jijaji

Tribute to George on Dreamweaver site... http://www.thedreamweaver.com/in_memory.html jijaji

From Ananova News: 'Minute of meditation' plea for Harrison The family of George Harrison has asked for a minute of meditation on Monday as a tribute to the former Beatle. The statement was released by family friend Gavin de Becker. Mr Harrison, 58, was cremated in a cardboard coffin in a private ceremony hours after his death. The family plan to scatter his ashes on a sacred Indian river. "We are deeply touched by the outpouring of love and compassion from people around the world," said Mr Harrison's wife Olivia and son Dhani. "The profound beauty of the moment of George's passing - of his awakening from this dream - was no surprise to those of us who knew how he longed to be with God. In that pursuit, he was relentless." Mr de Becker said: "Olivia and Dhani invite you to join them in a minute of meditation in honour of George's journey, wherever you are on Monday at 1:30pm PST (1830 GMT)." The so-called "quiet" Beatle had reportedly healed a four-year rift with his sister Louise just days before his death. They became estranged after she opened a bed and breakfast in her home in Illinois called Hard Day's Nite - a venture which reportedly appalled him. But the New York Daily News reported they had been reconciled after Louise - who emigrated from Liverpool and later became a US citizen - drove 1,000 miles from her home to New York, where Mr Harrison was receiving cancer treatment. Story filed: 08:21 Sunday 2nd December 2001

I copied from the SRF website so I assume the 27 days mentioned is accurate! jijaji

