Beggar

Within You Without You George Harrison 1967:deal: We were talking about the space between us all and people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion never glimpse the truth then it's far too late when they pass away We were talking about the love we all could share When we find it to try our best to hold it there with our love, with our love we could save the world if they only knew Try to realize it's all within yourself no one else can make you change And to see you're really only very small and life flows on within you and without you We were talking about the love that's gone so cold and the people who gain the world and lose their soul They don't know, they can't see Are you one of them When you've seen beyond yourself then you may find peace of mind is waiting there And the time will come when you see we're all one and life flows on within you and without you

To Become A Vaishnava Proper Is Almost Impossible It Is Only A Matter Of Grace By Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaja "We can't see our own soul — that is our position. Engrossed in this gross matter of exploitation not even we can know what is our mind — what stuff it is made of; then what is the judgment faculty within us — buddhi — independent of this world; then the soul; then SuperSoul area. Living in this mundane world dreaming that I have got the God of my dreams… it is a farce!" "Sahajiya are the worst enemy because by imitating not only their own self is going to hell but they are attracting so many towards that." Question: "Which is worse, someone who falls down and becomes disconnected or one who becomes sahajiya?" A poor man is better or a dacoit is better? A man had money but then he lost his money. Another man he is imitating that he has got money by committing a wrong thing. If one is disconnected he may be reconnected soon. Sahajiya means either he had real connection with the truth, disconnected then chose the wrong path or already he is engaged in the wrong path. Who will be in the better position? Not to get the real thing or to get some wrong thing — which will be better? Who is in the possession of the wrong thing Bhagavad Gita mentions that to be in tama-guna, the lowest position — one thinks A to be B. And raja guna that is doubt: whether this is real or that is real — can't ascertain what is true. And one who thinks that, "No, A is B or B is A" — this is the worse kind of error. Misguided, sahajiya means misguided, they are accepting matter as consciousness. vishayi tabu bhalo mayavadi sanga nahi magi kono khalo "Although both are undesirable, I would rather associate with a debauchee — never a mayavadi [or sahajiya] ." I have got no money and another says — he has got really no money — some false papers and he says this is money [counterfeit]. He is in more distress: he is engaged in falsehood. And this man is not engaged, no engagement. The engagement he had is gone. But this man has taken one thing for another thing — matter for Divine — that is worse. To become sahajiya is worse — mal-possession — engrossed attention captured by the wrong conception. One man earlier had some conception but for some time he is disconnected, again he may get connection — easily. But this man is pre-possessed, to convince him of the truth is more difficult, because his mind is possessed by something — that prejudice. I heard in my childhood in school, the teacher said that in America there is a school of music and if anyone has got some knowledge of music he will be charged double. And a man who has got no knowledge of music he will only have to pay a single charge. Because he does not know anything he may be taught in an easy way. And one who has got some knowledge of music — double charge. Because what he has gathered in the line of music that should be done away with and then he should be taken in a proper way. So double charge — to make him forget his previous prejudices — so double charge. It is something like that. No bhakti, no devotion, that is one case and in the name of devotion some non-devotional thing has captured — imitation — that is worse. That is committing offenses. Prabhupada Srila Saraswati Thakur said it is to ridicule the devotees, Mahaprabhu, Rupa, Sanatan. It is to ridicule them. What is prema and what is kama: both are at opposite ends. To accept kama in the name of prema. That is not only heinous, injurious for him but it is to destroy the good name of the Vaishnava with the public. Bhaktivinode Thakur says, dekho bhai kame preme veda naya — similar — tabu kama preme nahi haya — Still the lust is not love. Tumite bolite kama: you have accepted lust in place of love and if you give the stamp that this is prema — rakta vansha mayo kama this is concerned with flesh and blood but love is on the highest position of the spiritual existence (prema cidananda dhama). So opposites: this Sumeru… South Pole and North Pole — the opposite. One is concerned with this body and another SuperSoul. There is a great gulf between: the ocean of dedication. At the top of dedication there is that sort of gopi-prema: wherever there is Krishna, it is there. And this is an imitation to that — treachery in the name of that highest thing. Koti mukta 'durlabha' madhye eka krsna bhakta (you will find one krishna-bhakta amogst ten million liberated souls): these things are to be considered. It is possible in the highest position of the spiritual existence, that conscious area — spiritual. And not any concern with flesh and blood — body — not concerned with the body. This is the most heinous: one will play the part of Krishna and the other lady will play the part of gopi, they will unite and in that fashion they will… this is inconceivable! An ordinary pure type of man, a moral man, will hate this, what to speak of the higher devotees. An ordinary moral man will hate these sort of things. The steps are shown to us: adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha rucis tatah athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudancati sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah What is anartha? Anartha nivrtti, nistha, ruci, asakti, bhava, prema. These are the steps. And from another standpoint vaikunthera prthivy-adi sakala cinmaya mayika bhutera tathi janma nahi haya I repeatedly tell this. From where are we born? We are the offspring of tatastha-sakti, marginal potency. And we are to go through swarupa-sakti,that which is higher than us, that soil is of higher stuff than I meself am made of. All superior: earth, air, water, tree, mud, everything to be found there, they are all superior to me. And I am to enter there; It is not a small thing, easy thing — a childish thing. It is not in the hand of the person who will go there — enter there. All dependent upon the grace of the superior — Vaishnava-krpa — Guru-krpa, Vaishnava-krpa. We are to walk there on our head not by leg. All Guru: the soil is guru, the paraphernalia is guru — means superior. I am made of lower stuff and that is all higher stuff. And it is impossible, so up to mukti, liberation, that may be easy, but then to go further that must be drawn by there grace and not as a matter of right anyone can enter the realm. Only through wholesale, cent percent grace of the child of that soil, that camp, can