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Rishi_L

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  1. Yes, I believe the name of the tallest recorded human being is Robert Wadlow. He was born in Illinois, USA and sadly died in his sleep at 22 years of age. He was a very gentle giant. Here is a photo of Mr. Wadlow standing next to his father (and autographed by Mr. Wadlow himself!): As for my grandfather's anecdote, I will most definitely endeavour to keep you updated about it and fill in some of the gaps I've left in his fascinating story.
  2. Thanks for providing me with such fascinating information in your post, Bhagavata Prabhu. I also have an anecdote I would like to share with you about Aswatthama. It is an intriguing anecdote that my grandfather told me a few years ago, so the details that I'll provide to you will no doubt be very vague (as I don't remember much of what he told me). But in any case, I don't have any compelling reason to doubt what my grandfather has told me, as I know him to be an extremely honest man. Anyway, there are many rumours in India that revolve around a tall man with a gaping hole in the centre of his forehead aimlessly roaming the forests of Northern India (Aswatthama). My grandfather recently told me an account about how one of his brothers and that man's wife went to visit a small, remote village in Northern India (the next time that I see my grandfather, I will ask him precisely where in Northern India and then post it in this thread). I'm not sure how many years ago they visited this place and my overall memory of this account is quite poor, so I'll try to ask my grandfather to re-tell the whole thing to me as soon as possible. Anyway, moving on..... they were sight-seeing this village and engaging in simple chit-chat with the villagers. All of a sudden, a VERY tall man (approximately 12 feet tall, I think my grandfather said! ) walked into the village. This man had a noticeable dent in his forehead and in the middle of his forehead, there was clearly a circle or hole there. It seemed to be an injury of some sort, but there was no scab which had developed where the hole was. Small drops of blood seemed to seep out of this hole and there were numerous flies that flew around this particular area of his body. The man was quite silent until he approached a man inside a small shop selling traditional Indian food. He politely asked the owner of the shop something like 'What have you cooked for me this time?' and, in response, the shop owner served him a vast amount of rotis, dhals and other Indian foods to quell his appetite. So HUGE was this mysterious man's appetite that he apparently cleared out the shop's entire stock of food! Then this man became thirsty and requested water. He was given a large pot (about half my height and twice my width) by one of the villagers which was filled right to the top with fresh water. He promptly went to this pot and proceeded to drink ALL of the water held inside it until not even a single drop remained! My grandfather's brother and his wife had supposedly seen this occurring in front of their very eyes and were quite astonished. They asked a nearby onlooker if he knew who this man was. He responded by saying that he was Aswatthama, who was described in Mahabharat! He further clarified that Aswatthama entered this particular village every year (but only once every year) for approximately a few hours in a single day merely for food and water. Then he would silently walk off deeper into the forest without making a sound. I asked my grandfather out of curiosity how and why these villagers could be so calm and offer him food and water even though they are aware of the many grievous sins associated with Aswatthama. My grandfather responded by saying that whenever one is hungry, he or she should be given food and whenever one is thirsty, he or she should be given water... regardless of that person's character or identity. It should be done because it is a selfless thing to do. It should be done not simply because it generates very positive karma for a person, but because it is the right thing to do. This is what my grandfather's response was. Upon closer inspection on this anecdote my grandfather told me, it makes SENSE that the man who entered that village was indeed Aswatthama himself! The man was said to be EXTREMELY tall. The events of the Mahabharata occurred during Dwapar Yuga (the age which occurred just before this one) and, if I remember correctly, the average height of humankind during this age is between 12-14 feet (to be honest, I don't REALLY know much about this 'feet' unit of measurement at all, since we use the metric system here in Australia! ). This man was said to have eaten an ENORMOUS amount of food and drank an entire pot FULL of water. The regular appetite of people in Dwapar Yuga would probably be considerably greater than what it is today (in proportion to their taller average height). Also, this man was said to have had an injury in the middle of his forehead. In the Mahabharata, Aswatthama was said to have been born with a precious gem known as chintamani embedded onto the centre of his forehead. After the end of the Kurukshetra War, Sri Krishna forcefully pulled this gem out of Aswatthama's forehead as a part of his punishment for his crimes. It is written in the Mahabharata that blood began to pour profusely out of the hole in the centre of Aswatthama's forehead where the chintamani gemstone had been removed. The removal of the chintamani gemstone caused him SEVERE physical pain. To me, it ALL adds up. That man was most likely Aswatthama! What do you think, does Aswatthama still wander around in certain regions of India in a physical body from time to time?