Sunday Mirror WITH INCENSE AND CHANTING FILLING THE AIR HE SAID 'HARE KRISHNA' AND SLIPPED AWAY TWO HOLY MEN FLEW FROM LONDON 'TO EASE GEORGE'S PATH INTO THE NEXT LIFE' GEORGE Harrison's spiritual guru yesterday told of the Beatle's final moments. His Hindu mentor Ravi Shankar, 81, joined George's wife Olivia and son Dhani to comfort the dying musician as his life ebbed away at a friend's Los Angeles home . George also arranged for Hare Krishna devotee Shyamasundar Das to travel from London and another devotee, Mukunda Goswami. to fly from New Zealand to ease his path "into reincarnation". "He looked so peaceful - surrounded by love. He was a brave, beautiful soul, full of love, childlike humour and a deep spirituality," said Ravi. George, 58, spent his dying moments repeating the mantra "Hare Krishna", telling his friends it helped him "see God". He chose his favourite pictures of Hindu gods Krishna and Rama to be positioned around his bed . Incense and candles were burned as the robed Krishna devotees chanted and prayed over him. After his death, sacred leaves were placed in his mouth, he was garlanded with orange-coloured flowers and sprinkled with holy water. His shawl-wrapped body was later covered with holy oils and earth and cremated. His ashes may now be taken to India and scattered in the River Yamuna at the birthplace of Krishna north of Delhi Cancer-stricken George had already said tearful goodbyes to fellow Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in New York in the weeks before his death. As he lay dying he surrounded himself with Krishna friends. Sitar legend Ravi, who introduced the Beatles to Eastern spiritualism in 1967, was summoned to George's bedside at the vast white-walled home of security expert Gavin de Becker last Wednesday. There Ravi, his wife Sukanya, and daughter Anoushka joined Olivia and Dhani. Anoushka wept as the man she called "Uncle George" lapsed in and out of consciousness. Ravi said: "He was a friend, disciple and son to me. It was my sitar and Indian music which connected me to George in the beginning. But very soon our relationship went beyond that." Shyamasundar Das and Mukunda Goswami said prayers and chanted the Hare Krishna mantra, which George made famous through his music. They burned incense and George, despite his pain, joined in the chants of "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare." He had made the same words famous around the world in his song "My Sweet Lord." Garlands were placed around the Beatle's neck and a "Tilak" mark, made from clay, was placed on his forehead. Devotees hope the dying person will be soothed by the mantra and be sent into reincarnation with the words ringing in his ears. After George died Mukunda and Shyamasundar performed "prasadam" on his body - laying garlands around his neck, sprinkling holy water on him and placing leaves from a holy tree in his mouth. The devotees wrapped him in a shawl with Sanskrit lettering and put oils on his body to aid cremation. George first met Hare Krishna devotees in London in 1969 and he remained in close touch with friends from the movement - whom he regarded as his "other family" - until his final moments on Thursday afternoon. He had called upon a third devotee, Dhananjya, to be at his bedside, but he did not arrive in time. Shyamasundar, an American, was one of George's closest spiritual advisers. He and Mukunda helped introduce the Beatle to Hinduism. They turned up at the Beatles' Apple HQ in London and George asked them: "Where have you been? I've been trying to meet Hare Krishna people for a couple of years." The shaven-headed devotees sat in on George's recording sessions and later met Paul, Ringo and John Lennon. Mukunda said yesterday: "George's relationship with the Hare Krishnas was deep and long- abiding. He left his body to the sounds of the Hare Krishna mantra." The Beatle was a firm believer in reincarnation and told Mukunda he was certain John Lennon was in "a good place". In a joint statement yesterday, Shyamasundar and Mukunda said: "George Harrison has probably done more than any single popular cultural figure to spread spiritual consciousness around the world."" Both men are expected to attend a special memorial service at the Los Angeles Hare Krishna temple later today. George paid for the printing of the movement's Krishna book in 1970, and wrote the foreword to it. He also donated a mansion in Hertfordshire to the movement in 1973 for a token 5p. UK Hare Krishna spokeswoman Varsana Bevi Dafi said last night: "George was a deeply spiritual person who moulded his life around his beliefs. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have our place in Hertfordshire. Thousands of people have benefited from it and it is all credit to George Harrison. "`He had been in our prayers because he had been ill for some time but his death still comes as a shock". The Beatle developed an interest in India after meeting Ravi. He told the master musician he wanted to learn to play the sitar and studied the instrument in India for six weeks. On Ravi's advice, he cut his hair and grew a moustache. During his stay in India, he visited Kashmir and and met Ravi's musical disciples. George once reflected: "I always felt at home with Krishna - it was already a part of me. I think it's something that's been with me from my previous birth." A memorial service will be held at the Hertfordshire mansion in the next few weeks. It is believed the Beatle, who had a £120million fortune, may have decided to bequeath his mansion home in Oxfordshire to the Krishna movement. He is thought to have held discussions with devotees about giving them his Friar Park home, near Henley. -GEORGE'S first wife Patti Boyd yesterday wept as she told how she learned of his death when she switched on the radio. Patti, 54, who left George for his friend Eric Clapton, was distraught because she had not managed to say her own personal goodbye. "I heard the same way as everyone else," she said. "How do you think I feel? Just awful. I had tried to get through to him on the phone but I couldn't. No one realised just how ill he was. I am so, so shocked. I can't even think straight at the moment." Patti, who lives in Guildford, Surrey, fell for the quiet Beatle when she appeared as an extra in the film A Hard Day's Night. Her later marriage to Clapton also failed. But she managed to remain friends with both of her ex-husbands and George's new wife Olivia. She had remained in regular touch with George since his cancer was first diagnosed.

Update II (12/2/01) The Harrison family has called for a minute of meditation on Monday, reports Ananova. A statement released by family friend Gavin de Becker said: "Olivia and Dhani invite you to join them in a minute of meditation in honour of George's journey, wherever you are on Monday at 1:30pm PST (1830 GMT)." Additionally, a statement from Olivia and Dhani Harrison said, "We are deeply touched by the outpouring of love and compassion from people around the world. The profound beauty of the moment of George's passing - of his awakening from this dream - was no surprise to those of us who knew how he longed to be with God. In that pursuit, he was relentless." Here are some very good links as well as the last picture of George alive. It also has the address you can send cards to the Harrison family. http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/709georgenewcancer.html Hare Krishna jijaji [This message has been edited by jijaji (edited 12-02-2001).]

