theist

March 1, 2002 -- Vegparadise News Bureau Tropicana Is Bugging Your Juice Like many people who read labels on products, Shari Feinberg was shocked to find that Tropicana was "bugging" her grapefruit juice. When Shari purchased her Tropicana Season's Best Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice last month, she learned the ingredient that gave the beverage its bright red color was carmine. Carmine is derived from the cochineal beetle, a scale insect that is crushed to create this red dye. Shari's shock led to a phone call to the company. She told the representative, "I don't want to drink crushed insect bodies in my juice. I asked why they couldn't use something like beet juice instead. The nice lady in customer relations took down my comments and said she'd pass them along." When VIP called Tropicana ( a division of Pepsico) to ask for a list of juices that contained cochineal or carmine, the representative was surprised to learn that both were derived from insects. She said the company had no list of juices that contained these colors. She advised us to read the labels and that all ingredients were clearly indicated on those labels. A spot check at a local supermarket revealed another juice that had been "bugged." Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Strawberry is "made from fresh oranges, not concentrate, 100% pure squeezed orange juice with calcium and strawberry and natural flavors and ingredients." The ingredients listed were "100% pure squeezed pasteurized juice, Fruit Cal (calcium hydroxide, malic acid, and citric acid), banana puree, white grape juice concentrate, strawberry juice concentrate, natural flavors, and cochineal extract (color). The customer relations representative assured VIP that carmine and cochineal are natural colors, and correctly so. She read us this definition of a natural color: "a natural color is derived from animal, plant or mineral sources." Cochineal and its derivative carminic acid have a long history going back to pre-Hispanic Mexico when the Mixtec Indians used the dried and ground insects to create a color-fast red dye for fabrics. In the 1900's cochineal-derived dyes began to appear as a food color in pork sausage, pies, dried fish and shrimp, candies, pills, jams, lipstick, rouge, and bright red maraschino cherries. When red aniline dyes, a coal tar product, appeared in the1870's they began to replace cochineal in the production of fabrics. They did not replace the cochineal in food until later in the 1900's. Because red aniline dyes 2 and 40 are both believed to be carcinogenic, cochineal is now being reconsidered as a safe food dye. The Center for Science in the Public Interest in its Chemical Cuisine: CSPI's Guide to Food Additives describes carmine/cochineal extract as follows: "Cochineal extract is a coloring extracted from the eggs of the cochineal beetle, which lives on cactus plants in Peru, the Canary Islands, and elsewhere. Carmine is a more purified coloring made from cochineal. "These colorings, which are extremely stable, are used in some red, pink, or purple candy, yogurt, Compari, ice cream, beverages, and many other foods, as well as drugs and cosmetics. "These colorings have caused allergic reactions that range from hives to life-threatening anaphylactic shock. It is not known how many people suffer from this allergy. "The Food and Drug Administration should ban cochineal extract and carmine or, at the very least, require that they be identified clearly on food labels so that people could avoid them. Natural or synthetic substitutes are available. "A label statement should also disclose that, Carmine is extracted from dried insects so that vegetarians and others who want to avoid animal products could do so."

yes that's it, carmine. Mostly from India. I don't think petroleum based wax is all that is used on foods though. I look for an article later.

People in general and unfortunately so-called leaders are hiding their heads in the sand hoping the terrorists will either die out or get bored and go away. Neither will happen.

Everything with only perhaps a few exceptions in this present culture is contaminated. The best way I have found is to only buy unprocessed ingredients and put them together yourself. Even that waxy coating we find on veggies is filthy. It comes from a certain insect (whose name I have forgotten). Wouldn't it be nice if we could buy produce and other food items from devotee run and owned stores?