take me there. Like a bondsman, an agent of that soil must be the guarantor for me. For his risk I can go. He will take the risk of taking me there. So Vaishnava guru, they will take the risk, at their risk they can take me there — the child of the soil. So Vaishnava-krpa, guru-krpa, bhagavat-krpa — without their grace — no right, all grace, that can take me there. From our side no right. I am a child of the marginal potency. Everything, the whole stuff of that plane is made of higher stuff than my own position. It is all "person" and they are superior persons. How a person can walk on the head of the person? Only for their interest. It is inconceivable and impossible. To accept this principle that is most difficult what to speak of entering there. bahunam janmanam ante jñanavan mam prapadyate vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhah To have this conception, that is also very rarely found. muktanam api siddhanam narayana-parayanah sudurlabhah prasantatma kotisv api maha-mune It is easy to think but it is hard to attain, to get. No right can be established there: not as a matter of right we can go. So the rights seeker, they will be totally frustrated. All risk no gain. But if somehow we can attain, we can reach there — all gain, no risk. So to become a Vaishnava proper is almost impossible. It is only a matter of grace from that land. They can go. Nothing to do from our side. So complete surrender: full, complete identification with Their interest. Complete self-forgetfulness. And the identification with the interest of that layer, that plane, that also should be substantial, then we can hope to be taken to that soil. vaikunthera prthivyadi sakala cinmaya mayika bhutera tathi janma nahi haya A devotee of Uddhava's caliber says, he prays, that if I can be a creeper here, I shall consider it to be my fortune to the highest extent. In Vrindavan the creeper is such a valuable thing that Uddhava is aspiring after that position. Whom the Lord says, "You are the most favorite devotee of mine, even I love you more than my own self." And that Uddhava is aspiring after that birth that I can be… this is not hyperbolic. If there is any reality in this, then how are we to prepare? He is aspiring to be a shrub or a blade of grass and I shall have to walk over that place. I shall have to walk over the head of Uddhava. So such a higher conception that thing may have — ha, ridicules! Sahajiya. Sahajiya: by imitation here in the flesh and blood, they will achieve that. They are the worst enemy because by imitating not only their own self is going to hell but they are attracting so many towards that. Not conscious of the fact: what is what. So they have got their position in the society like that — hate. The general society has got hate for them, those babajis. We have to put faith in our Guru Maharaja... after wandering through the whole of Braja Mandal he came and striking his forehead he told, "It is my misfortune that I could not find a single Vaishnava in this Braja Mandal." That was his utterance. "It is my misfortune" he pressed his hand to his forehead: "It is my misfortune that I could not find a single Vaishnava in this great holy place of Braja Mandal." That was his statement. And also after he performed Braja Mandal Parikrama who has got recognition as the best of the sahajiya Vaishnavas, the head, he told, "He is a kanistha adhikari. He may be considered as a beginner: admission in the infant class." Who is considered unanimously to be a siddha-babaji. He has attained the highest position among the babajis. But Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur told he has got admission into the primary class — in Patrika [a magazine] in writing he told that — in Gaudiya Patrika. And we are trained accordingly and consciously not blind faith. He explained to us what is what. And we try to follow his direction. And we have also come to such conclusion. Step by step we are to climb to the highest peak. karmibhyah parito hareh priyataya vyaktim yayur jñaninas tebhyo jãna-vimukta-bhakti-paramah premaika-nisthas tatah [jñanis are superior to karmis; muktas are superior to jñanis; bhaktas are superior to muktas; among devotees those who have attained Krishna-prema are superior] — bhakti-parama—Narada; premaika-nistha—Uddhava. tebhyas tah pasu-pala-pankaja-drsas tabhyo 'pi sa radhika prestha tadvad iyam tadiya-sarasi tam nasrayet kah krte [of those who have achieved Krishna-prema the Braja Gopis are best and among the Braja Gopis Srimati Radharani is incomparable and dearest to Krishna as is the liquid representation of herself in the form of Radha Kunda. To take shelter there, to bathe there, is to transform oneself wholesale — to identify exclusively with the interest of Srimati Radharani — radha-dasyam] These shall be our guiding mantram. Otherwise it is all mental concoction — imitation. Imitation, that is worse, that is hateful — filthy. In the name of that higher love if we represent this fleshy connection with the body. And the mind that cultivates that thing, that is the most hateful thing. Avoid, we shall try to avoid with the utmost will and energy. The scientific survey of the land is possible to our soul's eye. Kaviraja Goswami' informs us: vaikunthera prthivyadi sakla cinmaya [the spiritual world from the ground up is constructed of cinmaya — "pure thought,pure conception," — cent percent Krishna conscious dedicating substance] and we must understand that. That is true: after brahmaloka [the brahmajyoti] viroja, brahmaloka: what is Viroja? What is brahmaloka? We are in such a material position we cannot understand this lower process also. indriyani parany ahur indriyebhyah param manah manasas tu para buddhir yo buddheh paratas tu sah We can't follow what is our soul. This world, we perceive it through our senses, that is higher, the mind receives through the senses, worldly experience, over mind there is the faculty of judgment within us, over that there is soul proper and then there is the SuperSoul, brahmaloka, Vaikuntha, Viroja, so many things — layers. We cannot find out our own soul — what it is — what is the characteristic of our own soul! We are far away from that conception, in a hopeless position and we say that the highest conception of the Paramatma World is in our fist? Foolish thing! Where is my real identification in the spiritual position then that soul will have to go higher and higher crossing the more valuable planes he is to go up. It is a farce! In conclusion, the sahajiya imitationists should be considered as the enemy. The enemy means like that Quisiling of Norway. As with Vibhishan, his own brother was Ravana, the enemy who sprung up from the womb — his own family. Imitation is bad. Imitation of the ordinary thing is rather better than imitation of the highest thing. That the highest thing is being exploited in such a low manner should be condemned with extreme hatred. We can't see our own soul — that is our position. Engrossed in this gross matter of exploitation not even we can know what is our mind — what stuff it is made of; then what is justice, the judgment faculty within us — buddhi — independent of this world; then the soul; then SuperSoul area. Living in this mundane world dreaming that I have got the God of my dreams — it is a farce!

