Krishna is the ONE!

Think about it…my mother, father, wife and friends know me in varying levels. To the degree, a person knows me, to that degree I am closely related to that person. This is true for most people. The more we know some one, the more we are closely related to that someone. It can be my mother, or father or wife or my school friend. We are attached to our relationships simply because we are intimately connected with some one and share their joys and pains.

Why then…am I not, of all relationships, attracted to that Supreme Lord Krishna? Of all the relationships, people and friends, Krishna is the one who knows me more than I know myself. Krishna is the one who is with me in thick and thin. Krishna is the one who accompanies me when everyone abandones me (when I move from body to body). Krishna is the one who fulfills all my desires knowing very well all my likes and dislikes. Krishna is the one who intimately knows all my thoughts and shares all my experiences. Krishna is the one who knows me in and out more than my mother, father, wife and friends. Yet, why am I not attracted to that Supreme Lord Krishna? Why am I attracted to my mother, father, wife and friends more than I am attracted to Krishna? I see Krishna, at the best, as a distant relative (that’s it !!!). When will I see Him as the closest of all relationships, and as the one who eternally wishes the best for me?

I am, indeed, in illusion!

Hare Krishna

All glories to Sriman Sadaputa Das Adhikari

It is weird that although I have not even seen Sadaputa prabhu, I can’t help but feel a sense of attraction to him. I have listened to his lectures and read his books and articles. Although, I confess, I can barely understand anything he wrote, nevertheless, his words and work is beyond genius.

I was proud to be in a movement that he was in. It kind of gave me justification to my material mind that if a great scientist such as Sadaputa prabhu can be Krishna conscious defying all modern theories, then perhaps we are indeed in the right movement. I know it is weird but there is a side in me that still require modern scientific explanation for phenomenon. Although Srila Prabhupada’s words are complete and divine, Sadaputa prabhu gave it the contemporary edge…meaning packaging Srila Prabhupada’s teachings in scientific language.

We will miss Sadaputa prabhu’s knowledge on science and religion. I know I will. My deepest condolences to his bereaving family.

Hare Krishna

Out of Body Experience Explored

A fellow at New York City's Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Sam Parnia is one of the world's leading experts on the scientific study of death. Last week Parnia and his colleagues at the Human Consciousness Project announced their first major undertaking: a 3-year exploration of the biology behind "out-of-body" experiences. The study, known as AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation), involves the collaboration of 25 major medical centers through Europe, Canada and the U.S. and will examine some 1,500 survivors of cardiac arrest. TIME spoke with Parnia about the project's origins, its skeptics and the difference between the mind and the brain.

What sort of methods will this project use to try and verify people's claims of "near-death" experience?

When your heart stops beating, there is no blood getting to your brain. And so what happens is that within about 10 sec., brain activity ceases - as you would imagine. Yet paradoxically, 10% or 20% of people who are then brought back to life from that period, which may be a few minutes or over an hour, will report having consciousness. So the key thing here is, Are these real, or is it some sort of illusion? So the only way to tell is to have pictures only visible from the ceiling and nowhere else, because they claim they can see everything from the ceiling. So if we then get a series of 200 or 300 people who all were clinically dead, and yet they're able to come back and tell us what we were doing and were able see those pictures, that confirms consciousness really was continuing even though the brain wasn't functioning.

How does this project relate to society's perception of death?

People commonly perceive death as being a moment - you're either dead or you're alive. And that's a social definition we have. But the clinical definition we use is when the heart stops beating, the lungs stop working, and as a consequence the brain itself stops working. When doctors shine a light into someone's pupil, it's to demonstrate that there is no reflex present. The eye reflex is mediated by the brain stem, and that's the area that keeps us alive; if that doesn't work, then that means that the brain itself isn't working. At that point, I'll call a nurse into the room so I can certify that this patient is dead. Fifty years ago, people couldn't survive after that.

How is technology challenging the perception that death is a moment?

Nowadays, we have technology that's improved so that we can bring people back to life. In fact, there are drugs being developed right now - who knows if they'll ever make it to the market - that may actually slow down the process of brain-cell injury and death. Imagine you fast-forward to 10 years down the line; and you've given a patient, whose heart has just stopped, this amazing drug; and actually what it does is, it slows everything down so that the things that would've happened over an hour, now happen over two days. As medicine progresses, we will end up with lots and lots of ethical questions.

But what is happening to the individual at that time? What's really going on? Because there is a lack of blood flow, the cells go into a kind of a frenzy to keep themselves alive. And within about 5 min. or so they start to damage or change. After an hour or so the damage is so great that even if we restart the heart again and pump blood, the person can no longer be viable, because the cells have just been changed too much. And then the cells continue to change so that within a couple of days the body actually decomposes. So it's not a moment; it's a process that actually begins when the heart stops and culminates in the complete loss of the body, the decompositions of all the cells. However, ultimately what matters is, What's going on to a person's mind? What happens to the human mind and consciousness during death? Does that cease immediately as soon as the heart stops? Does it cease activity within the first 2 sec., the first 2 min.? Because we know that cells are continuously changing at that time. Does it stop after 10 min., after half an hour, after an hour? And at this point we don't know.