On March 7, 1952, Paramahansa Yogananda entered mahasamadhi, a God-illumined master's conscious exit from the body at the time of physical death. His passing was marked by an extraordinary phenomenon. A notarized statement signed by the Director of Forest Lawn Memorial-Park testified: "No physical disintegration was visible in his body even twenty days after death....This state of perfect preservation of a body is, so far as we know from mortuary annals, an unparalleled one....Yogananda's body was apparently in a phenomenal state of immutability." ------------------ ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- jijaji -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1685000/audio/_1685018_india15_srivastava.ram Tears fall today...and rightly so! jijaji

Indeed Ol Chap.....well put! It seems in India unless your saint is an avatar of some God or the Godhead itself no one is gonna pay attention to him. So the schools that get built up around these different saints have no hesitency to identify their saints with this God or that God or the God of Gods Himself..etc. It's all very ego competitive if ya ask me! ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- jijaji -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* [This message has been edited by jijaji (edited 11-28-2001).]

Yes I certainly do remember Satya... It is interesting if we compare Murari Guptas biographies to those composed later i.e. Vrndavana das, Krishnadas, Lochandas etc..we find the same stories about Chaitanya becoming embellished with more and more miracle stories that were never mentioned by eyewitnesses like Murari. ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- jijaji -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* [This message has been edited by jijaji (edited 11-26-2001).]

In 1907 an Indian scholar, Haraprashad Sastri, working in the Royal Archive in Nepal discovered a palm-leaf manuscript of 'Caryagiti' mystic poems by Bengali Buddhist poets. The poems, also collectively known as the 'Caryapada' were published by him in 1916. Sastri's discovery brought to light the oldest specimens not only of Bengali poetry but also of Indo-Aryan literature. According to Dr. Mohammad Shahidullah the discovery of the Cayagiti means that Bengali literature can be dates as far back as the seventh century. It is probable that the language had developed a hundred years before this. These poem-songs in old Bengali, designed to be sung with a particular rage, constitute an integral part of the heritage of Bangladesh and the basis of a long established tradition of poetry which has survived to the present day. These verse by Buddhist mystic poets are not only beautifully written and add greatly to Bengali literary traditions but they also constitute an invaluable source for the study of Bengali society and the Buddhist religion between the seventh and twelfth centuries. They are a particularly important discovery, since there are very few historical documents of the period in existence. Although the siddhacaryas, the writers of the Caryagiti dealt primarily with certain deeper metaphysical problems of tantric Buddhism, they also described their world. They give us a vivid account of the life and occupations of the common people, their work, events of birth, marriage and death, religious activities, dress and ornaments, food and utensils, and music and musical instruments. There is also a beautiful description of the riverine and green eastern part of Bengal which is Bangladesh today. The poems describe rivers, canals, ponds, muddy shores, various types of boats and their different parts, ferrying, and rowing; all these were used by the siddhacaryas as spiritual symbols. The Bengali siddhas, Buddhist mystics, used poetry as a vehicle for teaching one of the most difficult and mystic religious, that known as the shahajia mystic school of Buddhism. Through the use of the mother tongue of the common people, the mystic poets conveyed serious religious philosophies. The poems are a part of the cultural and religious heritage of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. Although these songs are still ritually sung in Nepal and Bhutan very little research has been carried out on the subject. They deserve to be known outside the region. According to Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah, the Caryagiti as a literary genre are the origin of both the later Vaisnavaite songs, according to Dr. Shahidullah, are: They are short rhymed poems intended for singing, 1 The name of the composer appears in the last verse, 3 They are near erotic in theme The Caryagiti influenced Gita-govinda, a famous Sanskrit work of the Bengali poet Jayadeva and Vaisnava Padabali, and much later, Rabindranath Tagore and the Baul songs of Bangladesh; Gita-govinda is a celebration of love between Krishna, the god of love and Radha. Divine love is humanized and the poems present erotic mysticism. Gita-govinda is written in a Kavya form, divided into formal cantos, and includes lyric drama, pastoral, an opera, a melodrama and a refined Yatra or play. The poems do not follow the Sanskrit tradition but bear a close resemblance to the spirit and style of the Caryagiti and old Bengali poetry. The musical padabalis, although composed in Sanskrit, actually follow the Bengali manner of expression and use rhymed and melodious moraic metres, uncommon in Sanskrit poems. Tagore was greatly influenced by the Baul songs during his stay in East Bengal, as he frequently mentions in his writing. In Bangladesh the Shahajia Baul songs continue the tradition today. [This message has been edited by jijaji (edited 11-26-2001).]

