Yegan

I just finished reading the online version(Not full version, but the online version easily take a full day to go through) of Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramhansa Yogananda. Very nice . Highly recommended. Show very good example of Guru/Disciple relation, the divine powers that can be exhibited by yogi and peaceful messages from Gita and Bible. There are other books available free online as well. The link is http://www.ananda.org/inspiration/books/

Srila Prabhupadha said that Lord Jesus came from the sun planet.( I remember that Sri Atmatattva Das, once said that Srila Prabhupadha said that Lord Jesus was his spiritual master) I presume Jesus could be the son of the Sun GOD. However in term of spirit soul I think we are all the sons of GOD the Father, since we are part and parcel of him.

Rama definitely came first in Treta yuga whereas krishna came much later in late Dwarpa yuga.

And how do we know that 95% of the scriptures are lost?(I mean where do we get this information) Hari Bol

Interesting, can you quote the exact verses please?

Is there a downloadable link for swami Rama's book?

Dear sephiroth, You have your own way of thinking,your own philisophy; similarly I have my own way of thinking and my own philosophy. From my two posts I have never said that ur way of thinking is wrong or that mine way of thinking/philosophy is right. Note that I find that ur thinking (i.e: Pray for adharmic to perish or simply fight) being PERFECTLY RIGHT depending on circumtances. It happens that now I do not think that resorting to such path in promoting/helping hinduism is appropriate , MY PERSONAL OPINION. If you think that people having different perspective/thinking than you are adharmic and should vanish,ok fine. May be you should start do fasting whole week days instead only 2 days per week , may be GOD would make ur dream come true . Hari bol

14th April 2006 Tamil community celebrate the new year after the full moon; this year is Year 5108 of the Tamil calendar. I wish all Tamilians a Happy Varusha Pirrupu.

"Never pray that your enemy should vanish. Pray that the thoughts about that person whom you consider as enemy should vanish in you. That should be the prayer. When you don't feel him as your enemy, 90% of the problem is solved." Quote from Sri Swamiji during the Karya Siddhi Hanumantemple inauguration in Trinidad. Jai Bajranbali

Vaishnavas say that Lord Vishnu is supreme and Saivists say that Lord Shiva is supreme. Both can argue their claim based either on Puranas or Gita. Some saivists do not accept Gita as authority and some Vaishnavas do not accept the Shiva purana as authority. However common to both is the Vedas. The Vedas is accepted as authority by both sides (correct me if im not right). Now my question is as follows: Is there any indication in the Vedas which shows either Shiva or Vishnu as the supreme lord?

We are in kali yuga, but there is a golden age within the kali yuga which would last for 10 000 yrs before kali yuga completely take over ( at least that is what his holiness Srila Prabhupadha's followers believe in, correct me if im wrong). This could be the so called 2nd phase of Dwarpa. There is some 10000yrs to go,people might change a lot and almost everyone would become righteous. Lets wait and see.

What about: Righteous (Dharmic) people should live and be happy while those who not righteous (adharmic) people receive mercy and become righteous?

Some quotes from wikipedia about Gita: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita "When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous." - Albert Einstein "The Bhagavad-Gita calls on humanity to dedicate body, mind and soul to pure duty and not to become mental voluptuaries at the mercy of random desires and undisciplined impulses." "When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day." -Mahatma Gandhi "The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God which is manifested by actions." - Dr. Albert Schweizer "The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity." - Aldous Huxley "The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for every civilization." - Aurobindo "The idea that man is like unto an inverted tree seems to have been current in by gone ages. The link with Vedic conceptions is provided by Plato in his Timaeus in which it states..." behold we are not an earthly but a heavenly plant." - Carl Jung "In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny and trivial." - Henry David Thoreau "The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly beautiful revelation of lifes wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion." - Herman Hesse "The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations and duties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the universe." - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru "I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson "The Bhagavad-Gita is an empire of thought and in its philosophical teachings Krishna has all the attributes of the full-fledged montheistic deity and at the same time the attributes of the Upanisadic absolute." - Ralph Waldo Emerson "In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-Gita with full understanding it is necessary to attune our soul to it." - Rudolph Steiner "From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all the goals of human existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessence of all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures." - Adi Sankara "The Bhagavad-Gita is not seperate from the Vaisnava philosophy and the Srimad Bhagavatam fully reveals the true import of this doctrine which is transmigation of the soul. On perusal of the first chapter of Bhagavad-Gita one may think that they are advised to engage in warfare. When the second chapter has been read it can be clearly understood that knowledge and the soul is the ultimate goal to be attained. On studying the third chapter it is apparent that acts of righteousness are also of high priority. If we continue and patiently take the time to complete the Bhagavad-Gita and try to ascertain the truth of its closing chapter we can see that the ultimate conclusion is to relinquish all the conceptualized ideas of religion which we possess and fully surrender directly unto the Supreme Lord." - Swami Prabhupada "The secret of karma yoga which is to perform actions without any fruitive desires is taught by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita." - Vivekananda "The Bhagavad-Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to reveal the science of devotion to God which is the essence of all spiritual knowledge. The Supreme Lord Krishnas primary purpose for descending and incarnating is relieve the world of any demoniac and negative, undesirable influences that are opposed to spiritual developement, yet simultaneously it is His incomparable intention to be perpetually within reach of all humanity." - Ramanuja "From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all the goals of human existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessence of all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures." - Adi Sankara "The Bhagavad-Gita is where God Himself talks to His devotee Arjuna." - Paramahamsa Yogananda

