brajeshwara das

Sorry but the regs were laid out clearly for all and didn't you guys agree to follow when you took initiation? A vow? Did Srila Swami Maharaj tell you you are released from some regs? Again, quotes supporting that it is OK for an initiated disciple to eat meat would be helpful. Many more would join the movement if that were the case I guess. Would there be a separate ksatriya initiation, a sudra initiation, a vaisya initiation?

The varnashrama college that Srila Swami Maharaj wanted to open, was that for the whole of society or for initiated disciples? I still have a hard time believing he told his initiated disciples that they should eat meat. He said that even though a Vaisnava may do the work of a sudra, he isn't a sudra. So it seems a misunderstanding to me to think because you are doing the work of a ksatriya, as an initiated disciple, a devotee, you can skip the regulative principles and eat meat. Please give more quotes on this subject, specifically about initiated disciples eating meat. Generalities about the varnashrama system may not apply, my concern really is about devotional life, not adjusting society at large. I'm not saying you are wrong and to an extent it makes sense, but the statement "our sinful activities which one must avoid if there is to be any hope for spiritual advancement" seems pretty clear to me. You are following the moral materialistic doctrine of varnashrama and that is fine, but shouldn't you also follow the spiritual path as well? It seems you made a bad trade to me. I really feel you misunderstand Srila Swami Maharaj on this, but please clarify, if you show he wanted his initiated disciples to eat meat I will accept that.

I really really really want a cup of coffee, and am willing to sacrifice my spiritual life for it. How much does that suck? Why are we like this?

Can someone clarify this, I thought these were two different things altogether. Here is the complete verse so nothing is out of context: TEXT No. 4 TEXT Sa chintayan ittham atha asrinod yatha Muneh sutokto nirritis takshak akhyah Sa sadhu mene na chirena takshaka Analam prasaktasya virakti karanam ENGLISH SYNONYMS Sa—he the king, Chintayan—thinking, Ittham—like this, Atha—now, Asrinod—heard, Yatha—as as, Muneh—of the sage, Sutokto—uttered by the son, Nirritis—death, Takshkakhya—in relation with the snake bird, Sa—he the king, Sadhu—well and good, Mene—accepted, Na—not, Chirena—very long time, Takshaka—snake-bird, Analam—fire, Prasaktasya—for one who is too much attached, Virakti—indifference, Karanam—cause. TRANSLATION While the king was repenting like this at that time he received the news about his imminent death from the bitting of a snake bird, as it was spoken by the son of the sage. He however, accepted the news as well and good for its being the cause of his indifference towards worldly attachments. PURPORT Real happiness is achieved by spiritual existence or by cessation of the repetitions of birth and death. Such repetitions of birth and death can be stopped only by going back to home back to Godhead. In the material world even by attaining the living conditions in the topmost planet (Brahmaloka) planet, nobody can get rid of the conditions of repetitions of birth and death. We want to stop the repetitions of birth and death but we do not accept the path of attaining the perfection. The path of perfection is that one must be freed from all material attachments and thus be fit for entering into the spiritual kingdom. Therefore, those who are materially poverty-stricken, are better candidates than those who are materially prosperous. Maharaj Parikshit was a great devotee of the Lord and bonafide candidate for entering into the kingdom of God but even though he was so, his material environments as the great emperor of the world, was a setback in the perfect attainment of his rightful status as one of the associates of the Lord in the spiritual sky. As a devotee of the Lord he could understand that the cursing of the Brahmin boy, although unwisely, was a blessing upon him being the cause of detachment from worldy affairs both political and social. Samik Muni also after regretting the incidence of his son's cursing upon the king, conveyed the news to the king as a matter of duty so that the king would be able to prepare himself for going back to Godhead. The Samik Muni sent news to the king that the foolish Srighee his son, although a powerful Brahmin boy, unfortunately had misused his spiritual power by cursing the king unwarrantedly. The incidence of the King's garlanding the Muni was not sufficient case for being cursed to death by the foolish boy but as there was no remedy to retract the curse, the king was informed for preparation of death within a week. Both Samik Muni and the king were self realised souls. Samik Muni was a mystic and Maharaj Parikshit was a devotee. Therefore there was no difference between them in the matter of self realisation and none of them were afraid of meeting death. Maharaj Parikshit could have gone to the Muni for begging his pardon but the news of his death was conveyed to the king with so much regret by the Muni that the king did not like to put the Muni into further ashamed position by his presence there. He decided to prepare himself for the imminent death and find out the way of going back to Godhead. The complete span of life of a human being is meant for preparing himself for going back to Godhead or to get rid of the material existence made of the repetition of birth and death. As such in the system of Varnashram Dharma every man and woman is trained up for this purpose of eternal life and in other words the system of Varnasharm Dharma is known also as Sanatan Dharma or eternal occupation. The system of Varnasharam Dharma prepares a man for going back to Godhead and thus a householder is ordered to go to the forest as Vanaprastha to acquire complete knowledge and then to take Sanyas prior to the inevitable death. Parikshit Maharaj was fortunate to get the notice of seven days for meeting the inevitable death, but for the common man there is no such definite notice although death is inevitable for all. Foolishman forgets this sure fact of death and neglects the duty of preparing himself for going back to Godhead and spoils the life in animal propensities to eat, drink, be merry and enjoy. Such irresponsible life is adopted by the people in the age of Kali on account of sinful desires to condemn the Brahminical culture, God consciousness and cow protection for which the state is responsible. The state must employ the revenue in the matter of advancing the above mentioned three items and thus educate the populace to prepare for the death and going back to Godhead. The state which does so is the real welfare state. The state of India may better follow the examples of Maharaj Parikshit the ideal executive head than to imitate other materialistic states who have no idea of the kingdom of Godhead, the ultimate goal of human life. Deterioration of the ideals of Indian civilization has brought about the deterioration of civic life not only in India but also abroad.