Homosexuality & Spirituality [From an Interview with Siddhasvarupa dasa] Q: Many homosexuals seem to be experiencing an identity crisis. They don't know who they are. They are in men's bodies but they feel like enjoying as women (homosexual) or they are in women's bodies but they feel like enjoying as men (lesbians). So are these people men or women? A: Neither. Just because a person is in a male body doesn't mean that the person is male; and just because a person or soul is in a female body doesn't mean that the person is a female. This is because the person or soul is not the material body, you are not your body, I am not my body. The body is like a suit of clothes that you are wearing temporarily. At death you will leave this suit of clothes behind and it will be buried in the dirt or burned to ashes. Your body may be female, black, brown or white, American or Filipino, fat or skinny, tall or short, etc. But since you are not the physical body -- since you are the eternal soul only temporarily in the body -- it can ultimately be said you are not any of these labels like male, female, black, white etc. These are bodily designations only but you are not the body. Q: So if I am in a male body and feel a desire to enjoy as a female -- am I in fact a female, or if I am in a female body but I desire to enjoy as a male, am I in fact a male? A: No. I have explained that the person is not the gross physical body but this doesn't mean that the person is the subtle physical body. You must realize that the mind and material desires are a subtle physical body which is also like a suit of clothes over the person or soul. The gross material body made up of the elements earth, water, fire etc., can be compared to the jacket and shirt and the subtle material body composed of the mind, material desires etc., can be compared to the undershirt or underwear. In fact you are not your jacket and shirt nor are you your underwear and undershirt. You are covered by a gross material body and a subtle material body. You are the eternal soul within these gross and subtle physical casings. Q: The identity crisis of homosexuals is "Am I a man because I have a man's body or am I a woman because I want to enjoy as a woman? Which am I, the mind or the body?" This is the question the homosexual is asking himself. Am I the particular type of external body that I have on or am I the desires that I feel? But what you are saying is that we are neither the external body nor the desires. -- You are not the gross physical body nor are you the mind and desires. -- A: Exactly. You are neither the mind nor the gross body. Both the gross body (male and female body) and the subtle body (mind and desires) are material coverings that you have on. Just because you are in a male body doesn't mean that you are male, similarly just because you are covered by the desire to enjoy as a female doesn't make you a female. You are not the gross physical body nor are you the mind and desires. You are the soul or person covered by these two bodies. You are not the gross or subtle body. You are the living entity situated within these bodies. The identity crisis exists for a person who is not aware of this fact. Q: So homosexuals who say they feel like women trapped in men's bodies are mistakenly identifying themselves as the mind and desires? A: Yes. Individuals in men's bodies but who want to enjoy as women should appreciate the fact that they are not women trapped in men's bodies, rather they are living entities covered up by the desire to enjoy as women, but their "female" desire is encased in a male body. In other words, they are actually identifying themselves to be the subtle body, the mind and desires. That is their mistake. A person can realize that the mind is not the self. Homosexuals, for example, can separate themselves from the tendency to enjoy as women. In other words they can see this tendency to enjoy as women as something apart from themselves; in the same way that they can experience their body as apart from themselves through meditation. A person says "my body", as if the body is his possession. Similarly, a person says, my mind, which points to the fact that the mind is also a possession of the person. I have a body and I have a mind -- but I am neither the body nor the mind. A person can watch images going through his mind in the same way that he watches television. He can act as a witness to the activities of the mind or he may dream and say, "Oh, I had a terrible nightmare", but as soon as the dream is gone, is he gone? No, he still exists. This means he is not the dream. The dream has ceased existing but he has not ceased existing. So he is not the mind. Similarly, desires continually change. A desire to enjoy in a certain way may exist, but then it goes away. But the living entity does not go away. The living entity, who is aware of that desire, continues to exist. The homosexual should be aware that his desires are changing from day to day, month to month, moment to moment. The person is the one who is aware of these ever-changing