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Vedesu

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Everything posted by Vedesu

  1. Often devotees debate controversial issues in a rather obnoxious manner, treating the opposition with such a high level of rudeness which would most likely never take place in person. As a result, many gentle, mild-mannered devotees who would otherwise have something tangible to contribute are driven away or sent to the sidelines, with the rationalization that "if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen." That's all well and good, but at the end of the day what are we left with? Those who have a little knowledge and have honed their debating/word-jugglery/insult skills better than the rest? Is this truly conducive for an Istagosthi type of atmosphere? Are we really seeking the truth, or do we just love to argue? Where are the humble potwashers and draincleaners that we love to glorify as being the pure devotees? Can we honestly say that they stand half a chance here without being blasted into virtual cyberspace oblivion? These are excerpts from Dasanudas Vanacari's recent editorial on the Sampraday Sun http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/06-07/editorials1667.htm] which I found relevant and interesting:
  2. I liked what someone suggested that perhaps in the near future a robot will be invented that walks around with an early edition of Bhagavad Gita As It is for its head, with all the books uploaded into several GBs of hard drive, speaking the words of Srila Prabhupada's books, using Srila Prabhupada's own recorded voice. That way, you have personal association. And if you create dozens of such robots off of an assembly line, and put them all in an ashram, with each of them speaking various slokas and purports, then you have an instant "society of devotees." The books are alive, which means that the robot association is living association. If you need to ask any particular questions, you could use the remote control device to access the Folio database. Why look elsewhere?
  3. I didn't say that he had, although from the tone of his post, it seemed fairly obvious that his faith was diminishing. If he loses his faith completely, then there will inevitably be a falldown. That is why I was encouraging him to express his doubts, so that his faith can be restored. Sometimes devotees are too embarrassed to express their doubts due to peer pressure or whatever, and often the doubts will fester and become overwhelming and seemingly insurmountable. I didn't want Guest123 to feel discouraged from asking questions in order to alleviate his doubts.
  4. Guest123, I don't have any immediate answers, although I will give it some thought. I believe there was a discussion a week or two ago about why devotees fall down. So, you might want to examine the possible causes. Personally, I feel it is good that you are asking these questions. You have examined yourself to some extent and realized that your faith has diminished, which shows that you are concerned about your spiritual life. I believe most of us have crises of faith from time to time. The doubts can be answered. But patience may be required. And also know that the restless mind will always present us with new doubts once the old ones are cleared up, and that at a certain point on the path, we will need to learn the art of ignoring our minds and listening to our intelligence. The mind is conditioned towards sense gratification and knows that if our shraddha is destroyed, then we will become so weak that we cannot resist the temptation for unrestricted sense enjoyment. So, the mind has a very clear motive for filling you with doubts. Good association is highly recommended. If we associate with those who have strong shraddha and who have probably experienced the very same things you are going through at this time, then they can help you. I don't know if you have a spiritual master, (diksa or siksa), but one of the ways the Guru helps us is by removing our doubts via the process of submissive inquiry. If you don't have a Guru, then perhaps you will find some answers here. But be patient. That's one thing I learned from experience whenever I had doubts. The mind demands immediate answers (again, for ulterior motives) but we can't be demanding (not saying that you are.) If you can maintain at least a little faith while you are waiting for the answers, then this will be highly beneficial.