In the subconcious mind, or as Sridhar Maharaja would say, "underground". Subconscious means that your conscious mind has no direct access to these memories. On one level there would be just too many memories and the conscious mind would be overwhelmed. But why couldn't you remember everything from your most recent past human life? The answer is that we are presented with the same tests that we failed in our last life, under more or less the same conditions. This would not be possible if we had full conscious memory of our most recent human lifetime. In the eleveth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam it says that one who accepts the suffering that they endure as the result of there past actions and also sees such suffering as the mercy of the Lord is fit for liberation. Such a conception is universal and what some Christians call, "getting right with God".

This is boring. Time to reignite the Rtvik Wars! Just kidding Only, I wish I really was:crazy:

Mister Vani your Maxwell is ready!

We are the bhaktas from old Florida, F-L-O-R-I-D-A. Where the bramacharinis are the fairest The brahmacharis are the squarest Of any ol' state down our way, hey! We are all strong for old Florida, Down here in old Alachuee. In all kinds of weather We'll all stick together For F-L-O-R-I-D-A

Git 'em boys! Hell yeah! That's what I'm talk'in about!

Srila B. R. Sridhar Maharaj: "...Prahlada Maharaja has been accepted as the basis of suddha-bhakti, the beginning of pure devotional service, because he is situated in santa rasa, or devotional service in neutrality. Above that there is dasya rasa, love of God in servitude, as shown by Hanuman, and above that there is sakhya rasa, or the mood of friendship. That is exemplified by the Pandavas. Uddhava is somewhat sakhya, connecting with vatsalya, parental love, and madhurya conjugal love. In this way we can trace the progressive development of devotion. Our close adherence to Krsna develops in this way to Vrndavana. The acme of devotional service is found there. In the conversation between Ramananda Raya and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu we find it mentioned that Radharani's devotional service is categorically higher than that of the gopis (tebhyas tah pasu-pala-pankaja-drsas tabhyo 'pi sa radhika). The kind of serving spirit we find there is unaccountable and inconceivable. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came with that quality of adherence to the truth: unconditional surrender. He came seeking that fortune of serving the truth. If we can seek such a higher type of existence, we may consider ourselves most fortunate. Self-surrender is the very basis of our highest fortune. We cannot but surrender ourselves to whatever beautiful and valuable thing we have come across. Our appreciation for any higher thing is shown by the degree of our surrender to that. So, we can measure the quality of the truth we are connected with only by the intensity of our surrender."