desires, feelings and thoughts. Homosexuals can say to themselves, "I am aware that I am now experiencing the desire to enjoy as a woman." By such meditation the homosexual comes to realize that such desires are apart from himself; that he can watch those desires as a witness; or he can try to rid his mind of them; or he can give in to them. The choice is his. If the homosexual chooses to (a) watch the desires come and go, if he is simply a witness to them, then he realizes that obviously he is not them, he is apart from them. He is merely a spectator, separated, watching the desires and thoughts go by. -- The person is trying to get a grip on the mind. This means that the person is not the mind. -- If the homosexual chooses to try to (b) rid himself of such perverted thoughts and desires, he will experience how hard it is to control them. This should act as further evidence to him that he is not those thoughts and desires. In other words, the very fact that a person has a hard time controlling the mind proves that the mind is something distinct from the person -- that the person is apart from the mind trying to control it. The mind is separate from the person. The person is trying to get a grip on the mind and make it do this and do that. This means that the person is not the mind. Furthermore, the very fact that a person has a choice between: A. watching the desires and thoughts as spectator; or B. trying to rid the mind of such thoughts and feelings; or C. giving in to and following the dictates of the mind and desires, is proof that the person is not the desires and thoughts. The person is the one who chooses between A., B. or C. Also, the person is the one who is aware that, "I have decided to give in to my desires" or "I have decided to try to control my desires". Q: Homosexuals can somehow experience that their gross body is something foreign; that they have the wrong kind of body on. Their subtle body does not match up with their gross body. How did this happen? A: This is all due to their desires and activities in their past life. Such desires and past activities have caused them to transmigrate to gross bodies which do not match up with their subtle body. Q: Some people may ask, "How can you prove that we actually transmigrate from one body to another?" A: This is not very difficult to show. As a matter of fact, we have already transmigrated from one body to another in this life. There is no question of what is going to happen later: As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change. -- Bhagavad-gita 2:13 The soul transmigrates from a baby body to a boyhood body, and then migrates into a young man's body. A person who used to live in a young body now lives in a middle-aged body, And a person who used to live in a middle-aged body now lives in an old body. The young body he used to live in is no longer there. Thus, there is no question whether or not there is transmigration of the soul. We see the process happening all around us. We see a person dropping off one body, then leaving that body and taking on another body. It is not the same body -- the body of an old man is not just an older version of the same body he had as a youth. All the cells have changed, the bones have changed, the whole body is different. This is a scientific fact. The body is made up of cells which are constantly being replaced. In fact, the dying process is going on at every moment. The body is constantly changing. In the same way that there is continuity through-out the gradual changes of the present body, there is continuity in the life of the conditioned soul. The desires that a person cultivates during the lifetime of the present gross body do not die when the material body dies. They remain with the living being and act as the link or connection with the next body. The bridge between one type of body and the next is the mentality of the living being -- the subtle body or mind. Q: How does the mind affect the gross body? A:The mind is the nucleus around which the gross body develops. The gross body is the reflection of the mind. The different types of bodies we see in the material world are simply external manifestations of the different desires or tastes of the different living entities. "The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aroma. " -- Bhagavad-gita 15:8 A person's consciousness or mentality at the time of death determines the type of gross body he will take on in his next life. And a person will naturally think of what is most dear to him at the time of death. It may be certain pleasures or experiences he is very much attached to or it may be the form of somebody he loves very much, the person he is most attached to. Whatever it may be, by the arrangement of material nature's laws which are under God's direction, he will either take on a body like the one he thinks of or he'll take on a body made specifically for enjoying the type of material pleasure he is most attracted to. In the case of homosexuals, such individuals in their previous lives were somehow or other attached to the male