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Sirona

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Posts posted by Sirona


  1. Jakov's last Apparition

     

    LAST REGULAR APPARITION OF THE QUEEN OF PEACE

     

    TO JAKOV COLO SEPTEMBER 12, 1998

     

    While on his journey in America Jakov reported the following text to us from Miami.

    "... On Saturday September 12th Our Lady came at 11:15 (local time)... with a gentle smile she said to me: Dear child! I am your mother and I love you unconditionally. From today I will not be

    appearing to you every day, but only on Christmas, the birthday of my Son. Do not be sad, because as a mother I will always be with

    you and like every true mother I will never leave you. And you continue further to follow the way of my Son, the way of peace and

    love and try to persevere in the mission that I have confided to you. Be an example of that man who has known God and God's love.

    Let people always see in you an example of how God acts on people and how God acts through them. I bless you with my motherly

    blessing and I thank you for having responded to my call. The apparition ended at 11:45."

     

    P.S. In a short telephone conversation with Fr. Slavko Barbaric, Jakov said that he cried for a long time and that he is very sad.

     

    Taken from: http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~marco/medjugorje/jakov.html

     

    ... a form of pure bhakti ... When the Ishvara leaves, the devotee is left behind heartbroken and can't do anything but cry ...

     

     


  2. Quote:

    Dear Sirona ji,

    I do not think that it will be possible for you to do meditation properly in that group if you do

    not like people in the group. So, it is better to do it alone or join another group.

     

     

    You are perfectly right. Those guys are not good for me but it is usually very difficult to admit that. I suppose I started the thread because I have been feeling the necessity to leave the group but I did not have the courage to admit it to myself. Thanks for your kind remarks which I really appreciated. Now I am going to take the chance to find some Krishna devotees in my area. Hope that I will be lucky. Hare Krishna.


  3. Dear friends,

    knowing that the Bhagavad Gita also recommends meditation I have joined a Buddhist group because I absolutely wanted to meditate together with others. My problem is not primarily that they are Buddhists but that they are selfish people I do not like to spend my time with, and that they teach odd things about sexuality, attachment to a certain guru by profession that I have neither trust nor faith in, and a general spirit that runs contrary to my personal sentiment of bhakti. I have no alternative to go if I want to meditate in a group and I am not sure whether it would be better to drop the meditation issue at all. In this situation I have no feeling about what Lord Krishna wants from me or would recommend me to do. So I am asking you what you consider to be the best - staying in or dropping it?

     


  4. Quoted from above:

    The actual distinction between eggs and milk is that Vaishnavas and Brahmans are to avoid that which is produced from blood and semen (which an unfertilized egg certainly is - there is the female equivalent of semen, called rakta, even though it was not penetrated by a sperm cell). Milk does not fall under that category. One could argue that plants have their own semen, but in this case it is about animal products produced from blood and semen.

     

    Good point. I actually did not know that. However, in a biological sense milk is produced from blood. Human or animal milk is composed by the use of the lipids, carbohydrates and proteines circulating in a mother's blood. Sometimes milk may even include hormons or medical drugs if the mother took them or if the mother animal was given them. That's why young mothers must not feed their babies if they are under a certain medical treatment. As a simplification one can clearly say that milk too, is produced from blood. How about that?


  5. Food restrictions:

     

    Well I am neither an Indian nor a Bhagavad Gita specialist but here is my opinion on food restrictions:

     

    Onions + garlic: Well, they stink. I have been reading the German Bhagavad Gita commentary by Peter Schreiner. Schreiner believes that the Gita presumeably has been written by a brahman priest, a person in an upper layer of the society. I suppose it was indecent for upper class people to eat onions and garlic. However, I know that eating garlic and onions was forbidden in 19th century European upper class families.

     

    Eggs: The discovery that eggs have to be fertilized to bring new life could only be made by using microscopes. I suppose before the existence of microscopes people just thought that eggs were "living beings" like animals because new life comes out of them. As far as my personal conscience is concerned I think that eating (infertilized) eggs is O. K. but I can understand if people do not agree and try to justify their opinions with the Gita for of cause the Gita does not make the distinction between fertilized and infertilized.

    Anyway eating to many eggs is harmful to one's health and the core of the Gita is not food but devotion to the Lord,

    Praise Krishna everyone.


  6. The film "Song of Bernadette" is based upon the novel "The Song of Bernadette". It was written by Franz Werfel, a German Jew, who during his escape from the Nazis had spent some time in Lourdes. He wrote it because he had made a vow to the Virgin Mary to re-tell the story of Bernadette Souberous in a book if She saved his life from the Nazis.


  7. The film "Song of Bernadette" is based upon the novel "The Song of Bernadette". It was written by Franz Werfel, a German Jew, who during his escape from the Nazis had spent some time in Lourdes. He wrote it because he had made a vow to the Virgin Mary to re-tell the story of Bernadette Souberous in a book if She saved his life from the Nazis.


  8. It is about the German Constitution. In Germany there are different types of highschools according to a student's performance. My task is to explain what, according to the Constitution, parents can do if their child shall be sent to a "school for the stupid" and they do not want to.