  3. Yup, I've read about how the Laghu Bhagavatamrta mentions the events of Valmiki Ramayan having occurred during the Treta Yuga of the 24th chatur-yuga. We are now currently in the 28th chatur-yuga, so as you mentioned, the time difference between Sri Ramachandra's advent and the present day is approximately 19 million years. There goes Darwin's theory! As far as the theory of the 10 avatars (or any number of them, actually) recurring in the same particular order in each chatur-yuga is concerned, apparently the Mahabharat and Srimad Bhagavatam describe details about the Kurukshetra era that are quite substantially different from each other. Do you know anything about this? JN Das said that it was because the Mahabharat and Srimad Bhagavatam were describing two different events of the same basic pattern. I'm guessing that the battle of Kurukshetra described in Srimad Bhagavatam might not be the same battle of Kurukshetra that occurred just over 5,000 years ago. This leads me to believe that the structure of material time is comparable to a fractal; in other words, similar things happen over and over again. Time is not linear but a complex higher-dimensional shape like the Mandelbrot Set, each part of which is unique but bears a definite stylistic relation to the whole. Therefore war and peace, civilisation and devastation, happiness and suffering, elevation and degradation, birth and death happen over and over again in familiar yet ever-changing patterns. Read this thread for some info about the idea that Rama, Krishna etc. reappear kalpa after kalpa: http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/spiritual-discussions/30963-dating-ramayana.html The Vishnu Purana states that Vishnu assumes the form of Kapila in every Satya Yuga to impart the supreme knowledge to all living entities for their welfare. Then Vishnu assumes the form of 'Chakravarti' (Ramachandra, I presume), the world monarch, to punish the wicked and maintain the three worlds in every Treta Yuga. After that, Vishnu assumes the form of Vedavyasa to split the one Veda into four and then into hundreds of other branches for the benefit of all of humankind during every Dwapar Yuga. And finally, Vishnu assumes the form of Kalki to reestablish the wicked in the path of religion towards the end of every Kali Yuga. All of these 4 avatars appear once in each chatur-yuga, kalpa after kalpa. You can check out more info about all of this in this thread: http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/iskcon-internal/246204-vishnu-purana-ramachandra-every-treta-yuga.html
  4. Forgive me for my seemingly amatuerish question, but first I was told that Krishna appears only once in a full day of Brahma (ie. every 8.64 billion Earth years) yet later on I was informed that Krishna actually appears in every Dwapar Yuga. There seems to be a contradiction here. Is it perhaps that only once in a full kalpa does Krishna actually descend in His original spiritual form whilst in every other Dwapar Yuga, one of the purusha avatars of Vishnu descends in a form identical to that of Krishna's? This is my interpretation, but I don't really own copies of Srimad Bhagavatam, so I don't know first-hand whether my interpretation is true or not. Also, if Krishnavatars appear in each and every Dwapar Yuga since a day of Brahma begins (almost 2 billion years ago, in this particular instance), then were there dinosaurs roaming the battlefield of Kurukshetra when Krishna delivered the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna during a Dwapar Yuga that occurred approximately 100 million years ago? And yes, that is a serious question from me.
  5. Rishi_L

    Life

    That was so beautiful and so very true. Thanks for sharing that with us, Sunds.
  6. Siva Sankar Baba is proof that we are currently in Kali Yuga.
  7. You said 2 posts ago that you wouldn't be posting here anymore. The fact that you're still posting here means that you are basically an attention whore. But hey, if you wanna stay and keep on displaying your pathetic pig-ignorance to us, then be my guest. It mildly amuses me.
