who says you can die? We can achieve deep states of slumber, awaken and then choose to sleep again, but die?, no way.

A softer side of Islam? Do they keep to the same practices only with a more liberal outlook or are they very different. I am also surprised that they run tv ads. Perhaps more widespread then I realized. I think I heard they are under some persecution by the radical Islamics in the Mideast.

but becoming adept at politicaly correct speak is not the solution. Devotees also say that there is religion in three modes. Groups of people allowing themselves to become possessed by ghosts while sliting the throats of chickens and sprinkling their blood all around is a far cry from Mahaprabhu's sankirtan. Many are fired up and want to push all forms of mayavad into oblivion. It seems to me the cure for intolerance is to become tolerant. Not to pretend all teaqchings are on the same level. The right to reject Krsna is in itself a holy God given right. To try and apply force to someone to think and feel like us concerning their chosen beliefs is anti-God. Doesn't mean we have to waterdown the message and become spinelesss in our presentation. I am presently trying to realize the particulars on this issue and could use some help in doing so. I sense there is a fine line here somewhere but I can't quite see it as of yet. Hare Krsna