Birthday recipes

Parotta kurma

Blueberry Orange Bundt Cake

I made blueberry orange bundt cake for my wife on her birthday. I took the recipe from here. In the recipe I substituted eggs with egg replacer and also milk with orange juice (1 cup). I made a blueberry glaze by simply adding few bluberries, sugar (half cup), half cup water and table spoon corn starch. Heat them all together in low to medium heat and you will get the glaze.

I also made Parotta and kurma. It is a south indian delicacy found on road side shops. I took the recipe from here for parotta and here for kurma.

Hare Krishna

at the time of death...

At the time of death we should leave this body just as we leave our stool behind after evacuation.

Hare Krishna

21st century River Yamuna

River Yamuna is one of the most sacred rivers in India. The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Himself performed many pastimes in this holy river in the land of Vrindavan. Unfortunately this river has been exploited to such an extent that even before it enters the land of Vrindavan, all the water is taken up by the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and what enters Vrindavan is just the sewage and chemical pollutants from Delhi and nearby areas- so much so, that it has been officially declared as a dead river after Delhi. Like you more than 8 crore pilgrims visit Vrindavan every year and take a bath and sip water from what they think is River Yamuna, but land up becoming sick or even die drinking this polluted water.

Issues:

1. At Hathini Kund Barrage, out of the 82 cumecs of original natural water flow, only 2.7 cumecs is left to flow on Yamuna bed.
2. Before Delhi, whatever little mixed flow of water remains is then totally taken away by the city and hence the river ceases to exist.
3. The Yamuna bed in Delhi stretch is used as a sewage canal to carry its waste water upto Agra canal at Okhla Barrage.
4. The dry bed beyond Okhla barrage is fed with shahdara canal sewage and polluted water of Hindon river.
5. What reaches Vrindavan-Gokul-Mathura is a cocktail of various polluted waters.

Hare Krishna

Not a blade of grass moves without the sanction of God

Unless Kṛṣṇa desires, unless He allows, we cannot do anything. We cannot do any... This is the fact. So tattva-vit... Tattva-vit means one who knows the truth. He thinks like that, that "I cannot do anything. I am always dependent on Kṛṣṇa. I cannot..." Mahatma Gandhi he used to say that "Not a blade of grass moves without the sanction of God." It is a fact. It is a fact. Nothing can be done without His sanction.

Then you can ask, "Then why somebody is doing bad work and why somebody is doing good work? In both ways Kṛṣṇa has sanctioned?" Yes, in both ways Kṛṣṇa has sanctioned. Without sanction he cannot do it. But how both ways Kṛṣṇa has sanctioned? Now Kṛṣṇa has sanctioned in this way. He has given you liberty. He has given you independence. Not full independence, but... You cannot become full independent. But you have got independence. He does not touch on your independence. That is there. Because otherwise, if you, if you are bereft of your independence, if you are without independence, then you have no meaning as living entity. Every living entity has got his minute share of independence. So Kṛṣṇa has given every one of you independence to make your choice. Now why you are...? Somebody is doing bad work or somebody is doing good work, and Kṛṣṇa giving sanction? How is that? That sanction is like that, that when I want to do something and I desire, I pray, "Oh, this thing may be done." It may be bad or good, that is a different thing. It may be... I am very much anxious. So when he's bent upon doing so, Kṛṣṇa gives him sanction, "Yes, you do it. You do it." He gives him facility. But one who has dovetailed himself into Kṛṣṇa consciousness, Kṛṣṇa gives him better consult, that "You do like this. Then you come to Me."

So sanction is always there. Sanction is always there. Without sanction, nothing can be done. So one who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness he knows. He's tattva-vit. Tattva-vit means one who knows the truth, that "I cannot do anything without Kṛṣṇa's sanction."

-Srila Prabhupada lecture BG 5.7-13 – New York Aug 27, 1966

Up to 12 million girls aborted in India over last 30 years

Up to 12 million girls were aborted over the last three decades in India by parents that tended to be richer and more educated, a large study in India found, and researchers warned that the figure could rise with falling fertility rates.

Read rest of the story here

So much for Indian Vedic Culture!! It is indeed sad to see once upon time pristine culture going to ruins. The age of Kali is fast moving!

Hare Krishna

Should God be blamed for bad things of this world?

Is God to be blamed when bad things happen to us individually or on a global scale. Please read the explanation below given by Srila Prabhupada.

Na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ
Nor does the Supreme Lord assume anyone's sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge - BG 5.14

Now you can ask that "If Kṛṣṇa is giving sanction, then He is responsible for my bad work also. Good work, of course, He is responsible. So bad work He is also responsible." Now, here the answer is na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ. Prabhu. Prabhu means the Lord. The Lord does not create work for you, neither He creates the result for you. Na karma-phala-saṁyogaṁ svabhāvas tu pravartate. Svabhāvas tu pravartate. As you have acquired your characteristics, so you create your own work and you create your result of own work and you become entangled. It is not the creation of God. You create. "How I create? If it is sanctioned, if it is controlled by God, then how I create?" The question may be. Yes. The answer is very simple.