  5. There are several honorifics which can be used for male devotes, such as Sriman, Srimad, Sripad, His Holiness, Prabhu, Maharaja, His Grace, and perhaps some others. But not too many for female devotees. Mata and didi, of course. Srimati perhaps? But then, there would be some who would object to that. I'm not involved in any personality cult, but I have no problem at all with someone from Great Britain addressing Jadurani/Syamarani as "Lady." If the Queen of England were aware of Jadurani's actual life achievements--- 41 years of nonstop seva beginning with Srila Prabhupada's 1st established Temple in NYC in 1966 along with her remarkable devotional career as a masterful artist and preacher of Krishna Consciousness, who knows? I can't speak for the person who wrote that ad, but I doubt that he/she intended anything more than an informal means of distinguishing Jadurani as a very senior devotee. I've spent time in England before and light-heartedly addressed respected devotee women as "Lady" so and so. No biggie. I don't see what all the fuss is about. Much ado about nothing if you ask me.
  6. Whether it's the sleepers or the daydream believers (I'm having daydreams... about night things...in the middle of the afternoon) something HAS to be done folks. Raise the minimum wage up there. Provide free health care. Lower the price of ghee. Make things more attractive and maybe people will stop sleeping and slacking on the job! As it is, things are obviously not attractive enough. Look at the billions and billions who are slacking on the job, sleeping in bushes or spacing out in their daydream world while pretending to do some service. Someone should be running through every town and village, from one bush and tree to the next shouting JIV JAGO! JIV JAGO! Protesters should be marching on town hall with posters and placards that read Stamp out Maya! Preventive measures should be taken. They need to be proactive up there, not reactive. Hold free seminars and show videos of this material world and demonstrate just how hellish these daydreams can be. Offer free food and refreshments at these seminars. Make it attractive so that folks will come and hear the message. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", as they say. Set up preaching centers all over the country side, especially in places where there are bushes and trees, and possibly caves. Pass out flyers. Get the message out! Everyone should try to understand that Krsna is all-attractive. Even if they don't believe it, they should at least theoretically accept this most basic premise. If they have trouble accepting the message, fib a little and tell them there's an even higher reality, a special place they can go to where there is no maya, no falldowns, no sleepers, no slackers, no daydream believers, where Krsna actually is more attractive than maya. Preaching is well underway down here in the material realm. Now, perhaps it is time to preach to our "higher selves" in Goloka Vrndavana. After all, we are advised in the Bhagavad Gita to control the lower self with the higher self. Well, the higher self is living in Vrindavana and prefers to dream about maya rather than Krsna. This is unacceptable. We need qualified preachers up there, ASAP! Now is the time. Wake up the sleepers and the slackers and engage them in devotional service. Git er dun. Encourage them to give donations for worthwhile causes and remind them that it's for their eternal benefit. And with the donations, set up halfway houses, rehab centers, preaching centers, prasad distribution sites, backwoods revivals, (give me that ol' time religion), seminars replete with qualified speakers and state of the art sound and video presentations with FREE refreshments for all! And comfortable seating arrangements. Entice them to come by advertising new and improved prasadam, all you can eat, for free! It's gotta be free, otherwise people won't come. Open up free dancing studios. Teach them how to chant, dance, and feast. This process is sublime. They just don't know it yet.
  7. Srila Prabhupada was a trailblazer, not a conquistador. Those who follow in the wake of the trail he blazed do so in service to Gauranga, not as "feeders." To consider otherwise is not only offensive to the Saints of today, but to Srila Prabhupada. What good does it do to blaze a trail if no one follows and it just goes to waste? Srila Prabhupada came to plant seeds of devotion, to create sukriti, out of audarya, in the mood of humble service to his Spiritual Master, not in the mood of a king (Palace of Gold reference) or a shark or a Napoleon, or even as the impersonal, unapproachable "man in the limo." It really is amazing to witness the extent of the perverted depictions of Srila Prabhupada by some who claim to be his followers.
  8. A quick search on the internet provided 2 informative sites worth checking out: http://www.health-report.co.uk/eczema_natural_treatment.html http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/eczema.htm There are some natural treatments such as cold-pressed flax seed oil. Also, castor oil massaged onto the skin where the liver is located (not on the eczema itself.) And others... Some possible causes were irritants such as: Laundry Detergent Household cleaners and detergents Soap Shampoo and bubble bath Air fresheners and deodorants Household disinfectants Toothpaste Skin care products Synthetic fabrics Hard water (high calcium content) Dry heat from central heating Scratching
  9. Vedesu