If I were you, I would not be that sure. From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein#Religious_views Einstein's writings on religion are frequently associated with pantheism, a non-religious spirituality that regards the natural world as definitionally equivalent to God, and deism, a natural religion that has become identified with the belief that God created the universe but does not intervene in the world. [4] Although he was raised Jewish, he was not a believer in the religious aspect of Judaism, though he still considered himself an ethnic Jew. He also said (in an essay reprinted in Living Philosophies, vol. 13, 1931): "A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds—it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity; in this sense, and this [sense] alone, I am a deeply religious man." The following is a response made to Rabbi Herbert Goldstein of the International Synagogue in New York which read, "I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings." After being pressed on his religious views by Martin Buber, Einstein exclaimed, "What we [physicists] strive for is just to draw His lines after Him." He also quoted once"When I read the Bhagavad Gita, I ask myself how God created the universe. Everything else seems superfluous." Summarizing his religious beliefs, he once said: "My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind." Einstein was an Honorary Associate of the Rationalist PressAssociationEthical Culture.<sup id="ref_ethicalculture.1"><small>14</small></sup> beginning in 1934, and was an admirer of Ethical Culture.<sup id="ref_ethicalculture.1"><small>14</small></sup> Political views http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein#Religious_views Einstein considered himself a pacifist<sup id="ref_www.amnh.org.382"><small>15</small></sup> and humanitarian,<sup id="ref_www.amnh.org.383"><small>16</small></sup> and in later years, a committed democratic socialist. He once said, "I believe Gandhi's views were the most enlightened of all the political men of our time. We should strive to do things in his spirit: not to use violence for fighting for our cause, but by non-participation of anything you believe is evil." Hari bol

Wonderful, Crystal clear Hari bol

I have heard that Gyanganj is the land of the immortals and is located somewhere in the himalayas. Any ideas? Hari bol

Dear Govinda_Das, Try to post this thread in spiritual discussion area. May be you might get more response there. You have raised an interesting question and would be nice if we can get some information. However I sort of not agree with you when you say that "Prabhupada isnt enteirly true". Lets get an explanation first then we can make a conclusion. Arjuna also didnt understand anything when krishna told him that the knowledge he is imparting to him(to arjuna) was first told to Sun God by him(by Krishna). Arjuna didnt say you are wrong krishna thats not possible instead he asked for clarification. Hari bol

Dear bro, I PRESUME there is scarely any external sign which would point that a person has such and such level of conciousness. For example, if the Gurus/Swamis were to be dressed "normally", they would just look like anyone else( at least to me). Please take note, that I am only assuming here. I have never been exposed to lectures or come across scriptures which talk specifically about the features of an advanced conciousness person. Therefore I cannot elaborate more on this point. In fact, I am not even suppose to be discussing about spiritual issues but only to tell exactly what these Gurus have said. I was expecting that this question will pop up sooner along the line and I 100% agree with your above statement. Scientists now might say that plants do not have eloborate nervous system like animals or human beings, and as such they are much less sensitive or concious about pain. May be later on, there might be a machine which can actually detect pain, and the same scientists would come and say that ,oh plants do suffer a lot of pain same as animals and human beings if not more. Now, we know that science is a constantly changing knowledge. Yesterday the world was flat and everyone agrees. Today if you say the world is flat people would tell you go mental hospital. Who knows may be tomorrow new discoveries might say the world is square (Serious we never know). The ever expanding universe is largely accepted by the scientifical community but recently some physicts say may be a cyclic universe could make more sense. In Sir isaac newton era, people thought that time was absolute. Nowadays scientists say time is relative depending on which platform one is situated. And the list goes on and on. My point is science can not be taken as plain truth. Hence we must resort to something which was yesterday same, same today and would be same in the futur. And that is scriptures. In the scriptures, it is said that there are inumerable planets inhabitants by other creatures. This is plain truth(at least to me). So I believe in Aliens even though scientifically there is no concrete proof that aliens do exist. The scriptures tend to point at a cyclic universe. So I believe in a cyclic universe even though the community at large favours the ever expanding universe. The scriptures shows that time is relative. (Fortunately this one everyone agrees). The scriptures says cow dung is pure. This is truth for me. Similarly scriptures (or should I say words from advanced conciousness beings) say that plant suffers less pain than animals. This is absolute truth for anyone who accept the scriptures as the ultimate source of knowledge. If one can show today that plant for instance suffers much more than human beings, ok thats fine but we know that tommorow the same person might come with a completely different version.But to people who believes in scriptures plant suffers less pain than animals, this is immutable truth. Therefore someone eating plants which have a less pain sensation (immutable truth) will acquire less bad karma than when he eats animals. Now there is one thing that I want to stress again. Killing is killing. Whether be it plants or animals or fellow human beings, it is still killing independant of level of pain or sensitivity and as such is a sin (ahimsa{principal of non injury} is being broken). That is why as I have stated last time, that the vegetarian food should first be offered to the Lord before one consume it. If not one would only be eating sins coming from killing of a living being. Now for the sake of argument whether or not plants do suffer same if not more than animals or human beings does not matter since GOD said he will take unto him our sins (for killing a living being) if ONLY VEGETARIAN food are offered to him first. PS. Dear bro you might have noticed that I do at times do bit of repetition,my apologies. This is beyond my control. Haribol