You can understand that a person who is criminal, who is condemned. Now he's condemned to death or he is condemned to be imprisoned. Now he makes appeal that "Oh, excuse me, what was done(?)." But the judge puts him into the jail or condemns to life. So he thinks that "The judge has condemned me to death or the, he has put me into jail." But is the judge enemy of a particular person that he puts somebody into the jail and condemns to death? No. I have created. I have created my jail life before. The judge is simply giving me the direction. "Oh, you have done this. Now you have to go." He is not responsible. Similarly God is not responsible for my work, neither He creates my work. It is my nature, it is my characteristic, which, by which I create my work, I create the result and I suffer. God simply gives direction because He is the supreme director.

So He is not responsible. I am responsible. I am responsible. But if I become Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if I act on His account and completely becoming dependent on Him then He is responsible for everything happening. That is the principle.

-Srila Prabhupada conversation - New York, August 27, 1966

Radhanath Swami and a grieving cow

Wasn’t that strange?’ A cow racing alongside our speeding car at dangerously close proximity!

This happened as we traveled towards the Himalayan pilgrimage of Badrinath. Fifty-odd devotees had gone ahead by bus, and way behind were the four of us riding in a white Ambassador with Radhanath Swami.

Close to Agra, stretching out on either side of the road was a village with fields, little shops and thatched houses. Our vehicle was the lone occupant of that muddy highway as far as the eyes could strain, until a cow appeared from the nearby fields. Strangely, this humblest of animals seemed to hold a lofty ambition—of racing ahead our speeding automobile. Our chauffer panicked, for even a gentle sidewise brush of the car could prove a fatal blow on her gentle body. He raced faster until her four legs were no match to his four wheels. Relieved, all in the car sighed in unison—except for Radhanath Swami. For him, relief was still afar, and he wouldn’t find it until he knew why that cow behaved abnormally. Was she in distress? Could he be of any help to her?

Upon Radhanath Swami’s request, we stopped to inquire from the locals. One man related the cow’s sad tale: sometime back a white Ambassador had knocked down her little calf, and ever since the cow behaved in this strange way whenever a white Ambassador passed by.

Tears filled Radhanath Swami’s eyes, as he visibly fought a battle to hold them from an outpour. Words fail me—how he shared the distress of that cow! Kneeling down, pressing his cheek against her cheek, rubbing his hands against her soft neck. They shared their feelings through an unknown language, the language of love. And time stood still to watch them converse.

After a while, we all knew we had to leave. We boarded our car and sped ahead, as the cow looked on until we disappeared from her sight. Today, she had finally won the race. A white Ambassador had finally stopped to console her.

source: itsohappened.com

Ricotto cheesecake with blueberry glaze topping

I made this blueberry glaze topped ricotto cheesecake for Lord Narasimhadev on His appearance day. I took the recipe from here.

Enjoy the cake!

Hare Krishna

Maya - the All Attractive!

Krishna is All-Attractive, attractive enough to attract more than million cupids put together (Kandarpa koti kamaniya). Yet we see from our daily experience and this includes my own mind that my attraction to the All-attractive is minimal to say the least. I am attracted to other things of this world such as movie stars or electronic gadgets or sports etc…but surely these personalities/objects are not more attractive than million cupids? Why then am I attracted to apparently things that are qualitatively less attractive and not attracted to a Personality who is more attractive than million cupids?

The answer lies in the greatness of God -Krishna. Although Krishna’s material creation (Maya) is but a spark of His splendor, we are attracted more to the spark than the original splendor of the spark. This is the grand illusion we are in. The illusory reflection is more grandeur to our eyes than the original object it is reflecting. This is the power of Maya! Therefore we should not foolishly think we can cross-over the illusory power of Maya on our own strength and attain God. It is not possible! We have to seek a pure spiritual master and take shelter of his instructions. Then gradually the original splendor will be more splendorous than the reflection. In fact the reflection will seem trivial at that point.

Take shelter of a pure devotee, and then seek Krishna.

Hare Krishna

Humility

True humility means to meditate upon and glorify God even in adverse life conditions.

Hare Krishna

What is surrender?

Surrender to Krishna means to take shelter of Krishna in such a way that it is beyond all common sense, logic and human intelligence. Every day we have to use common sense and logic and intelligence to do even the simplest things of this world. We are trained from birth to behave and make decisions based on acquired intelligence and logic. Having thus been trained from birth; in schools, with parents, friends, our careers etc it is not not possible to go outside our realm of logic and intelligence. But what Krishna is expecting from us through surrender is that we come out of this realm of logic and intelligence, put faith in His words and trust Him in all conditions.