     

    By the way, I have been searching on the web about Lord Nityananda and I have found this amazing image:

    www.iskcon.net/nityananda/adbhuta_mandir.htm

     

    Unfortunately I do not know its meaning. Could anybody explain it to me, please?


  9. You may consider this to be a dumb question but I'll ask it anyway to obtain your advice.

    I have a kind of altar decorated with an image of Krishna and Arjuna and some candles and flowerpots around it. This morning I bought 2 peacock feathers to put into the flower pots. Now I am asking myself whether his is a suitable object to give to Krishna because it comes not from a plant but from an animal presumablely dead.

     

    In the Gita Krishna says: "Whosoever offers Me a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water with devotion; I accept and eat the offering of devotion by the pure-hearted. (9.26)"

     

    I bought the feathers just for this purpose because otherwise I would consider them to be kitsch. But in this special case I thought about Krishna being often portrayed with peacocks and having a peacock feather in his hair. My motivation was if I do this my Krishna image "would not mind" being situated in a country so far away from India.

    I do not know Indian traditions well and therefore I ask your advice. Thank you also for inevitable "funny" remarks.

     


  10. While looking for images of Rama I found a really really disgusting web page by coincindence trying to show the "forbidden aspects of Hinduism" or something like that. Among others it was claimed that Krishna held his 16000 wives as sexual toys and that he killed them afterwards "in order to prevent overpopulation". The author stated that the evidence could be found in some Scriptures (the Bhagavatam, if I got it right). Now please tell me whether this horrible thing is true.

     

     


  11. Yes it is true. It appears several times in the Bhagavatam.

    I think there are two ways of interpreting it:

    (1) Powerful men have many women and because Krishna is the most Powerful he has really a lot of women.

    (2) A relation between a man and a woman is by its very nature something that excludes others. However, from the Gita we learn that Krishna is not prejudiced or discriminating against anyone because of what they are. So if several souls desire to adopt a lover's attitude towards the Lord he rejects no one. Anyway one should also take into consideration the rasa-lila. Krishna was dancing with 108 gopis at the same time while each gopi perceived he was dancing with her only. While Krishna was living with his 16108 princesses he manifested 16108 times his form so every wife could have her own husband. The women were not living together in a harem but they had their own homes respectively.

    If mystical souls desire to be loved by God He does not pick one to leave the others behind. Instead He becomes the Lover of them all.

     

    Last but not least: Krishna freed the princesses who were kept as prisoners by a demon. According to harsh Indian moral standards they could not marry any more after their liberation because they were considered "impure". Krishna's act of marrying them was an act of great compassion to save them from loss of social status leading to misery. And don't forget they were all in love with him what brings us back to the topic of loving God.

     

     

     

     

     


  12. Yes it is true. It appears several times in the Bhagavatam.

    I think there are two ways of interpreting it:

    (1) Powerful men have many women and because Krishna is the most Powerful he has really a lot of women.

    (2) A relation between a man and a woman is by its very nature something that excludes others. However, from the Gita we learn that Krishna is not prejudiced or discriminating against anyone because of what they are. So if several souls desire to adopt a lover's attitude towards the Lord he rejects no one. Anyway one should also take into consideration the rasa-lila. Krishna was dancing with 108 gopis at the same time while each gopi perceived he was dancing with her only. While Krishna was living with his 16108 princesses he manifested 16108 times his form so every wife could have her own husband. The women were not living together in a harem but they had their own homes respectively.

    If mystical souls desire to be loved by God He does not pick one to leave the others behind. Instead He becomes the Lover of them all.

     

    Last but not least: Krishna freed the princesses who were kept as prisoners by a demon. According to harsh Indian moral standards they could not marry any more after their liberation because they were considered "impure". Krishna's act of marrying them was an act of great compassion to save them from loss of social status leading to misery. And don't forget they were all in love with him what brings us back to the topic of loving God.

     

     

     

     

     


  13. Here are some statements I found on charity (giving food)

     

    The gods have not ordained that humans die of hunger;

    even to the well-fed man death comes in many shapes.

    The wealth of the generous man never wastes away,

    but the niggard has none to console him.

     

    He who, possessed of food, hardens his heart

    against the weak man, hungry and suffering,

    who comes to him for help, though of old he helped him -

    surely he finds none to console him. …

     

    In vain does the mean man acquire food;

    it is - I speak the truth - verily his death;

    he who does not cherish a comrade or a friend,

    who eats all alone, is all sin.

    Rig Veda 10.117.1-2,6


  14. When I heard first that George had left I felt very sad. But then I took my Gita and looked up verses where Krishna states that all who are His devoted servants will come to Him. From this moment on I felt very serene and glad for George. And I still feel like that.

    George Harrison sang "I really want to see you Lord." Now he is able to be constantly in his Presence.


  15. Charity that is given as a matter of duty, to a deserving candidate who does nothing in

    return, at the right place and time, is called a Saattvika charity. (17.20)

    Charity that is given unwillingly, or to get something in return, or looking for some

    fruit, is called Raajasika charity. (17.21)

     

    Charity that is given at a wrong place and time, to unworthy persons, without paying

    respect or with contempt, is said to be Taamasika charity. (17.22)

     

    Would you please explain to me the meaning of the verses above.