How do the buddhist carya-padas fit into this scenario...? They had in them the beginnings of bengali kirtan some sources say... sitting in circle with kartals and singing etc... ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- jijaji -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* [This message has been edited by jijaji (edited 11-26-2001).]

That was interesting Satyji... I wanted to ask you....do you have any other historical sources that describe Chaitanya and his school from the perspective of the Vallabhas, other Vaishnavas or Vedantins that were around at the time Chaitanyism became prominent in Braja..? ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- jijaji -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* [This message has been edited by jijaji (edited 11-26-2001).]

Perhaps someone can point out where this verse comes from...?

I remember back in like 71-72 once when I was a brahmachari after one sunday feast being totally stuffed with prasad to the gills I went down the block to the local store to buy a 7up to relieve my indigestion. I had heard from time to time Prabhupad did the same, but it was not yet safe for most of us to enduldge, a few temple presidents maybe but not most of us... that was too far into maya. Well anyway...I snuck it back into the temple and headed to the tulsi room to hide and drink it up. Somehow I was followed and before I knew it the lights blarred on in the tulsi room with me in front of the temple president, vice-presodent, temple commander, treasurer and anybody else who had any type of position of authority. I remember being yelled at that I was in maya and this and that... blah blah blah.... Very funny experience, but it shows some of the stupidity that exists. A year latter pretty much everyone was drinking 7up... sprite as well ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- jijaji -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* [This message has been edited by jijaji (edited 11-23-2001).]

I have more to post on 'Vaishnava Leelamrita', tune-in for the update coming soon!

Madhav categorically states that the injury which Chaitanya met with on his toe and the sprain which he incured on the joint of the foot were the causes of his death. Due to the little wound on the left toe and the sprain on his foot, his whole body gradually got swelled with a constant high temperature and finally early in the morning on the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya he breathed his last. The above statement of Madhav Patnail is believable because it refers to a natural death. Perhaps he was the eye-witness who has recorded the events just two years of the passing away of Sri Chaitanya. But no other contemporary writer has narrated the above incident. Among a host of Bengali biographiers, only Jayanaanda in his 'Chaitanya Mangal' (written in 1568) informs us that 'Chaitanya decided to go back to Vaikuntha on the seventh day of the full moon in the month of Ashadha. While dancing before the chariots in the month of Ashadha his left toe was pierced by a brick (lying on the road). On the sixth day, the pain in his toe became severe and he was forced to take shelter in the Tota (garden). He told Gadadhar Pandit tha he would leave the world next night in the tenth hour. His mortal frame lay behind, while he went to Vaikuntha in Vishnu's chariot" Without giving any importance to the additions and alternations made by the subsequent Bengali or Oriya devotees, we can now emphatically say that the statement offered by Madhav Patnaik about the injury Chaitanya met with, during the time of dancing in kirtan procession, is the actual cause of his passing away. The primary contents of both the statements of Madhav Patnaik and Jayananda appear to be punctiliously similar and therfore we are tempted to accept the account given by Madhav Patnaik as the truth. to be continued....

Indeed..!

thanks again suryaz...

apology ..my bad editing skills! the year is 1535 A.D. written 2 years after the death of Mahaprabhu.. thanks