I'm just curious how this harmonizes with Srila Swami Maharaj's words below: I believe Srila Swami Maharaj wants the devotees to break up into the varnas and ashrams for organizational reasons only, but that devotees are not part of those varnas. So because a karmi ksatriya can eat meat on occasions doesn't mean an ISKCON devotee that is part of the ksatriya section should.

I recommend try and visit the temple as much as possible, eat lots and lots of prasadam, talk with the devotees as much as you can, and to a certain extent don't worry about your material attachments right now. Work on cultivating a higher taste for spiritual life and the material things will naturally fade away. You may notice them all a lot more as you progress because what wasn't an issue before now is something you want to change, but sometimes fighting those things directly isn't the best route. Prasadam is beautiful, the Lord in deity form is beautiful, the devotees are beautiful, this beauty can win your heart over 100%. Don't underestimate the power in a ladhu

OK, can someone give advice on how to best use the querry tools to search in the Vedabase?

A question for the ksatriyas: Have you eaten meat per the following? Not a criticism, just curious:

I really hope JustAsking reads that (as well as the rest of us).

Click the in the editor and put in the URL to your picture Also it is easy to quote some text by highlighting the text and clicking the icon.

Do you even know what a tortured mess the Bible you read is? It is not bona fide, political insertions and obmissions were made to get it as the religion of Rome. Many things are mis-translated. Read your history, this is the truth. Instead of looking outside Christianity look to purge the contamination within. The Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount is what I believe, the Good Shepherd and the Good Samaritan. I don't pretend to know the 'real' Jesus but you are a fool if you think it is the same as what your leaders are telling you. I beg you that if you do believe in Jesus then seek Him out with a pure heart, let go of the focus on the sins of others and focus on finding the purity in your own heart. Good luck with your search.

Define believer and unbeliever. I would say this would be a theist and an atheist. It would be your duty to preach to the atheist. Vaishnavas also are encouraged not to associate with atheists. But limiting your vision of the Lord limits the Lord, who I'm sure you 'll agree is without limits. You should be chaste to Christ as your Guru if you choose, but look for Christ with your full heart, don't trust your church fathers because they are misguiding you if they tell you Christ was the body that was crucified, and that the Lord's mercy was limited to Jesus in that time and place only. I love Jesus, I owe him so much, my Guru also says the same, that we western disciples are in so much debt to Him. I would hope all Christians could be our friends, we have much more in common than you think.

You are missing the point of why I mentioned we all need instruction: You were indicating only some of us should speak (you? are you more advanced?) and some of us in need of instruction should only listen. My point is even the most qualified among us here are students, and to take the position that some should essentially shut up because you believe they are wrong is pretty closed minded. But I'm not surprised you misunderstood. Though I am surely unqualified, all should remember advancement is not how many years you have been in the movement, how many slokas you know, how much physical proximity you have had to Guru or how much you think you understand Guru and Shastra. That is an internal thing we can't easily guage when interacting with each other, we can have an idea but we should be very careful when trying to nail down the position of the devotees, especially when we are trying to place them at a lower position than ourselves. And even when we know someone's position may be lower, we should have the proper mood and treat them with honor and respect.

I'd love to hear some :)

I store videos on SD cards, a 2 GB SD card holds up to 4 full length movies! Size of a postage stamp, and play nicely on my Palm pilot. I also have converted videos to play on my cell phone. We are nearly there.

You may disagree with anadi but he has been nothing but cordial and is worthy of a thoughtful reply to his points. He may be wrong in siddhanta (which isn't clear to me that he is wrong) but he doesn't appear to be the one acting like a child here.

I'm just sayiong wear a clean kurta, basically. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta was prepared to have meat served to get people to listen to His message.

Or Krsna is telling you you shouldn't have a TV and VCR. I won't say anything against DVD players or risk incurring the wrath of you know who.

I am lower than whatever is lower than a microbe in the digestive system of a worm in the stool of an offender to Prabhupada! I remember hearing of someone saying to Srila Swami Maharaj "I am the most fallen" and him saying "you aren't the most anything!"

I think I 'get humbled' by situations that show how powerless I am, or when I see someone who is very humble and realize how 'unhumble' I am. I don't feel humble I guess is what I'm saying but realize how wrongly important I can feel at times when encountering extrordinary situations or persons.

Awesome! Thanks!

I'm a worm in the stool of the dog that barks at Prabhupad's dog.

That was pretty good, basically God gives a guy Godly powers and he quickly realizes he doesn't have the wisdom to use them, and wants his old limited self back. Pretty funny mostly, but not really a consciousness-builder. I wouldn't even say you need any faith in God to enjoy it. Kind of like Oh God from the 70'2, sort of. I saw that there is a sequel with Steve Carell.

I agree 100%