Beggar quotes Srila Sridhar Maharaja's use of the word "somehow" in this case, is idiomatic to Indianized Victorian English. You are taking "somehow" literally because you are not familiar with this idiom. Here the word somehow does not mean unknown. It means that a "germinal idea of domination" exists in a latent form with the jiva who in a sleep-like state within the brahmajyoti. This is a very subtle concept that is so subltle that our language only gives a crude approximation of the actual reality. Therefore he idomatically uses the word "somehow".

by Srila Bhaktirakshaka Sridhar Dev Goswami Maharaja How does the soul first appear in this world? From what stage of spiritual existence does he fall into the material world?" This is a broad question, which requires some background information. There are two classes of souls, jivas, who come into this world. One class comes from the spiritual Vaikuntha planets by the necessity of nitya-lila, the eternal pastimes of Krsna. Another comes by constitutional necessity. The brahmajyoti, the nondifferentiated marginal plane, is the source of infinite jiva souls, atomic spiritual particles of nondifferentiated character. The rays of the Lord's transcendental body are known as the brahmajyoti, and a pencil of a ray of the brahmajyoti is the jiva. The jiva soul is an atom in that effulgence, and the brahmajyoti is a product of an infinite number of jiva atoms. Generally, souls emanate from the brahmajyoti which is living and growing. Within the brahmajyoti, their equilibrium is somehow disturbed and movement begins. From nondifferentiation, differentiation begins. From a plain sheet of uniform consciousness, individual conscious units grow. And because the jiva is conscious it is endowed with free will. So, from the marginal position they choose either the side of exploitation or the side of dedication. Krsna bhuli sei jiva anadi bahirmukha . Anadi means that which has no beginning. When we enter the land of exploitation, we come within the factor of time, space, and thought. And when we come to exploit, action and reaction begins in the negative land of loan. Although we strive to become masters, really we become losers. Goloka and Vaikuntha servitors are also seen to be within the jurisdiction of the brahmanda, the material universe, but that is only a play, lila. They come from that higher plane only to take part in the Lord's pastimes and then return. The fallen souls come from the marginal position within the brahmajyoti and not from Vaikuntha. The first position of a soul in the material world will be like that of Brahma the creator. Then his karma may take him to the body of a beast like a tiger where he is surrounded with a tigerish mentality, or to the body of a tree or creeper, where different impressions may surround him. In this way, one is involved in action and reaction. The case is complex; to analyze the details of the history of a particular atom is unnecessary. We are concerned with the general thing: how the transformation of the material conception springs from pure consciousness. Matter is not independent of spirit. In the brahmajyoti we are equipoised in the marginal potency as an infinite number of pinpoints of spiritual rays, electrons of consciousness. Consciousness means endowed with free will, for without free will no consciousness can be conceived. An atomic pinpoint of consciousness has very meager free will, and by misuse of their free will some jivas have taken their chance in the material world. They refused to submit to the supreme authority; they wanted to dominate. So, with this germinal idea of domination, the jiva enters into the world of exploitation. In the Bhagavad-gita (7.27) it is stated: <center> iccha-dvesa samutthena dvandva-mohena bharata sarva-bhutani sammoham sarge yanti parantapa </center> "Two principles in a crude form awaken in the jiva: hatred and desire. Then, gradually the soul comes down to mingle with the mundane world." At first, sympathy and apathy develop in a crude form, just as when a sprout springs up with two leaves. And gradually these two things help us to dive deep into this mundane world. Upon retiring from the world of exploitation, the soul may return to his former position in the brahmajyoti as spirit. But, if the soul has gathered the tendency of dedication through his previous devotional activities, he does not stop there; he pierces through the brahmajyoti and goes towards Vaikuntha. Why has the soul come to the world of exploitation" and not the world of dedication? That should be attributed to his innate nature, which is endowed with free will. It is a free choice. This is substantiated in the Bhagavad-gita (5. 14): <center> na kartrtvam na karmani lokasya srjati prabhuh na karma-phala-samyogam svabhavas tu pravartate </center> "The soul is responsible for his entrance into the land of exploitation." The responsibility is with the soul, otherwise, the Lord would be responsible for his distressed condition. But Krsna says that the soul's innate free will is responsible for his entanglement in the material world. The soul is conscious, and consciousness means endowed with freedom. Because the soul is atomic, his free will is imperfect and vulnerable. The result of that free choice is that some are coming into the material world, and some are going to the spiritual world. So, the responsibility is with the individual soul. Once, an Indian political leader, Syamasundara Cakravarti, asked our spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada, "Why has the Lord granted such freedom to the jiva ?" Prabhupada told him, ""You are fighting for freedom. Don't you know the value of freedom? Devoid of freedom, the soul is only matter." Freedom offers us the alternative to do right or wrong. Once, Gandhi told the British authorities, ""We want freedom."' They replied, "You are not fit to have self-government. When you are fit, we shall give it to you." But finally, he told them, "We want the freedom to do wrong." So, freedom does not guarantee only acting in the right way; freedom has its value independent of right and wrong. Free will is only absolute with the Absolute Truth. Because we are finite" our free will is infinitesimal. The possibility of committing a mistake is there. Our first choice was to dominate" and so, gradually we have entered the world of domination. As a result of this first action, everything else has developed. So, in different ranks" the species have been divided" from the demigods down to the trees and stones. And watery bodies, gaseous bodies, anything that we find here has evolved in that way. The activating principle in any form of embryological development is the soul, and from the soul, everything has evolved."