  8. Yes, my fingers are crossed that JN Das knows which scriptural references I'm referring to!
  9. Dude, four words: Turn off caps lock! LOL kthxbye
  10. George Adamski, an alleged contactee with extraterrestrial beings from the 1950s, claimed that his contactors informed him that not only is every planet in our solar system inhabited, but that it is inhabited by intelligent human-like life! Unsurprisingly, he was considered to be a crackpot due to these claims. However, I don't think that the answer to whether Adamski's claims were true or not are as obvious as they might seem to some people. Even during the 50s, Adamski's claim was a surprising one to make, for astronomy had seemingly ruled out life on most of the other planets by using spectrographic analysis of the light received from them. Now, after many space probes have visited the other planets and sent back seemingly damning evidence, it seems even more incredible that anyone should still back this position. It is the single thing which is held most to rule out the possibility of Adamski's contact (and those of others at the time which seemed to support the idea) being genuine. Nevertheless, it is a position he held to the very end of his life. Perhaps all of the planets in our solar system (and, by extension, this entire universe) are hollow and there are lifeforms within all of those planets? I'm beginning to think that planets are akin to houses. There is generally more safety found inside a house than outside. Perhaps we are living on the balcony or roof of our planetary house (so to speak) and there is more danger here than in the interior, in the form of harmful radiation, tornadoes, climate extremities, thunderstorms, tsunamis etc. (what to speak of unnatural dangers such as rape and theft, for example!). If even ONE planet is hollow (such as Earth and I think Earth is indeed hollow), then mathematically speaking, it's VERY likely that ALL other planets are also hollow. Perhaps life does indeed exist on EVERY planet, but it primarily exists within the planet? Life existing on the outer surface of a planet may even be a freak event (and extremely rare, on a cosmic scale). This new paradigm is worthy of consideration. Of course, it's also possible that the majority of life that exists in this universe is to be found in dimensional layers far more subtler and finer than this particular layer. This is a position supported by the Vedic literature, which describes our universe as being multi-dimensional and hierarchically arranged. <!-- google_ad_section_end -->
  11. Here's an intriguing link to a page about other planets (namely in this solar system of ours) and jivas living on them in-between incarnations on this 3-dimensional planet: http://www.edgarcayce.org/ps2/soul_life_lives_of_leila.html Even though I don't agree with everything mentioned on that page, it certainly seems to vindicate Vedic statements about life existing on ALL planets, both material and spiritual, and how the mahat-tattva is unlimitedly multi-dimensional.
  12. Hey, check out the English translation and purport of these fascinating verses from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4, Chapter 20 (verses 35-36): "TRANSLATION King Pṛthu worshiped the demigods, the great sages, the inhabitants of Pitṛloka, the inhabitants of Gandharvaloka and those of Siddhaloka, Cāraṇaloka, Pannagaloka, Kinnaraloka, Apsaroloka, the earthly planets and the planets of the birds. He also worshiped many other living entities who presented themselves in the sacrificial arena. With folded hands he worshiped all these, as well as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the personal associates of the Lord, by offering sweet words and as much wealth as possible. After this function, they all went back to their respective abodes, following in the footsteps of Lord Viṣṇu. PURPORT In modern so-called scientific society the idea is very prevalent that there is no life on other planets but that only on this earth do living entities with intelligence and scientific knowledge exist. The Vedic literatures, however, do not accept this foolish theory. The followers of Vedic wisdom are fully aware of various planets inhabited by varieties of living entities such as the demigods, the sages, the Pitās, the Gandharvas, the Pannagas, the Kinnaras, the Cāraṇas, the Siddhas and the Apsarās. The Vedas give information that in all planets — not only within this material sky but also in the spiritual sky — there are varieties of living entities. Although all these living entities are of one spiritual nature, in quality the same as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they have varieties of bodies due to the embodiment of the spirit soul by the eight material elements, namely earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and false ego. In the spiritual world, however, there is no such distinction between the body and the embodied. In the material world, distinctive features are manifested in different types of bodies in the various planets. We have full information from the Vedic literature that in each and every planet, both material and spiritual, there are living entities of varied intelligence. The earth is one of the planets of the Bhūrloka planetary system. There are six planetary systems above Bhūrloka and seven planetary systems below it. Therefore the entire universe is known as caturdaśa-bhuvana, indicating that it has fourteen different planetary systems. Beyond the planetary systems in the material sky, there is another sky, which is known as paravyoma, or the spiritual sky, where there are spiritual planets. The inhabitants of those planets engage in varieties of loving service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which include different rasas, or relationships, known as dāsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vātsalya-rasa, mādhurya-rasa and, above all, parakīya-rasa. This parakīya-rasa, or paramour love, is prevalent in Kṛṣṇaloka, where Lord Kṛṣṇa lives. This planet is also called GolokaVṛndāvana, and although Lord Kṛṣṇa lives there perpetually, He also expands Himself in millions and trillions of forms. In one of such forms He appears on this material planet in a particular place known as Vṛndāvana-dhāma, where He displays His original pastimes of GolokaVṛndāvana-dhāma in the spiritual sky in order to attract the conditioned souls back home, back to Godhead."
  13. In all seriousness, I'm intensely interested about the notion of reincarnating on other planets in this material/physical universe. Like I mentioned in the original post of this thread, I think desires which can only be fulfilled on this particular planet is the main cause for why we return in human bodies to Earth as opposed to other physical planets elsewhere in this universe. For example, if a human on this planet desperately wanted to buy a Porsche in the final years of that lifetime of his, then to me it would make sense that he would be drawn back to Earth for his next lifetime. After all, perhaps he could only enjoy that type of car on Earth and nowhere else? Am I on the right track here with this line of thought?