form. And at the time of death, they were thinking of the male form. Thus, they got male bodies in this life. However, because they still have some tendencies to enjoy as women, oftentimes, feminine traits are there in the subtle body. That is why sometimes it seems like these people are freaks of nature. But it is not nature's mistake. It is just that these persons had very, very strong desires to enjoy as women but they were simultaneously attached to men. The line between enjoying as a male or female is very thin. Q: What do you mean when you say, "The line between enjoying as a male or female is very thin"? A: During sexual intercourse, both parties are simply enjoying sexual stimulations. Whether one enjoys the stimulation with a female organ or with a male organ is a very minor point. The point is that during sexual intercourse itself, a person enjoys both sexual organs at one time. A person can't just enjoy his own sexual organ. But whether the instrument that a person or his partner is using is male or female, it doesn't really matter. All the person wants is the sex experience. That is what he is attached to. Q: Many homosexuals are found to have more female hormones than the ordinary men. Can you also explain how this happened? A: Hormones, chromosomes and the entire physical make-up of people are determined by the mentality of the individuals when they leave the body at the time of death. Because there are people who are attached to the male form but who still want to enjoy as females (i.e. they still have feminine desires such as the desire to have children or enjoy sex as women), this mental condition manifests on the gross physical level in the form of increased female hormones or certain modifications in physical make-up. As I've explained earlier, the mentality or consciousness that persons have when they leave the body at the time of death determines the type of body they will take on in their next life. Thus, if a person has the male form firmly implanted in his mind but still has some desires to enjoy as a woman at the time of death, he takes on a male body but one which has more female hormones. This is a very great science. People have to try to understand it as a science. This is not a belief. People must understand the reality of how the mind affects the gross body and how activities of the present body affect the mind. -- The consciousness that persons have at the time of death determines the type of body they will take on in their next life. -- Q: So if a person has more female hormones due to his desires to enjoy as a female, is he destined to be homosexual? A: No, You have to appreciate how this internal condition needs external stimulus to bring it to the forefront. In other words, you will usually find that an active homosexual was at one point a latent homosexual who did not need to get into it. But if the environment and social situation promotes homosexuality, then this internal condition is easily set into motion. Unfortunately, so-called modern society is increasingly providing the unwanted stimulus for people to become homosexuals. Through social acceptance of perverted homosexual activities, including the establishment and proliferation of homosexual nightclubs and saunas, society itself is making it so that more and more people are becoming homosexuals. The media is especially guilty of encouraging people who were not homosexuals before to become active homosexuals by propagating the idea that homosexuality is a normal and acceptable occurrence. -- Unfortunately, so-called modern society is increasingly providing the unwanted stimulus for people to become so-called homosexuals. -- Q: From a worldly morality point of view, activities are judged as good or bad according to the standards set by society. Homosexuality has always been judged as 'bad; now it's becoming 'OK'. But how would you judge homosexual activities from the Absolute point of view rather than from the viewpoint of worldly morality? A: If an activity is done for one's own pleasure, it is bad. But if an activity is done for the pleasure of God, then it is good. Actually, this is the only real basis for determining whether an activity is good or bad. Q: So from the Absolute viewpoint, is homosexuality right or wrong? A: In all scriptures, it is clearly stated that homosexuality is wrong. It goes against the laws of nature and of God. This does not mean, however, that all people who are engaging in heterosexual activities are completely free from sin. Illicit heterosexual activities are as sinful as homosexual activities. Q: What do you mean by the word "illicit"? A: Illicit means having sex without actually wanting to have children. It is having sex without making it possible for a soul to enter into the woman's womb so that the soul can be raised to love God. Even sex in marriage is considered illicit if it is engaged in simply for sense gratification and not procreation. It may not be as sinful as engaging in homosexual activities, but it is still displeasing to God. Heterosexual activities, then, are