This statement implies, that animals have no soul, therefore why not eat them? If there is no karma and past lives and there is no such thing as reincarnation, then why is one person born into famine and war in central Africa and another born into a family of movie stars in Beverely Hills? Is evil separate from God? Can anything be separate from God? Define evil? upon death the soul transcends to heaven or to hell Lots of virgins too, I presume. Why do we find ourselves in the position of servant in this world? Everyone serves somebody. The mother serves the child, the president or king serves the people, the butler serves his rich employer. Who doesn't serve? "As below as above"; there is no service position there? There is no supreme master? Can you answer these questions?

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase:Teachings of Lord Caitanya Chapter 9: The Opulences of Krishna His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada From revealed scriptures it is understood that Krishna lives in three transcendental places. The most confidential residence of Krishna is Goloka Vrindavana. It is there that He stays with His father, mother and friends, exhibits His transcendental relationships and bestows His mercy amongst His eternal entourage. There yogamaya acts as His maidservant in the rasa-lila dance. The residents of Vrajabhumi think, "The Lord is glorified by particles of His transcendental mercy and affection, and we, the residents of Vrindavana, have not the slightest anxiety due to His merciful existence." As stated in Brahma-samhita (5.43), all the Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual sky (known as Vishnuloka) are situated in the planet known as Krishnaloka, Goloka Vrindavana. In that supreme planet the Lord enjoys His transcendental bliss in multiple forms, and all the opulences of the Vaikunthas are fully displayed in that one planet. The associates of Krishna are also full with six opulences. In the Padmottara-khanda (225.57) it is stated that the material energy and the spiritual energy are separated by water known as the Viraja River. That river flows from the perspiration of the first purusha incarnation. On one bank of the Viraja is the eternal nature, unlimited and all-blissful, called the spiritual sky, and this is the spiritual kingdom, or the kingdom of God. The spiritual planets are called Vaikunthas because there is no lamentation or fear there; everything is eternal. The spiritual world has been calculated to comprise three-fourths of the energies of the Supreme Lord, and the material world is said to comprise one-fourth of His energy, but no one can understand what this three-fourths is, since even this material universe, which comprises only one-fourth of His energy, cannot be described. Trying to convey to Sanatana Gosvami something of the extent of one-fourth of Krishna's energy, Caitanya Mahaprabhu cited an incident from Srimad-Bhagavatam in which Brahma, the lord of the universe, came to see Krishna at Dvaraka. When Brahma approached Krishna, the doorman informed Krishna that Brahma had arrived to see Him. Upon hearing this, Krishna inquired as to which Brahma had come, and the doorman returned to Brahma and asked, "Which Brahma are you? Krishna has asked." Brahma was struck with wonder. Why did Krishna ask such a question? He informed the doorman, "Please tell Him that Brahma, who is the father of the four Kumaras and who has four heads, has come to see Him." The doorman informed Krishna and then asked Brahma inside. Brahma offered his obeisances unto the lotus feet of Krishna, and after receiving him with all honor, Krishna inquired about the purpose of his visit. "I shall tell You of my purpose in coming here," Lord Brahma replied, "but first I have a doubt which I ask You to kindly remove. Your doorman told me that You asked which Brahma has come to see You. May I inquire if there are other Brahmas besides me?" Upon hearing this, Krishna smiled and at once called for many Brahmas from many universes. The four-headed Brahma then saw many other Brahmas coming to see Krishna and to offer their respects. Some of them had ten heads, some had twenty, some had a hundred and some even had a million heads. Indeed, the four-headed Brahma could not even count the Brahmas who were coming to offer their obeisances to Krishna. Krishna then called many other demigods from various universes, and they all came to offer their respects to the Lord. Upon seeing this wonderful exhibition, the four-headed Brahma became nervous and began to think of himself as no more than a mosquito in the midst of many elephants. Since so many demigods were offering obeisances unto the lotus feet of Krishna, Brahma concluded that the unlimited potency of Krishna could not be estimated. All the helmets of the various demigods and Brahmas shone brightly in the great assembly, and the prayers of the demigods made a great sound. "Dear Lord," the demigods said, "it is Your great mercy that You have called us to see You. Is there any particular order? If so, we will carry it out at once." "There is nothing especially required of you," Lord Krishna replied. "I only wanted to see you together at one time. I offer My blessing to you. Don't fear the demons." "By Your mercy, everything is all right," they all replied. "There are no disturbances at present, for by Your incarnation everything inauspicious is vanquished." As each of the Brahmas saw Krishna, each thought that He was only within his universe. After this incident, Krishna wished all the Brahmas farewell, and after offering respects to Him, they returned to their respective universes. Upon seeing this, the four-headed Brahma at once fell down at the feet of Krishna and said, "What I thought about You at first was all nonsensical. Everyone may say that they know You in perfection, but as far as I am concerned, I cannot begin to conceive how great You are. You are beyond my conception and understanding." "This particular universe is only four thousand million miles broad," Krishna then informed him, "but there are many millions and billions of universes which are far, far greater than this one. Some of these are many trillions of miles broad, and all these universes require strong Brahmas, not just four-headed." Krishna further informed Brahma, "This material creation is only a quarter manifestation of My creative potency. Three quarters of My creative potency is in the spiritual kingdom." After offering obeisances, the four-headed Brahma parted from Krishna, and he could understand the meaning of the Lord's "three-quarters energy."