My dear brother imranhasan, From the lectures that I have been exposed of, my understanding of consciousness is as follows: 1. Consciousness is the degree of one's spiritual advancement. Usually in the lectures when we refer to conciousness we means the stage someone is in the process of spiritual quest. So, a Guru/Teacher therefore has a higher conciousness than a student. So there is different conciousness level within human beings. In general, human beings have much higher consciousness level, followed by the animal and plant kingdom respectively. 2.Conciousness can also relate to emotional/compassion level. For example if a close relative of yours died, you will feel pain/sadness. It can really hurt for years if not life time. But in the animal kingdom, dying does not cause pain to the family member, at least not as deep as in human beings. If you look closely No.2 is actually embedded in No.1 because a person in advanced spiritual quest sees GOD in every individual and atoms, hence he always feels compassionate to others. 3. Consciousness is also the degree of awareness of the outside environment. Coming back to the example above, if a relatives of yours died, you would feel sad because you are aware/concious that you would not see him/her anymore. This awareness of death for example is not pronounced in animals and is lacking in plants. Now low level conscious(low level of emotions and awareness) beings usually also exhibits low level of pain/suffering. You can make a wild deduction by observing nature. Try to kill an animal for example, see how some of them actually WEEP and cry out of horrendous pain. Try to cut down a tree and observe the difference. That is why, I said in my previous post that plants having less consciousness level do not suffer as much pain as animals and is one of the subsidiary reason why it is recommended to eat plant rather than animals. However the MAIN reason being it is mentioned black on white in the Gita.

Dear imranhasan, You are perfectly right. Whether it be plants or animals, they both have something in common and that is conciousness. Being concious, means both animals and plants have soul and as such eating animals OR PLANTS is considered sinful. Now, the level of conciousness in plant is not the same as in animals or human beings. Plants having less conciousness suffer less pain (My appology, I cannot provide you with any scriptures to support what I am saying. It happens that I have learnt these during lectures.). Now because we cannot live without eating (unless we are some of the sages living on the himalayas), we therefore consume plants which have less developed conciousness and hence suffer less when being killed. However the main reason why we choose a vegatarian diet is because, it has been clearly stated in the Gita as the recommended diet . Eating meat is clearly considered in the ignorance mode in the Gita. Whereas eating plants is considered to be in the mode of goodness. Now one thing should be noted whether one is in the ignorance mode or in the mode of goodness, ultimately both are binding us to the material world. It is same like persons in the ignorance mode are chained to this material world by iron chain, whereas people in the goodness mode is chained by a golden chain. Ultimately whether it be golden chain or iron chain both are restricting us to the material world. So eating plants, is ok coz you are in the goodness mode but still binded to this material world (you are still killing and hence liable to karma. But let us say that the bad karma inquired due to eating plants is not as bad as when eating animals whereby lots of suffering and pains are involved due to the higher conciousness of the animals) Above the 3 modes of nature,(i.e ignorance, passion and goodness) is the trancendental platform. In this platform, one is karma free. Your activities does not acquire any karma. Now to answer your question, eating plant is killing for sure but you do not acquire any sins by eating it PROVIDED, the plants are being offered to the Lord first. In the Gita it is mentioned that the Lord would take all the sins that you could have acquired in killing the plants if the food is first offered to him. In the same way any "prescribe activities" rendered to the Lord is karma free. In conclusion: Yes eating plants is bad because it involves killing. And as such you have to account for that karma. However the bad karma acquired by killing animals is even worse due to greater suffering and pain involved. However if the same plants are offered to the Lord first then they become purified, clean our conciousness and are karma free (You can say that this is the mercy of GOD showed upon us. Just another reason to take away our sins)