  14. Sri Krsna says in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14, verses 14-15: Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the heavenly planets, those in the mode of passion remain on the earthly planets and those in the abominable mode of ignorance go down to the hellish planets. So for a person who dies whilst predominantly situated in rajas, they remain on the 'earthly' planets. Notice the word 'planets', it's referring to a plurality of worlds similar to our own. But I don't know in which way it is similar, yet I think it would be similar in the sense that its inhabitants would be predominantly situated in rajas. Now I presume that the VAST majority of human inhabitants on this planet die in a predominantly rajasic way, so why do all these people seem to reincarnate on this particular 'earthly' planet to the exclusion of ALL other similar predominantly rajasic planets? Now I'm not trying to say that ALL of the people here on Earth who die predominantly situated in the mode of passion remain here on Earth, it's just that I've read dozens of anecdotes and personal accounts of people supposedly remembering events of some of their past lifetimes and though there are many differences in each of these accounts and anecdotes, there are at least TWO things they ALL share in common: their past lifetimes occur in a human form and they occur on this planet. I've NEVER heard of reincarnation accounts where a person recalls living on a planet in another galaxy (for example). Why do you think this is so? Could one of the major reasons perhaps be that people might die with unfulfilled desires that, for whatever reason, can ONLY be fulfilled on this particular planet? What do you think? Has anyone here heard of people claiming to remember past lifetimes on other planets in our universe (perhaps through hypnotic regression)? If you have heard such accounts, please post them here.
  15. When the concept of karma is discussed, many (if not most) people tend to view it as a concept that exists only at a personal level. However, we are all parts of a Complete Whole. Does it not then make sense to consider that the universal law of karma doesn't only function individually but collectively as well? Let the simple yet profound metaphysical axiom "as above, so below; as below, so above" not be forgotten. I am COMPLETELY convinced that our good and evil actions affect the harmonious balance of our Earth. Therefore, partial dissolution of our world is brought on by the evil activities of people in general. Our entire planet can become a garden of Eden right now if we allow it to. If we all began to fight with explosives, by that direct action we could drastically reduce the extent of human civilisation. And maybe if we worked hard enough, we could dissolve this world too! Krsna has given man both the power of destruction as well as the power of creation. We have made the world beautiful and we also have the power to destroy it. I firmly believe that when Earth becomes very heavy with disease and evil, these disturbances cause the world to give way to earthquakes, floods and other 'natural' disasters. It is the same as when you live immorally for a long time; various inharmonies begin to manifest in your body as well as certain diseases. Disease is not a punishment. It is a poison that you yourself create in your body and it is your destiny to ultimately get rid of it. But all too often, by the time you try to shake it off, the body has become completely deranged and you die. So, just like the human body, Earth also suffers from inharmonies and diseases. And it is primarily because the combined actions of all people all over the world affect the planet on which we live. There is no question about that. The good and bad karmic conditions created by man determine and influence the climate; they affect the wind and the ocean, even the very structure of Earth, sometimes causing earthquakes. Is it not written in Vishnu Purana itself that the most erratic climates are experienced all over Earth during the Kali Yuga, an age when adherence to Dharma is at its lowest? All the hatred, the anger, the evil we send out into the world and the agony and rebellion they cause -all these are disturbing the magnetic force of Earth, like static in a radio. I also think that the presence of some kind of humanity (extradimensional, perhaps) on this planet stretches unfathomably far back into antiquity, with us humans having countless civilisations under our belt. If this proposition is true, then I would further add that I think that every single race on Earth would have held material dominance over every other race at some point in time. Just as individuals manifest their own karmic reactions, I think that races and even entire nations as a whole also manifest their own karmic reactions. Perhaps the persecution of one race (say, African Americans for example) is due to those members of that very SAME race having once been, in a distant epoch, the persecutors of those who eventually struck back through the law of karma? I'd just like to state with the UTMOST sincerity that I'm not racist in any way whatsoever and that I respect every colour, caste and creed on this wonderfully diverse planet of ours. I do not feel that oppression can EVER be justified through purely human means, perhaps only impartial cosmic laws can do such a thing. Yet this is nonetheless a thought that resonates with me very powerfully. As it seems apparent, our generally light-skinned Western brethren from 'first-world' nations (such as the US, UK and Australia) appear to be at the height of scientific and technological influence on Earth, while our fellow Eastern brothers remain more spiritually oriented (with Japan being a notable exception, as it seems to have nicely balanced its technological and economical growth with its ancient spiritual heritage... and let's not forget that China is proving itself to be an emerging superpower!). I know I'm generalising horribly here, but it still makes sense to me! It might be that, for example, certain people from a region of Africa had once established themselves as the most economically and militarily powerful land on Earth, just as the USA does today! The people living in North America at that unknown time might have been living in third-world conditions (like Bangladesh currently, for example) and the African people of that forgotten age eventually colonised and subjugated the innocent people that peacefully lived there. Certainly, it could explain why some people appear to have deep-seated prejudices towards those of varying skin colours and cultures. Old, foggy memories could be coming back to haunt us in highly subtle ways. It could be that every single 'ethnic' group that has ever dwelled on this planet once had a glorious past..... counter-balanced by an equally tragic past. If what goes around comes around for humans, then why doesn't this 'law' hold for larger entities such as races and continents? There is a reason behind all things. What does everyone here think about these notions?