So for example when we are in difficulty the common sense thing to do is to defend ourselves or seek help but a pure devotee who is in full surrender will immediately not think of saving Himself but will immediately take shelter of Krishna seeking His protection. Such an action is devoid of common sense logic. When there is help, we seek it in a reflex way but a devotee will only meditate on the Lord immediately when in danger. Actually a devotee constantly meditates on the Lord’s glories in danger or not.

The reason one should go beyond common sense logic is because Krishna is beyond common sense and common logic. Krishna lifted a 25 mile round mountain when He was 7 years old. Which 7 seven year old can do that? It defies common sense. Krishna is beyond material analysis and thinking. Krishna is beyond our human intelligence. When we have faith that Krishna is indeed Supreme in this way, immediately we will meditate on Krishna beyond common sense and take shelter of Him at all times in that way. The famous example of Prahlad comes to mind where instead of using common sense to protect himself from danger, he simply prayed to Krishna for shelter…rest assured Krishna saved him in all circumstances.

Following in Prahlad’s footsteps, we also have to surrender to Krishna in this way beyond common sense, logic and human intelligence. Henceforth, for this reason people with advanced degrees or for that matter material minded people find it hard to “believe” in a personal God who is guiding everything with Supreme intelligence.

Hare Krishna

Albert Einstein’s Letter to Phyllis

In 1936, Albert Einstein wrote the following letter to a sixth-grade student, Phyllis Wright, in response to her question as to whether scientists pray, and if so, what they pray for.

January 24, 1936

Dear Phyllis,

I have tried to respond to your question as simply as I could. Here is my answer

Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by laws of nature, and therefore this holds for the actions of people.

For this reason, a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer, i.e., by a wish addressed to a supernatural being.

However, it must be admitted that our actual knowledge of the laws is only imperfect and fragmentary, so that, actually, the belief in the existence of basic all-embracing laws in Nature also rests on a sort of faith.

All the same this faith has been largely justified so far by the success of scientific research.

But, on the other hand, everyone one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is indeed quite different from the religiosity of someone more naïve.

I hope this answers your question.

Best wishes,
Albert Einstein

My critique of the letter

The above letter by Albert Einstein gives a simplistic explanation of scientific research. He explains that research or science is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by the Laws of Nature.

A law implies systematic function over time.
A systematic function indicates a system.
A system indicates structure
A structure indicates hierarchy of order or cross-functioning relationships.
Order and functions operate on intelligence.

Therefore, by Einstein’s own words, he implies that there is a higher order or higher intelligence governing the systematic laws of nature. The scientists, however, are only interested in understanding how the laws function and not so much the system behind the law.

To give a crude analogy, it is like someone is interested in the laws concerning driving but not so much interested with the department of transportation that creates and implements the law. In one sense, one does not need to know the department to understand the law. However, this type of understanding is incomplete.

Unless one understands the functions and systems of a body of governance, it is very difficult to interpret and manipulate the laws completely and perfectly. In other words, incomplete and imperfect understanding of a law can lead to ultimate systems malfunction (disorder) thus defeating the original purpose of a law (that is to create order).

Einstein in his letter admits to the imperfect and fragmentary knowledge base of the scientific community. What he does not say is that this imperfect learning can do more harm than good. This we are realizing today. The issues of global warming, environmental pollution (air, water etc), species extinction, cross pollination of diseases between man and animal, gradual degradation of social and cultural ethos of man devolving him/her to mere animal propensities etc etc the list can go on. All indicate disorder or systems malfunction. The very laws that were created to help mankind is actually causing harm.

Einstein out of humility thus revealing his true intellectual genius admits the limitations and also writes that one who is serious about scientific knowledge is convinced of a Great Spirit above the laws. He is indirectly indicating about intelligence beyond our own. This is the beginning of Vedic studies. Where Einstein ends, the saints of the Vedic school begin that the intelligence of the universe is beyond our own and that our understanding is negligible in comparison.

Therefore, to actually be religious and scientific means to make this shift in paradigm. That is to scientifically study and admit our own infinitesimal position in relation to the infinite and religiously approach the Great Spirit (the Infinite) in a mood of humility and devotion to reveal the system, its laws and our relationship with it.

Then, our knowledge becomes perfect and complete.

Hare Krishna

21st century "less"

Our communication - Wireless
Our phones - Cordless
Our cooking - Fireless
Our food - Fatless
Our Sweets - Sugarless
Our labor - Effortless
Our relations - Fruitless
Our attitude - Careless
Our feelings - Heartless
Our politics - Shameless
Our education - Worthless
Our Mistakes - Countless
Our arguments - Baseless
Our youth - Jobless
Our Ladies - Topless
Our Boss - Brainless
Our Jobs - Thankless
Our Needs - Endless
Our situation - Hopeless
Our Salaries - Less and less

courtesy of my inbox

Hare Krishna