    testing

    this makes 15!
  10. Vedesu

    testing

    rules are rules:wacko:
  11. Vedesu

    testing

    c'mon, rules are rules... 15 posts before you can post a url.
  12. Vedesu

    testing

    15 posts for urls, prabhus
  13. Vedesu

    testing

    need 5 more posts so I can post a url
  14. Vedesu

    testing

    I need 15 posts to post urls to the health forum
  15. Vedesu

    testing

    want to post urls
  16. No, I never said that, Don. All of us are tested with trials and tribulations at one time or another. You are not alone in that regard, even though it is human nature to sometimes think "No one has suffered like me." The example I gave of Srila Haridas Thakur is there as a reminder about the type of mood we should aspire for when we chant Hare Krsna. Krsna Consciousness isn't about making God into our "order/supplier" or someone who will immediately remove all our bad karma and suffering. Gradually we can transcend the suffering as our love for Krsna grows, but we will have to undergo many tests along the way. Well, I was only offering some encouragement in case that was what you were looking for. But if you've already decided to embark upon another path, that is your God-given right and I have to respect your wishes. I have zero interest in sounding "pushy" or coercive if you've already made up your mind. Best wishes to you on your new path, Don.
  17. Are you sure? First off, we are not these teeth, nor are we Canadians. The 3-fold miseries are a given. Srila Sridhara Maharaja taught that "the environment is friendly.Tat te 'nukampam su-samiksimano." Sri Caitanya taught in sloka 3 of Sri Siksastakam that we should be more tolerant than a tree. Haridas Thakur exemplified this mood for the benefit of the entire world when he continued chanting Hare Krsna while being beaten in the market place. If we fail to embrace these basic philosophical understandings, then of course we will lose faith whenever we are faced with adversity. We have to learn (as difficult as it may be sometimes) that Krsna is not the cause of our miseries. Miseries come due to the results of our past activities, and they are coming to purify us. We must accept full responsibility for our karma and avoid the tendency to blame others and blame God. If you still have a tongue and can still chant the holy names, then forget about the teeth, Krsna hasn't abandoned you.
  18. "I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so, even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present ... (Sri Siksastakam) I'm confused. Are you disabled and unable to work? Are you about to become homeless due to lack of income? Or did you file a lawsuit and lose your case and not receive your expected windfall? If you have a means of sustenance, then you should count your blessings, for it means that Krsna is maintaining you.
  19. Christians to this when they quote the Bible "For all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God." They use this to justify continued sinful activity based upon the premise that they are "saved" through their faith in Jesus and that everyone is equally sinful and fallen. Individually, we should think of ourselves as most fallen. Still, when dealing with other devotees, we shouldn't lump everyone into the same category. Sastra advises that there are 3 gradations of devotees: kanistha, madhyama, and uttama. And within those 3 divisions, there are gradations as well, such as kanistha kanistha, uttama kanistha, kanistha madhyama, madhyama madhyama, uttama madhyama, and so on. We love to glorify Srila Prabhupada for spreading Hare Krsna and love of God around the globe, yet would it not be an insult at his lotus feet to assume that he was unable to create "fixed up" devotees? Devotees at or approaching the madhyama stage and beyond? So, if someone falls from that stage, it is a falldown. Bharat Maharaja fell from the stage of bhava (although that was an instructive pastime for aspiring sadhakas.) Out of humility, one may consider himself most fallen, but one should be careful not to make the mistake of projecting that fallen status upon everyone else. I am a sub-kanistha at best, but I recognize that there are many many sincere sadhakas who are madhyama adhikaris. If I assume that everyone else is fallen like me, then that is not a very humble position to take, but instead my own false ego projecting itself on others.
  20. Offenses, doubts, asat sanga. Doubts must be cleared up by submissive inquiry from advanced devotees. Without proper faith, how can one follow strictly? Understanding the 10 offenses to the Holy Name and avoiding them will help protect us, especially the 1st, 3rd, and 7th offense. The example above of the baby is quite good. Never give up. Always pick ourselves back up after a falldown. However, one should not take that lightly. Falldowns can be addictive. Whether it's illicit sex, intoxication, eating unoffered foodstuffs, criticizing Sadhus, reducing our chanting, stopping our chanting... all these things begin to feel "normal" after some time. It will feel even more normal if we're associating with nondevotees and for whatever reason, we have no sadhu sanga. We become like the people we associate with. We need to study the books of past and present Acaryas, for therein lie the instructions for remaining steady on the path of Krsna Consciousness and avoiding falldowns. We need to find ways to keep ourselves inspired, and that will come from hearing (which includes reading the books) and chanting. Even if it's just 5 minutes a day, reading something inspirational can make a world of difference with regard to keeping us on the straight and narrow. We know we're fallen when: faced with a choice of spending 2 hours watching a show on TV, or spending those 2 hours chanting 16 rounds, and we choose the former. Making those correct choices becomes easier if there are other devotees nearby. And preferably, devotees who have a higher taste and who naturally choose devotional activities when confronted with those that are mundane.
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