    I had been reading Prabhupad's Gita with his comments. The conclusion I have drawn from his statements is that donations must be given to the bramanas only. Charity towards the "unworthy", all those who have no spiritiual knowlegde (if I got Prabhupad right, all but brahmanas) is not recommended. Now this would mean that the defavoured are excluded from receiving charity gifts. I can hardly believe that and therefore I'd like to ask you about this. Thank you.

     


  16. Charity that is given as a matter of duty, to a deserving candidate who does nothing in

    return, at the right place and time, is called a Saattvika charity. (17.20)

    Charity that is given unwillingly, or to get something in return, or looking for some

    fruit, is called Raajasika charity. (17.21)

     

    Charity that is given at a wrong place and time, to unworthy persons, without paying

    respect or with contempt, is said to be Taamasika charity. (17.22)

     

    Would you please explain to me the meaning of the verses above.

    I had been reading Prabhupad's Gita with his comments. The conclusion I have drawn from his statements is that donations must be given to the bramanas only. Charity towards the "unworthy", all those who have no spiritiual knowlegde (if I got Prabhupad right, all but brahmanas) is not recommended. Now this would mean that the defavoured are excluded from receiving charity gifts. I can hardly believe that and therefore I'd like to ask you about this. Thank you.

     


  17. Mateo,

     

    if you really respect the belief of others why do you bother them? If you bother them do you really have some respect? Either you do accept the fact that you cannot force someone to believe in Jesus Christ if she/he does not want to - which is respect. Or you don't - "Jesus-Christ-is-Our-Lord-and-If-you-do-not-want-to-believe-you-will-all-go-to-hell." At least this would be appreciable, frank and honest.

    Trying to convert others is also always a form of re-converting oneself, especially if one does not succeed to proselize others. May God bless you.

     

     


  18. I once went to a Bahai "information evening" which turned out to be a missionary event. Here is what I remember:

    Bahai faith is an offspring of Shi'ite Islam (or heresy, depends on the point of view) dating from the middle of the 19th century.

    If I got it right, despite Mohammed's quality as "seal of the prophets" Shi'ite Muslims believe in 12 Messiah-like men to come and to re-install the order of God when things go wrong. Out of these 11 have already come and one is still expected.

    In the middle of the 19th century the atmosphere in Persia was rather "end of the world". The superiority of Muslims over "Christians" (Europeans) from the Middle Age had turned into its opposite. Islamic areas were European colonies. So there was the call for a savior.

    In Persia there was a man called Bab (the Gate) who predicted the savior was near. He gathered a community around him - the Babis. When the Bab was executed by Persian authorities in 1841, a merchant who called himself Glory/Majesty of God (Baha'ullah) became his successor, and the Babi were renamed the Bahai. Persian authorities disliked Baha'ullah's preaching activity as much as they had disliked the Bab's, especially because he claimed to be the saviour announced by the Bab, and - what meant heresy in Muslim's eyes - to be a new prophet of God.

    That's why Baha'ullah was put to a horrible prison in Teheran called the Hole. He had to live under inhuman conditions in an overcrowded dungeon in dirt and darkness and in the fear of being executed. In this dungeon Baha'ullah had the feeling God talked to him. So when he finally was released he did preach his message even more zealously. He attracted disciples even from Europe. Because of his popularity Persian authorities wanted to get rid of him. They exiled him from one city to another like a gift nobody wanted.

    His odyssey finally ended in Acca in (today) Israel, where his grave and the Bahai headquarters is situated.

    The relevations received by Baha'ullah can be read in books published by the Bahai. His stYle is somewhat similar to the Coran, but the things he claims are based upon Reason. (The Bahai put a lot of importance to Reason.)

    Baha'ullah claims world peace, equality of races, religions and of men and women. A famous Baha'ullah quote is: "Earth is only one country, and all people are its citizens." Bahais regard human rights as something like their very own invention (what might be true with regard to an Islamic background).

    According to Baha'ullah he is one in a never-ending line of prophets sent by God (Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Moses ...) and the fulfillment of prophecies about future saviors found in all religions. So (according to the Bahai missionaries) it does not matter whether you read the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita or Baha'ullah's books as long as you read them every day. Also (according to the missionaries) Bahai have no religious duties (like going to temples). So their temples are not called temples.

    Bahais do not like images (or "idols"). Symbols of their faith are the Sun and the Eagle (according to verses by Baha'ullah). Bahais are still persecuted in Iran for being adherents of a heresy. Bahai women do not wear headscarves. Well, that's all I remember.


  19. Dear friends, thank you all for your advice. The links are very inspiring to me. I have no special purpose. I just love images as a reflection of the Divine.

    ChaitanyaChandra, is it you who painted the Krishna images? I really like them. Would you please tell me why Krishna looks so lonely while he sits on th tree? It seems that he has fallen asleep.

    Talasiga, thank you for your poem. I'll try it out.

     

     

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