  16. Yes, but if that same brahmanda which is inhaled by Maha-Vishnu is also eventually exhaled again (and thus remanifested) and this process is beginningless and endless, then that material universe is eternal because there was no starting point for when it first sprung into being nor will there be any ending point for when it will cease to exist.
  17. If this material universe (or perhaps any material universe) is continually undergoing cycles of manifestation and unmanifestation, then yes, it is eternal in accordance with that perspective. And if, when maha-pralaya occurs for this material universe at the end of 'our' Brahma's lifetime, another material universe is manifested in the same akash allotted for 'this' current material universe in which we all currently dwell by another jiva holding the position and title of 'Brahma' (and this process has neither a beginning nor an end), then this material universe (and perhaps ALL material universes) are eternal in that particular sense.
  18. Actually, Michael Cremo is not an archaeologist. In his own words, he is an 'investigative writer' whose research is often in the field of archaeology.
  19. I was expecting and hoping for something VERY clear in visual quality and totally incredible. What I ended up seeing was the polar opposite of that. No offence, JN Das. lol
  20. Yup! Remember in the Mahabharat that Yudhisthira was asked by a yaksha what this universe really is. Yudhisthira's response, as far as I can recall, was actually just 'empty space and nothing more'. The yaksha that asked Yudhisthira that question accepted his answer as being correct. What Yudhisthira already knew over 50 centuries ago is being confirmed today by the discoveries of modern science!
  21. That is untrue. The conventional explanation for these mysterious carvings, fielded by Egyptologists, is that they are just illusions. The most likely cause of these anomalous hieroglyphs, as you have referred to, is considered to be due to re-facing and re-carving of the original temple stonework and to weathering effects. Over a protracted period of time, it is believed that parts of the reworked stone have fallen away, revealing older hieroglyphs underneath. In effect, sections of the original and re-carved hieroglyphs have become overlapped to produce altered images that bear little, if any resemblance, to the original images. Such images are termed 'palimpsests' by Egyptologists. Re-carving of inscriptions was a common phenomenon in ancient Egypt. When newly installed Pharaohs adopted the structures of previous rulers, they sought to make them their own by overwriting the hieroglyphs of their predecessors. Indeed, some refurbishment of the Seti I temple at Abydos is known to have taken place when it was acquired by his son and successor Ramasses II. If you carefully look at the photograph I have shown, however, or higher resolution photographs readily accessible on the internet, it is clear that NOTHING has fallen away from the carving of the helicopter and other military craft. They are continuous intact images. The helicopter, for example, is precise in every detail, down to its finely carved rotor blade. Not only this, but the respected Arab newspaper 'Al-Sharq Al-Awsat' published several photographs taken at another Egyptian temple, the Amon Ra Temple in Karnak. The photographs are of carvings believed to be three thousand years old. They appear very similar to the carvings found at Abydos. There is a battle helicopter with a distinct rotor and a tail unit, and nearby, other modern-looking flying craft. So, there are in fact not one, but TWO almost identical sets of carvings at Karnak and Abydos. What are the chances of that being due to identical palimpsest effects at both locations? There is NO possibility of that. None whatsoever!
  22. This is an accidental double post. Sorry.
  23. Yes! Very eloquently said, my friend. I wholeheartedly agree with you! Not only is everything that is a part of this material world changing at every moment within every moment, but the atoms which constitute ALL the matter of this material world are composed of 99.9% empty space! And the 0.01% of an atom that has 'something' in it is incessantly popping in and out of existence at every moment! I'm not making this up either. This is what the discoveries of modern science tell us. There is not only unlimited variety, but unlimited variety in unlimited combinations eternally. That is only a fragment of the glory of Krsna! The rishis were correct when they declared that this world is but a transient illusion. Maya. And now the wisdom of the rishis that was shared with ALL of humankind COUNTLESS eons of time ago is being confirmed by the constant discoveries of modern science. We're living in a cosmic phantasm! Move along, there's nothing to see here. Literally!
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