Lord Brahma and the impersonal Brahman that some Brahmans see as supreme are different. http://www.krishna.com/gitaframeset/gita_frameset.html From the Introduction to The Bhagavad Gita As It Is: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada It is also explained in the Gītā that impersonal Brahman is also subordinate to the complete Supreme Person (brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham). Brahman is more explicitly explained in the Brahma-sūtra to be like the rays of the sunshine. The impersonal Brahman is the shining rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Impersonal Brahman is incomplete realization of the absolute whole, and so also is the conception of Paramātmā. In the Fifteenth Chapter it shall be seen that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Puruṣottama, is above both impersonal Brahman and the partial realization of Paramātmā. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is called sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. The Brahma-saḿhitā begins in this way: īśvaraḥparamaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ/ anādir ādir govindaḥsarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam. "Govinda, Kṛṣṇa, is the cause of all causes. He is the primal cause, and He is the very form of eternity, knowledge and bliss." Impersonal Brahman realization is the realization of His sat (eternity) feature. Paramātmā realization is the realization of sat-cit (eternal knowledge). But realization of the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is realization of all the transcendental features: sat, cit and ānanda (eternity, knowledge, and bliss) in complete vigraha (form).

Become a great saint and religious reformer. Its your only hope.

While Sukadeva Gosvami continued to speak on the transcendental pastimes and characteristics of Lord Krsna, King Pariksit, upon hearing him, became more and more enthusiastic and wanted to hear further. Sukadeva Gosvami next narrated the story of Dvivida, the gorilla who was killed by Lord Balarama. This gorilla was a great friend of Bhaumasura's, or Narakasura's, who was killed by Krsna in connection with his kidnapping sixteen thousand princesses from all over the world. Dvivida was the minister of King Sugriva. His brother, Mainda, was also a very powerful gorilla king. When Dvivida gorilla heard the story of his friend Bhaumasura's being killed by Lord Krsna, he planned to create mischief throughout the country in order to avenge the death of Bhaumasura. His first business was to set fires in villages, towns, and industrial and mining places, as well as in the residential quarters of the mercantile men who were busy dairy farming and protecting cows. Sometimes he would uproot a big mountain and tear it to pieces. In this way he created great disturbances all over the country, especially in the province of Kathwar. The city of Dvaraka was situated in this Kathwar province, and because Lord Krsna used to live in this city, Dvivida specifically made it his target of disturbance. Dvivida was as powerful as 10,000 elephants. Sometimes he would go to the seashore, and with his powerful hands he would create so much disturbance in the sea that he would overflood the neighboring cities and villages. Often he would go to the hermitages of great saintly persons and sages and cause a great disturbance by smashing their beautiful gardens and orchards. Not only did he create disturbances in that way, but sometimes he would pass urine and stool on their sacred sacrificial arena. He would thus pollute the whole atmosphere. He also kidnapped both men and women, taking them away from their residential places to the caves of the mountains. Putting them within the caves, he would close the entrances with large chunks of stone, like the bhrngi insect, which arrests and carries away many flies and other insects and puts them within the holes of the trees where he lives. He thus regularly defied the law and order of the country. Not only that, but he would sometimes pollute the female members of many aristocratic families by forcibly raping them. While creating such great disturbance all over the country, sometimes he heard very sweet musical sounds from the Raivataka Mountain, and so he entered that mountainous region. There he saw that Lord Balarama was present in the midst of many beautiful young girls, enjoying their company while engaged in singing and dancing. He became captivated by the beautiful features of Lord Balarama's body, each and every part of which was very beautiful, decorated as He was with a garland of lotus flowers. Similarly, all the young girls present, dressed and garlanded with flowers, exhibited much beauty. Lord Balarama seemed to be fully intoxicated from drinking the varuni beverage, and His eyes appeared to be rolling in a drunken