continued... No doubt Sri Chaitanya experienced an exuberance of emotion a few years before his death. Towards the end of his life, he was frequently under trance. This state of affairs has been termed as 'Dibyonmada' by Madhav Patnaik. Krishnadas Kaviraja and other Bengali biographers have also given this account. It is true that in a state of semi-trance he used to run here and there chnating the name of Krishna. But he did not jump into the sea in that state of mind and put an end to his mortal life, as we do not get any information about this from any of the available sources. It is also presumed by a section of scholars that he was assassinated by miscreants of Govinda Vidyadhara-Smarta conspiricy. But is seems baseless as no such authentic record is available. The alleged 'Chaitanya Cakada' and Raya Ramananda's letter, on the strength of which Dr. Jayadev Mukhopadhyaya has recently arrived at the said conclusion, are spurious and hence rejected by scholars like Dr. H.K. Mahtab. Further we are to reject this presumption on the grounds that the Gajapati King of Orrisa declared before the great assemblage of pilgrims on one occasion of the car-festival, eight to tens years before the death of Chaitanya, that he is 'Maha-Prabhu' or God incarnated. Therefore, the question of his assassination does not arise at all. In Madhav Patnaik's 'Vaishnava Leelamrita'. we find the earliest reference to the death of Chaitanya since it was written in the year 1535 A.D., much before Lochan das and Jayananda. Madhav writes that " while dancing in kirtan procession on the evening of Rukmini amabasya (Vaisakha amabasya), his left toe was pierced by a piece of brick lying on the road and was some bleeding caused to him. The joint of his left foot suffered a sprain. He fell flat on the ground and became unconscious. His associates in the kirtan procession in that evening were Jagannatha Das, Kasiswara Mishra, Josobanta Das, Sribaisha, Ananta Das, and they took him on their shoulders to the northern mandapa inside the Jagannatha temple. His face was washed and after some time he responded to the call of his associates. The evil moment had disappeared and there was a sign of happiness in all the faces present. The temple was filled with the voice of chanting the name of Hari. Gradually Chaitanya could regain the senses and talked freely with his friends and comrades. The inquisitive public and the comrades slowly left the temple with the belief that Chaitanya Maha-prabhu suffered only a minor injury and he was safe. to be continued.... [This message has been edited by jijaji (edited 11-22-2001).]

New Light on the Passing of Sri Chaitanya in Orrisa From; Sri Chaitanya in the Religious Life of India A good deal of controversy is raised over the passing away of Sri Chaitanya at Puri, the famous citadel of Loard Jagannatha. He was at Puri continuously for eighteen years in the last part of his life. His passing away has been described by some authoritative Oriya and Bengali biographers whose works are available to us. Some scholars believe that, Sri Chaitanya jumped into the sea in a fit of ecstatic emotion and disappeared forever. Others say that most likely the saint was murdered by his religious enimies. Some say that he met a natural death. Others believe, mostly the devotees, that he merged into the image of Lord Jagannatha. The scanty reference about the passing away of the Master is because of the fact most of the texts are written by the devotees and they do not believe nor do they usually entertain any talk about Sri Chaitanya's death. So, famous biographers of the Master did not narrate any thing in detail. Authors like Kavikarnapura only informs us that Chaitanya returned to his celestial abode and Krishadas Kaviraja writes that his disappearance took place in Saka 1455 or A.D. 1533. Hence the passing of Sri Chaitanya has remained for centuries a mystery. In course of investigation, a palm-leaf manuscript in this connection was found. This narrates the passing away of Sri Chaitanya. It is felt that, this is the earliest text that has focused on the issue of the passing away of the great saint at Puri since it was composed in the 48th Anka year of the then Orissan Gajapati King, which corresponds to A.D. 1535, just TWO years after the passing away of the Master. The title of this manuscript is "Vaishnava Leelamrita' and its author is Madhav Patnaik who is known to the world of scholars as the composer of 'Chaitanya Vilas', which has also not seen the light of the day as yet, but referred to in details by scholars like Biman Behari Mazumdar and Prof. P. Mukherjee. Madhav was at Puri throughout the period of Chaitanya's stay and must have been an eye-witness to the last scene of Chaitanya's life-drama. We are here to examine the accounts offered by Madhav Patnail carefully by taking into consideration the materials available from both Bengali and Oriya sources on the topic..... to be continued.... ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- jijaji -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* [This message has been edited by jijaji (edited 11-21-2001).]

satya said: The historic events narrated by Krsnadas in Caitanya-caritramrta are quite different than the same episodes narrated by Vallabha’s followers and other sectarian groups. jijaji: Can you give a few examples of such events and how some of the stories differed? ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- jijaji -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* [This message has been edited by jijaji (edited 11-21-2001).]

Satya... what happened to the new thread.... surely you don't need Jagat to comment on this subject matter.. his contribution of course is always looked forward to, but whatcha gonna do? ------------------ ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- jijaji -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*

I will email him.....it's up to him if he wants to jump in. me thinks he is too busy these days.

Indeed...if only he would comment! He is very busy these days it seems! But please Satya start a new thread.... ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- jijaji -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* [This message has been edited by jijaji (edited 11-20-2001).]