Public Figures( Are our priorities right?)--to all

[Guest guest]

Hello Ivar and the gentle members who've written to me:

 

First and foremost, I wrote about "pouring myself a drink or two

every evening" to emphasize the strong karmic force at work in an

individual's life. This doesn't mean that I drink half a bottle of

whiskey every evening and wake up sick and hung-over each morning. I

work in a very responsible capacity and am licensed by State of

California and Washington.

 

Ya, as a Hindu, I was uncomfortable with my "evening drinks" so I

mentioned that to Sanjay, he told me to pour away all the alcohol I

have in my home and I walked to the bar and poured away all the

expensive liquor I had collected. I didn't touch alcohol for about 3

months and then found some excuse to stock up my bar again--and this

is due to karmic forces that control me but whom I cannot control.

 

Now Ivar, some questions/concerns on your note to me. It was

wonderful reading your note; however, you seem to tell me/us that the

remedy to all our problems life in the chanting of "Hari

bol/Govinda."

 

Well Ivar, if I sat before the idol of Lord Krishna and began

chanting his name day in and day out, how would I survive? How would

I care for my old parents and my future wife and future children if I

gave up performing my KARMA and dedicated my life the chanting of

Krishna's name.

 

Well Ivar, in a private mail to me you mention that Krishna NEVER

told us to perform GOOD KARMA, but only told us to worship him and go

to him and take his name.-- Ivar, I'm very much distrubed by your

attempts to LITERALLY/VERBATUM apply what Lord Krishna said.

 

Lord Krishna is GOD, GOD is GOOD; therefore, when Krishna asks us

to "come to him," he is in fact telling us to DO GOOD KARMA TO FELLOW

HUMANS AND ANIMALS.

 

You also mention being a Brahmachari and having dedicated your life

to chanting and worshipping and poverty and living in a temple, etc.

etc. Do you realize that this is a form of "escapism" just like

having a drink in the evening is a form of escapism for me. Does

being a Brahmachari give you some kind of a moral superiority over

the rest of us who enjoy sex with their spouses???

 

Ivar, if you really love Krishna and if you are a real man, go out in

the world, get a job, interact with the mainstream of our society,

marry a woman, have children and care for your wife and children,

accumulate wealth AND DO IT ALL THE WAY LORD KRISHNA TOLD US TO--THE

RIGHTEOUS WAY.

 

Ivar, you come across as a good man and I really appreciate the note

you worte to me as it is written in all sincerity and good

intentions; however, I have to speakup against your attempts to

pontificate the literal/verbatum quotes from the Geeta.

 

Do you realize that a whole bunch of "singing Christians," i.e the

Baptists are destroying the indegineous religions around the world

because they're taking the word of Lord Jesus Christ

LITERALLY/VERBATUM. -- They are interpreting the following quote by

Christ--"THOSE WHO ACCEPT ME(JESUS) WILL SAVE THEIR SOULS" as Christ

asking them to convert non-Christians all over the world to

Christianity and they're doing it so blatantly and aggressively.

 

When you made VERBATUM quotes of Lord Krishna's words and suggested

that we should "abandon the mundane service of men and surrender to

him," you sounded like one of those Christian who go around

converting other people or cursing them for practising other

religions.

 

Well, living a hermit's life in a temple or sitting in some place in

a jungle and chanting is MOST DEFINITELY NOT what Lord Krishna asked

us to do. -- If all of us began following what you said, there won't

be any place in the temples and the jungles, there won't be any

donations to the temples to feed those who have "surrendered."

 

What Lord Krishna really said is have fun, have family, have sex,

have luxury, BUT, do all these WHILE PERFORMING RIGHTEOUS KARMA

TOWARD OTHER FELLOW HUMANS, ANIMALS AND SOCIETY IN GENERAL.

 

Enough said for now.

 

Mukund

 

 

vedic astrology, "Ivar Verploegh"

<i.d.verploegh@z...> wrote:

>

> > will this prediction change their fate????

>

> It depends on the astrologer. A reading done for me in 1997 has

certainly

> changed my faith.

> The astrologer told me to continue astrology because he said I had

the

> ability to become a good astrologer. And so I decided to study,

even though

> there were so many other things I was interested in.

> He warned me of serious health weakness during my Sun dasha, and so

I have

> purposefully avoided visiting India, even though otherwise I would

certainly

> have gone there these past years.

>

> > If one is destined to suffer, one will HAVE to suffer--with or

without a

> prediction.

>

> An astrologer should not be too rigid with his predictions. There

were two

> ways my present time could manifest: being sick (liver problems)

and being

> an enthusiastic astrology student (both possible outcomes of

Jupiter tightly

> conjunct Sun in the 8th house aspected by Saturn). I decided to

dovetail all

> that 8th house and Saturn energy for studying astrology, and I'm

indeed

> extremely healthy. Yes, this was my fate, but the astrologer was

> INSTRUMENTAL. Meditate on that word for some time. An astrologer

can be

> instrumental in manifesting a person's good karma.