non-different from homosexual activities if they are both based on the selfish desire to enjoy matter. Q: But there must be some differences between engaging in homosexual activities and engaging in heterosexual activities. A: Yes. People can engage in heterosexual activities and be pleasing to God. Heterosexual activities for the purpose of having children do not go against the laws of nature and God. So, they actually please God. However, homosexual activities can never be pleasing to God. Why? Because the only reason people engage in them is for the purpose of gratifying their senses. They are only based on the selfish desire to enjoy matter. Q: Ultimately, you are saying that the only reason people engage in homosexual activities is because they want to enjoy sex. A: Yes. That is their only reason. Sexual pleasure is their life -- their God. Q: But this is also the goal of most heterosexual. A: Yes. But in this regard, the homosexuals are one step ahead of the heterosexuals. Homosexuality is the next step after illicit heterosexuality, because it eliminates the hassles that come with having sex. It is the practical solution in getting rid of problems such as supporting the wife and children and having responsibilities in married life. Without these hassles, homosexuals can enjoy sex more. And because the homosexuals have less hassles than the heterosexuals, then their position, in terms of enjoying sexual orgasm without trouble, is better than the heterosexuals'. The bisexuals, of course, claim that their position is the best because they can choose sex partners from 100% of the population rather than just 50%. -- The bisexuals claim that their position is the best because they can choose sex partners from 100% of the population. -- In this way, the choice of sex partner is based on the partner’s usefulness in satisfying the sex desire of the other person. The sex partner is seen simply as a sex object to enjoy with and exploit. This is a practical conclusion of the materialistic philosophy. Q: Which is? A: That everyone and everything in the world is meant for our enjoyment and exploitation. Materialistic people perceive others simply as objects to enjoy because they do not see that all living entities are eternal spirit souls who are part and parcel of God. Materialists think that they are the body. They conclude that they can become happy by making the body happy. So, everything and everyone is used to satisfy the desires of the body. They are after sense orgasms -- orgasms of the genitals, the eyes, the nose, the tongue, the ears and the skin. Q: From the materialistic point of view, it seems that the homosexuals and bisexuals have made it? A: Yes. They have succeeded in becoming the complete slaves of their senses. They have made it because they now have less "hang-ups". "Hang-ups'" is described in the concluding article on Guam in a recent Pan-Am magazine: "Since Guam has become a favorite area of the Japanese honeymooners, it is only logical to regard the island mainly as the resort of blushing but properly married couples. Regard again! Until recently, the Guam Visitors Bureau made a practice of observing numerical milestones in the influx of Japanese couples, honoring the lucky thousandth,two thousandth, and the like, with complimentary bridal suites, champagne, meals and other trimmings. To the embarrassment of the Guamanian officials, the news escaped that some of the couples so feted were not married. Guam obviously is a place for FREE SPIRITS." From this article, we get the idea of what a "free spirit" is! One who does what he wants without any restrictions. A "free spirit" thinks, "I do not have any 'hang-ups'. Previously, I used to have this 'hang-up' about having sex with someone other than my wife/husband. But now, I do not have that 'hang-up' any more. I can enjoy sex without any restriction." A homosexual, then, has one "hang-up" less. He thinks, "I used to be 'hung-up' with my wife. Then I became more free. Now, I can enjoy other women without feeling any guilt whatsoever. It is great! My wife has started to do the same thing with other women. What do I think about it? Well, it is all right. After all, we are both "free spirits". And now, it is even better. I have gone one step further. I not only enjoy women but I now enjoy the men too. Previously, half the population was totally off limits to me. Now I can enjoy everyone -- men and women – without any 'hang-ups'." And maybe, if he becomes more free, he will come to the point of having sex even with pigs and dogs. Without any "hang-ups", of course. Q: Most Filipinos would think that this is an exaggeration. A: It is not an exaggeration, This is actually going on in the United States and Europe. It may not be a far-fetched idea that, soon, people will start suggesting that we should become homosexuals to solve the population problem. I am just waiting for the Planned Parenthood Association to back up homosexuality as the practical solution to overpopulation. They might even teach it in schools -- women for women and men for men.