To my knowledge there is no website which will allow downloading the teleserial Mahabharat from Chopra. The serials come in 16 dvds anyway, with somewhere around 70 hours of viewing! Neither there is the facility of online viewing. Forget about p2p files sharing there is hardly any Mahabharat there. The best way I would think of is to buy it. Will cost around $120 though.

Interesting question. I would like to know as well.

Hari bol, This question has been raised before in another forum, plz check here. Below are two of my previous posts expressing my own opinion on this matter. Post 1 Quote: <table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td style="border: 1px solid rgb(102, 102, 102); padding-left: 3ex; padding-right: 3ex;" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"> Originally Posted by jndas For others who are interested, generally when a cow dies a natural death it is put in the ganga or burried (if the ganga is not nearby). For the purpose of Bhagavan's seva the skin is sometimes taken from some cows to make mridangas to be used in nama sankirtana. I would not advise anyone to utilize anything from the dead body of a cow for personal use (as medicine). Cows should be worshipped and respected as they are our mother and the mother of the devas. When our mother's die we don't utilize their body for medicine, as that would be disrepectful to the individual. </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <!-- END TEMPLATE: bbcode_quote --> What if we can have an altenative? What i mean is instead of using the skin of a cow to make mridangas, can there be another material for substitution? If there is a substitution to the cow skin, should we use it or should we stick to the cow skin? BY using the cow's skin in mridangas, I presume in a way the cow is rendering service to the lord, but then would you have used the skin of your own mother in service of the lord(assuming human skin can be used as leather)? Personally if I had a choice I would not use the skin of cow even in mridangas, but instead would use an alternative material. However if in the scriptures it is mentioned that we can safely use the skin of cow for service to the lord, then yes. Apologies if I have offended anyone on this issue. Cow is extremely sacred and is a very sensitive issue to discuss. Jai Govinda Post 2 Quote: <table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td style="border: 1px solid rgb(102, 102, 102); padding-left: 3ex; padding-right: 3ex;" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"> Originally Posted by riih.qarojamahoamaan Then it is most logical to assume that when a cow dies a natural death, the best thing to do is to eat that cow. </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <!-- END TEMPLATE: bbcode_quote --> I can follow your line of thinking, and your question has a logical approach. But as Jndas has mentioned, you CANNOT consume the fresh of cow even after the latter has met a natural death. Cow is considered as your very own mother in Sanatan Dharma. And as such if you are a hindu you should NEVER EVER consume cow's fresh even if you are forced to so or if the cow met with a natural death. Think about it, would you eat your own mother after she died? That would be considered cannibalism and complete disrespect if u do, in the same approach, eating cow is considered cannibalism and complete disrespect. More importantly, krishna loves cows, and he said they are worshipable. Govinda is the protector of cows. One cannot pray to Govinda and at the same time eat cow, that is hypocrite. So eating cow is abominable in whichever form or state. Jai Govinda

Off the coast of Madagascar, is a small ( but very powerful and absolutely beautiful, with magnificent beaches ) island named Mauritius (Roughly 2 millions inhabitants). There is one very gorgeous ISKCON temple there in Phoenix, and one big ISKCON farm. Mauritius has 52% of its population of indian origin. Many came from middle and South India in the year 1700 approximately. People in Mauritius are fluent in English, French, Kreol (dialect of French which is the mother tongue). Many "Indo-Mauritian" people would also know a forth langue. For example if someone has his background from south india, then he/she would learn tamil at school. Traditions are well kept(I guess). Cavadee for example in mauritius is a public holiday, and is celebrated with full devotion to Lord Muruga. There are lots of other public holidays as well (Cavadee, chinese new year, sangranti, varusha piruppu, christmas, ougadi, maha shivaratree, eid etc). One iskcon devotee once told me that we would be the first country to be officially proclaimed as Hare krishna country. Apparently that is a prediction from Srila Prabhupada. I dont think it would be in this life time though, nevertheless it feels good to know. ISKCON will be here for the coming 10,000 yrs, we will see in our next life. Im wondering who is from Mauritius in this forum. Would be interesting to know indeed. There is a small French colony named ile de la Reunion very close to Mauritius and should not be confused with Mauritius. Hariiiiiii Bol

Interesting info, but only useful so long the registered users do not browse on proxy server.