>

> > I tried giving up alcohol, but I just wasn't able to. I continue

drinking

> as strong karmic forces drive me towards the bottle every evening.

>

> NEVER blame the grahas for your own bad habits. It is your decision

right

> now, today, or this evening in your case, to destroy some brain

cells. It

> has nothing to do with your past life. What utter nonsense! Here's

my

> suggestion: find a positive way in which Saturn in the 5th in

Pisces MAY

> ALSO MANIFEST. Replace your drinking with that positive activity,

and see

> what happens. Never forget that the stars are a reflection of your

reality,

> not the other way around. Things that happen to you may be

reactions from

> past lives, but things you do are not. "O help, there goes that

bottle to my

> lips again. Poor me."

>

> As far as alcohol is concerned, Ketu, Neptune, Pisces and the 12th

house

> represent such intoxicative substances. And as you may know they

all have

> spiritual qualities too. So engage yourself in spirituality and get

> professional help. Buy glutamine, l-tryptophane, vitamin B5 and

chant the

> holy names of God. Read about the divine intoxication of Sri

Caitanta

> Mahaprabhu in Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami's Sri Caitanya-caritamrta.

Or read

> about the deliverance of the two alcoholics Jagai and Madhai, in

> Caitanya-Bhagavata of Srila Vrindavandasa Thakura, the Vyasa of

> Caitanya-lila. Haribol! Haribol! Gaurahari! Gaurahari!

>

> > If the prediction is GOOD, the individual will

> temporarily feel GOOD and if the prediction is BAD, the individual

> will feel sad and depressed.

>

> Perhaps some astrologers are too much concerned with giving

predictions,

> rather than having a therapeutic effect. Especially in India

astrologers

> tend to be too much concerned with impressing their clients with how

> accurately they can predict things. Better to avoid such

astrologers.

>

> > After reading PVR's prediction, would Mcveigh have

>

> What if, what if... It was their fate that they did not meet an

astrologer,

> and didn't have faith in it.

>

> > Do Jyothis remedies change one's fate???? NO, does walking around

> with a huge planetary gemstone on one's finger change one's

> destiny????? NO.

>

> That is my view as well, but others report good results.

>

> > Or sitting before a picture of a Hindu God or a Christian

Crucifix or

> the Jewish Torah and chanting mantras change one's destiny???? NO.

>

> No, but it's more satisfying than drinking alcohol and spoiling

one's

> valuable time in this human body.

>

> > Good karma towards our fellow beings (humans and animals) is the

key

> to salvation--Lord Krishna said this and I quote it.

>

> Go ahead, quote Him. Please tell us which verse, and quote the

original

> text. For all I know is that Krishna said to abandon the mundane

service of

> men (sarva dharman parityajya) and surrender only unto Him (mam

ekam saranam

> vraja) by thinking of Him, serving Him as His devotee and bowing

down before

> Him alone (mam mana bhava mad-bhakto mad yaji mam namaskuru).

>

> > The rest (gemstones, kavachs, mantras, tantras, poojas, talismans

> etc.) are a big heap of crap invented by greedy pundits, priests and

> astrologers as money-making tools.

>

> Some take advantage of it, yes. But to say all mantras

are "invented by

> greedy pundits" is ridiculous and most probably offensive to those

sages who

> channeled these mantras and holy procedures. Even he ancient seer

Brighu

> Muni recommends yajnas for astrological purposes. Even if these

words are

> interpolations by greedy astrologers, why protest against the

glorification

> of God?

>

> Bhaja govinda, bhaja govinda, bhaja govinda!

>

> Ivar

[Guest guest]

>

> Well Ivar, if I sat before the idol of Lord Krishna and began

> chanting his name day in and day out, how would I survive? How

would

> I care for my old parents and my future wife and future children

if I

> gave up performing my KARMA and dedicated my life the chanting of

> Krishna's name.

>

 

Mukund,

 

According to the same Bhagavad Gita you are quoting, the same Lord

Krishna said that if you leave everything to Him, He Himself will

take care of all your needs. Why would you doubt that, if you

sincerely believe the Lord's words regarding Karma? The Lord defined

various paths that people could follow, based on their various

personalities and circumstances. Giving up everything and

surrendering to him is one of those paths. If it is not for you,

that's fine, pick one that is right for you. But don't ridicule the

other paths! It was perfectly suitable for a great many people,

including all the saints that we admire, in all the great religions

of the world.

 

(Sorry for jumping in, Ivar.)

 

Venkat