well, it is obviously unnatural, just the formation of the bodies into two distinct genders tells us that. Prabhupada refered to it as demoniac. That is really all we need to knowabout it. But current sociological forces are throwing the issue up in our face. How does this gender confusion generate within the mind of someone? I'll post an article below by one of Prabhupada's disciples that explains this.

Prabhupada also wanted devotee farms where cows would be protected and the milk from those protected cows would supply the temples. If someone can offer commercial milk to krsna after all these years while knowing how the cows and calves are treated then what can I say. Just I won't waste time listening to their preachments on cow protection. Haribol

he said it was alright for a hobby. The thing is as a method for self realization forget it. This atma yoga is not the first. I hope it becomes as big as Wai Lana yoga. She is Siddha's disciple. Better Hatha Yoga than carrying around and extra 50 pounds of ghee that's for sure.

yashodanandana, Here's the thing. Even though I first became vegan for health reasons I later learned of the ethical considerations we are really superior in my opinion. Again I am only speaking of the west. I don't know what goes on in India. But here milk is without question a product of great violence to cows. That can't be denied. I know devotees like to preach on cow protection but that arguement coming from someone who is drinking milk which is intimately connected with cow slaughter has little meaning. I know devotees have their hearts in the right place but individually I can only ask the people really consider this point. If you drink milk from cows that are protected this doesn't apply to you but then you are the very rare person indeed. This isn't the happy land of Vrndaban where the little calves run and play with Krsna the cowherd boy.

Well I'll eat the maha without hestitation. Many times I have been in this position. But I'll only take a small amount. Sunday feast I avoid the milk preps. This should not become a divisive issue during one's visit to the temple. Gaura Nitai, Radha Krsna worship is what a temple is about. Not creating factions. I will even take a very small amount of some subji that has been cooked in ghee, or as the practice is now drowning in ghee. Very rarely though as there is usually something else. I avoid statements like "No thanks, I'm vegan, I don't eat anything that has to do with cow slaughter" etc. I wonder what non-vegan devotees do when offered something they just don't like. Do they eat a plate full or maybe just a taste to honor the prasad? Or pass altogether? If I was a householder who ate dairy and had a guest coming by who knew was vegan I would prepare some vegan preps in addition so as not to place them in an awkward position. I would also do the same at the Sunday feast. Veganism is a growing trend. As Prabhupada told Aniruddha, (who was LA tem-ples original cook) that two patties of butter a day is sufficent for brahmacaris. I remember a devotee who used to eat straight butter a quarter pound at a time because he thought it would increase his intelligence. He carried it with him on sankirtan. I think people generally over emphasize their so-called need for milk products. Now I also recollect an incident at Ratha-yatra. One guru was giving a talk at a booth and a vegan girl walked by and challenged him on the merits and demerits of dairy consumption. She won on points I thought, hands down. The guru could only say "well the cows are receiving benefit by our offering the milk." She was also very rude and angry and called hin fat because of all the butter he was eatting.But she was correct on the cruelty points nontheless. But the so-called justification that cow slaughter (which is what dairy consumption is) was justified in our culture because we chant some mantras has always struck me as rather weak. Remember I am speaking of unprotected cows here, which is 99.99%(if not more) of the cows in the West.