state. Lord Balarama appeared just like the king of the elephants in the midst of many she-elephants. This gorilla by the name of Dvivida could climb up on the trees and jump from one branch to another. Sometimes he would jerk the branches, creating a particular type of sound, "Kila, kila," so that Lord Balarama was greatly distracted from the pleasing atmosphere. Sometimes Dvivida would come before the women and exhibit different types of caricatures. By nature young women are apt to enjoy everything with laughter and joking, and when the gorilla came before them they did not take him seriously, but simply laughed at him. However, the gorilla was so rude that even in the presence of Balarama he began to show the lower part of his body to the women, and sometimes he would come forward to show his teeth while moving his eyebrows. He disrespected the women, even in the presence of Balarama. Lord Balarama's name suggests that He is not only very powerful, but that He takes pleasure in exhibiting extraordinary strength. So He took a stone and threw it at Dvivida. The gorilla, however, artfully avoided being struck by the stone. In order to insult Balarama, the gorilla took away the earthen pot in which the varuni was kept. Dvivida, being thus intoxicated, with his limited strength began to tear off all the valuable clothes worn by Balarama and the accompanying young girls. He was so puffed up that he thought that Balarama could not do anything to chastise him, and he continued to offend Balaramaji and His companions. When Lord Balarama personally saw the disturbances created by the gorilla and heard that he had already performed many mischievous activities all over the country, He became very angry and decided to kill him. Immediately He took His club in His hands. The gorilla could understand that now Balarama was going to attack him. In order to counteract Balarama, he immediately uprooted a big oak tree, and with great force he came and struck at Lord Balarama's head. Lord Balarama, however, immediately caught hold of the big tree and remained undisturbed, just like a great mountain. To retaliate, He took His club by the name of Sunanda and began to hit the gorilla with it. The gorilla's head was severely injured. Currents of blood flowed from his head with great force, but the stream of blood enhanced his beauty like a stream of liquid manganese coming out of a great mountain. The striking of Balarama's club did not even slightly disturb him. On the contrary, he immediately uprooted another big oak tree, and after clipping off all its leaves, he began to strike Balarama's head with it. But Balarama, with the help of His club, tore the tree to pieces. Since the gorilla was very angry, he took another tree in his hands and began to strike Lord Balarama's body. Again Lord Balarama tore the tree to pieces, and the fighting continued. Each time the gorilla would bring out a big tree to strike Balarama, Lord Balarama would tear the tree to pieces by the striking of His club. The gorilla Dvivida would clutch another tree from another direction and again attack Balarama in the same way. As a result of this continuous fighting, the forest became treeless. When no more trees were available, Dvivida took help from the hills and threw large pieces of stone, like rainfall, upon the body of Balarama. Lord Balarama, also in a great sporting mood, began to smash those big pieces of stone into mere pebbles. The gorilla, being bereft of all trees and stone slabs, now stood before Him and waved his strong fists. Then, with great force, he began to beat the chest of Lord Balarama with his fists. This time Lord Balarama became most angry. Since the gorilla was striking Him with his hands, He would not strike him back with His own weapons, the club or the plow. Simply with His fists He began to strike the collarbone of the gorilla. This striking proved to be fatal to Dvivida, who immediately vomited blood and fell unconscious upon the ground. When the gorilla fell, it appeared that all the hills and forests tottered. After this horrible incident, all the Siddhas, great sages and saintly persons from the upper planetary system began to shower flowers on the person of Lord Balarama, and sounds glorifying the supremacy of Lord Balarama were vibrated. All of them began to chant, "All glories to Lord Balarama! Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet. By Your killing this great demon, Dvivida, You have initiated an auspicious era for the world." All such jubilant sounds of victory were heard from outer space. After killing the great demon Dvivida and being worshiped by showers of flowers and glorious sounds of victory, Balarama returned to His capital city, Dvaraka. Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Sixty-seventh Chapter of Krsna, "Deliverance of Dvivida Gorilla."