Haribol mud. It is always nice to meet devotees and especially nice that you are interested in this issue. I am on the west coast but not R. Yeah I know the pressure some of them feel they must bring to bear. I adopted a vegan instead of vegetarian lifestyle initially because I can't digest dairy. Devotees would often tell me I must have been a big demon in my previous life to not be able to digest milk. I can't deny the demon status so I don't argue with them on that. Recently while in Vrndaban I was called a traitor for being a vegan. lol Again I didn't argue but did make a comment as to that being the wrong reason to view me as such. I like the fact that you choose to think for yourself on these issues. It's true on can never have clean hands. Even the most conscious person will crush bugs on his way to harvest the tree ripened fruit that has fallen from the tree. So one should not be proud to live as a vegetarian or vegan. We can't approach the Lord as ones who have perfected themselves enough to gain entrance into His presence. But that argument is a really poor one in my estimation. Couldn't a meat eater say the same? We must use our God given intelligence in the matter. We preach cow protection on one hand and then support the cow slaughter industry directly on the other by using dairy. As you know these are not protected cows. I see no way to justify this. They are correct we must address the root problems. But that doesn't mean that we must give up all causes. Take animal rights. We can be active on this front and bring out Krsna conscious precepts at the same time. We can show that animals are conscious beings and that consciousness comes from the soul. In doing this we argue that the source of consciousness is not due to the body or brain but rather due to the presence of a spirtself within the body. We are not the body and neither are the animals. "The humble sage sees with equal vision..." So from making this argument a door is opened to reincarnation and karma. From there we can explain that the present animals in slaughterhouses are there because they slaughtered animals themselves when in human form. This is expanded compassion in that we are trying to prevent to present animal killers a similar fate. Devotees care for the killers as well as the killed. Similar arguments are there for the Pro-life cause. They can't pinpoint when life begins and that weakens their argument. We can show that life doesn't begin really but the self enters at conception and this presence of the lifeforce is what is at the foundation of the formation of the fetus and the life symptoms that it exhibits. So we add to these good movements and at the same raise them up a teach basic Krsna conscious principles at the same time. And often to an audience that wouldn't orinarily want to hear from us. I am finding that for me a slow gradual planting seeds approach works best. I have a tendancy to be rather blunt and abrupt which usually puts people into a defensive mode right off. You could do similar in your own fashion with enviromental issues or others. One important thing is to find your own voice in the issues that most concern you. Then separate our own minds misconceptions on those issues in favor of Krsna conscious ones. This is very important so we don't make mistakes in the name of Krsna consciousness. The main motive must remain to explain the spiritual science and these other causes are secondary. Most people are not interested in what the Vedic civilization of 5,000 years ago did or did not do. We have to be a bit creative and enter into the topics that are prevelant now with some eternal solutions. Haribol soul

Myra, I'll pass on the emailed photos. I would have liked a place to direct people to. Those other two were enough. Looked very real. God I hope not. But demons are the majority on this planet at least in power positions. So who knows. It is not unheard of for humans to eat humans on this planet. Krsna!!!

I never heasrd that one. There must be several for everyday he was among us. How I met Jayananda was kinda odd. Before the Ratha-yatra festival the San Francisco temple sent out a request to other temples that they needed help preparing everything. I was living outside the ashrama and decided I would go early and help. It took a few days to hitchhike to San Francisco and I arrived on a Sunday. Great feast. It came to be around ten and the temple was closing up. I explained to the temple commander that I had come early to help and asked if there was somewhere I could sleep. I was told that since I had hairs I would not be allowed to stay any longer, the temple was only for the shaved up. I was outside, didn't know the area(Mission district if you know that area), and rather bewildered as to what to do. Seeing my position a brahmacari said I could sleep in this particular van. So I crawled in and was about to go to sleep when two people jumped in. I was so embarrassed. The driver was initially startled but then explain they were headed for the carts and I should go along. The driver was Jayananda. He took me under his wing at that point and engaged me. Funny how Krsna's grace sometimes comes during apparent adverse conditions. About one year later the travelling sankirtana bus rolled up to the temple and I was hanging around so I went out to greet them. Turns out Jayananda was driving. He got out and said Haribol "theist" and asked how I was doing. He was concerned because he could see right off that I wasn't making nice advancement. I remember being so amazed that he not only remembered me but my name as well. I know this sounds like a small thing but it has stuck with me and remains a high point in my little life. It was also obvious that he and I lived in different worlds.

I hope this is a hoax, but jokes are half meant so it won't be long I'm afraid.

Thanks Myra, Can you provide a link to the pictures referenced aboved? I think people should be shocked and would like to pass such a link around. Kulapavana, looks like the sumptoms for this age are arriving much earlier than expected.

I also don't fit well into one of those designations. I am not a devotee. I can follow the rules and regs but just don't want to. I am definetly a fringy. But that needs to be qualified a little. I find myself on the fringe of Krishna consciousness. The term as I use it has nothing to do with being on the fringe of any socio/religious institution or culture. That would imply said institution or religious structure was the center that I am on the fringes of. Krsna Himself is the center. I am grateful for at least being on the fringe.

Unfortunately I believe it. If not then this report then the next one. Is this on the web some place?

I think this is a very important question. If we cannot give specifics answers then some will say that modern science has proved there is no need for a soul to have entered the womb of the naturally pregnant women. Myra, the only answer seems to be that these people are motivated for the money and fame and for that 'special' pleasure reserved for someone who thinks he can create life. Just think of the high and money that would come to one who could appear to control the creation of human life. Mad intoxicated scientists. What makes it worse is that they are also very intelligent.

what is fecondated?

Or was it the same guy that often dresses like a combination of Krsna and a gopi? Wears gopi dots around his eyes and hangs by the side of the temple next to the sweets shop? He always seemed harmless so maybe it's someone different. I think they just want to keep the place from becoming a circus.

I misread your post. I guess I am a little gun shy.

Let's not inflame this topic anymore. It is a silly and dangerous thing. There are pretentious "babajis' in Vrindabin and there are prentious preachers walking the streets and selling books. Pretentiousness is the enemy whereever it is found. That means even within us personally as well. So let's start there. Very dangerous how this topic keeps appearing. What will Krsna think if I spend time criticizing His beloved devotee who only chants His name all day and thinks of Him and His pastimes as part of his sadhana? What will He think if I criticize His devotee who everyday courageously walks through the manifest darkness searching for some soul to offer some light to in the form of the holy name or book? If someone is obviously cheating something will need to be said but that conversation needs to be approached correctly and cautiously. I've seen both sides of debates like this think they are defeating the other when it really looks to me like they are only stomping on their own creepers. Hare Krsna

Very recently in fact. Problem is it does not work. I would find myself standing outside of my body with all the same problems plus now 1 more. When very young the moon landing was announced. I couldn't help notice that we left trash there as we departed. That coupled with my depression and frustration over Viet Naim led me to the conclusion that as an act of kindness towards the universe at large all humans should participate in the act of human genocide before we polluted other planets. I was serious. I remember arguing my point to a woman that ran a John Birch Society booth at a local fair. She remarked that I was too young to hold such a view to which I asked her "How old do you have to be?" She had no answer. I have come up from that dark pit quite a good distance as I soon after developed a fledgling understanding of God. Recently I have come to understand the Buddhist motivation a little better. But really I do want to stop suffering but some void or conception of endless deep sleep is just as depressing. There is only one shelter. ONE period. Krsna's lotus feet. One depressing element; my unwillingness to love Him. Killing the body just won't work. We have to deal with that core impulse that caused us to turn away from Krsna way back when. There is one tree in the garden that we must not take the fruit of. The one that produces the knowledge of good and evil.

No set time. Temple inhabitants wake up at 3:30 or 4. Householders adjust their schedules and try to catch as much of the pre-dawn hours as possible as that is said to be the best time for meditation. The rest of us try to remember Krsna whenever we can. Chant Hare Krsna before you bath, during your bath and afterwards. The goal is to chant in our dream bodies at night also.

Well I know nothing of how the universe is laid out. I do accept that life was brought to Earth. Just a thought but what if the same beings who brought life to this Earth also dropped it off on other planets before this one. And then of course, others after Earth. Kind of like a chain of life-seed sowers planting a garden that eventually links back to Brahmaloka? That could account for the African religion you spoke of being correct in that life was brought here by some 'interplanetary travelers', but maybe not straight from Brahmloka. I don't know for sure, just speculating out loud. I'll check the site when I am not so sleepy. Hare Krsna