Theist, what you write here makes good sense. But some posters attack gurus other than their own with a vendetta. In your own words there are some, "dvivida gorilla types disrupting, blaspheming and pissing on the sacrifical fire". By the way where is Dvidvida today? Is he sleeping in? Maybe his Mommy wont let him come out and play?

So what if the referees of this site are a liittle unfair. Audarya Fellowship has become a war zone where we slug in out. Get down in the pits and represent your guru, your cause. You gotsta REPRESENT! You're in the Audarya Fellowship, Spiritual Discussions, so stop whining. Audarya Fellowship, Spiritual Discussions, where when the going gets tough the tough get going. War is hell!

Who is the bogus offender who made this post? What is his program What has he everdone for Srila Prabhupada! Time out? I was just kidding. I didn't really mean it. Do I have to take a time out? sniffle sniffle:crying2:

Just about anyone who is within the age limit can join the army. They are all welcome to enlist. But if a soldier shows disrespect to high ranking officer he will be confined in a millitary prison. In the not too distant past he would have been executed by a firing squad. During WWII if a German enlisted man showed disrespect to an Allied general who was a POW he would at least face a court marshall. Sorry guy but ISKCON under Prabhupada and the Gaudiya Math were run very much like a millitary service. If you think that rank and file devotees questioning a guru and then being deemed an aparadhi or offender is something new you are very wrong.

It is just devil worship:eek: It is just devil worship:eek: It is just devil worship:eek: O yee of Liitle Faith!!!!!!!!!!!

According to Vedic Vedantic philosophy if you had committed a burglary in your last life then you would have a tendency to repeat that action in this life because of the samskaras that you carry from lifetime to lifetime in your subtle body. In a sense you DO remember your past lifetime experience in your subconscious mind. But the memory is subconcious and "underground".

Face it Krsna Consciousness is a religious philosophy. Within that philosophy the goal is not liberation from material suffering which is what you are looking for. This is my speculation but I think the real reason that we are not allowed to remember our past lives is that it would make our evolution too easy. And besides it must be part of our imprisonment that we have no memory of our past lives. Sometimes there is some kind of memory but its below the surface, maybe similar to a deja vu experience. I don't really believe you are looking for an answer, you just seem to be angry about how you are suffering in this world. Buddha said that suffering comes from attachment. All who even have a slight touch of experience in Krsna Consciousness know this. But still most of us, including myself, are still attached. So we have no one to blame but ourselves. Of course I'm just faking it, deep down I'm just like you. Please dear Lord Krsna save me I am a hopeless case!

Excerpt from an interview with HIS DIVINE GRACE Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev Goswami Maharaja Autocrat, Despot, and Liar The Krishna Conception of Divinity God is not a constitutional king, but He is an autocrat. To work for an autocrat is the highest conception of sacrifice. What degree of selflessness and courage is required to work for an autocrat, a despot, a liar who is up to anything? Not only that, His normal position is such. It is not a temporary temperament, but His eternal inner nature. Krishna is an autocrat because law emanates from Him. An autocrat is above law. When there are many, there is a need for law; when there is only one, there is no need for law. Krishna is a despot, but He is absolute good. If there is any check in His despotism, the world will be the loser. Goodness must have its full flow. Is that bad? Can there be any objection to this? Goodness must have its freedom to flow anywhere and everywhere. If we say that God is absolute good, then what do we lose by giving Him autocracy? Should autocracy be with the ignorant and the fools? No. The absolute good must have full autocracy. Not that law will go to bind His hands. Then we will be losers. And Krishna is a liar, to entice us, because we cannot understand the whole truth. So to entice us to gradually come to the truth, He has become a liar. The first thing to understand is that He is all goodness, so everything emanating from Him cannot but be good. Any defect is on our side. We are encroachers. He is not an encroacher. But He shows this as His play, Lila. Everything belongs to Him, so there is no lying. When He says, "Let there be light," there was light: "Let there be water," there was water. If He has such potential power, can there be any lying there? We have to sacrifice ourselves for Krishna, because He is the absolute good, beauty, and love. Faith and selflessness are required to such a high degree. If we accept Krishna consciousness as our highest ideal, then so much sacrifice is necessary, but sacrifice means life: "Die to live." There is no loss by sacrifice. We can only gain by giving ourselves.

Issue number one: So why not Nama Hatta programs? Issue number two: Starting out with a large overhead is a way to insure that devotees with an ISKCON background will fall back on their old scams, like Korean oil paintings. You don't have to be a guru to be ambitious and materialistic just look a other modern religious organizations.

That may be true to a certain extent about Narayana Maharaja's group. But I just don't see any Gaudiya group doing a good job at opening and maintaining temples in the West. It just seems like a completely different era. Maybe an era of Nama Hatta programs.