What was your first interview like with someone who had reported an out-of-body experience?

Eye-opening and very humbling. Because what you see is that, first of all, they are completely genuine people who are not looking for any kind of fame or attention. In many cases they haven't even told anybody else about it because they're afraid of what people will think of them. I have about 500 or so cases of people that I've interviewed since I first started out more than 10 years ago. It's the consistency of the experiences, the reality of what they were describing. I managed to speak to doctors and nurses who had been present who said these patients had told them exactly what had happened, and they couldn't explain it. I actually documented a few of those in my book What Happens When We Die because I wanted people to get both angles - not just the patients' side but also the doctors' side - and see how it feels for the doctors to have a patient come back and tell them what was going on. There was a cardiologist that I spoke with who said he hasn't told anyone else about it because he has no explanation for how this patient could have been able to describe in detail what he had said and done. He was so freaked out by it that he just decided not to think about it anymore.


Why do you think there is such resistance to studies like yours?

Because we're pushing through the boundaries of science, working against assumptions and perceptions that have been fixed. A lot of people hold this idea that, well, when you die, you die; that's it. Death is a moment - you know you're either dead or alive. All these things are not scientifically valid, but they're social perceptions. If you look back at the end of the 19th century, physicists at that time had been working with Newtonian laws of motion, and they really felt they had all the answers to everything that was out there in the universe. When we look at the world around us, Newtonian physics is perfectly sufficient. It explains most things that we deal with. But then it was discovered that actually when you look at motion at really small levels - beyond the level of the atoms - Newton's laws no longer apply. A new physics was needed, hence, we eventually ended up with quantum physics. It caused a lot of controversy - even Einstein himself didn't believe in it.

Now, if you look at the mind, consciousness, and the brain, the assumption that the mind and brain are the same thing is fine for most circumstances, because in 99% of circumstances we can't separate the mind and brain; they work at the exactly the same time. But then there are certain extreme examples, like when the brain shuts down, that we see that this assumption may no longer seem to hold true. So a new science is needed in the same way that we had to have a new quantum physics. The CERN particle accelerator may take us back to our roots. It may take us back to the first moments after the Big Bang, the very beginning. With our study, for the first time, we have the technology and the means to be able to investigate this. To see what happens at the end for us. Does something continue?

source: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1842627,00.html

If these people simply accept a higher authority of the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, how much money, time and energy can be saved? This is just another expedition of the scientist's giant egos so they can claim to the academic world, intellectual world and the common people that they have "discovered" a higher reality when this has already been written and documented ages before. Such foolish people. People are trained to view only modern science as knowledge and everything else as mythology or hearsay...only to find out that modern science is accepting the conclusions of the ancient texts of the Gita and Bhagavatam.

Hare Krishna

Predictions of Kali Yuga

As Pradyumna continued to read on, Srila Prabhupada offered more observations, each time just to the point. From the predictions it seemed that everything in Kali-yuga would become simply a question of show, with no real substance. Prabhupada's examples confirmed this, the liberal bite of sarcasm with which he expressed them making everyone laugh. "Vipratve sutram eva hi. And there is a brahmana. 'What is the proof that he is a brahmana?' 'He has got a sacred thread,' that's all. Or thread. It may not be sacred, purchased on the market. So at least we try to give a sacred thread by ceremony. But anyone can purchase a thread from the market, two paisa worth or one cent worth, and become a brahmana. 'You are a brahmana?' 'Yes, you see my sacred thread?'" He chuckled at the rascaldom. "Finished. 'What you are doing?' 'Never mind.'" Then he added a serious note. "Don't be such brahmanas, at least in our camp. You must follow the rules and regulations. Don't show that I am now doubly initiated, sacred thread. Don't cheat in that way."

Pradyumna read on. "Panditye capalam vacah."

"Pandita, if you can speak very vehemently, any subject matter, people may or may not understand, and they will certify you: 'Oh, this man is very learned.' What you have learned from him? 'Oh, I could not understand, but he's spoke very nicely.' He spoke very nicely. What is that nicely? That capala." Prabhupada threw out a rapid string of gibberish -- "Habadvasyenamdoaguwaddogbignikulaigondulaivaidilaktismai!" Then he laughed along with the devotees. "You go on speaking like that, and people will appreciate, 'Oh, he's a big speaker!'"

On the next item he described the plight of the poor. "When the poor man comes, you'll not give place. If he wants to stay, you'll refuse. No. Because he's poor, he's immediately accepted as dishonest. He may be honest or dishonest, but poverty is a sign for accepting a man as dishonest. Then?"

"Tirtham. Just like there is Vrndavana and here is New Vrindaban. But if you spend ten thousand dollars and go to Vrndavana, then it is pilgrimage. And here is Vrndavanacandra, so that is not very important. Dure vary-ayanam. You have to go far, far away, then it will be pilgrimage. In India, there is Ganges in Calcutta. But they go to Hardwar. Then it is pilgrimage. The same Ganges, coming from Hardwar. Then?"

Pradyumna read out the Sanskrit. "Lavanyam kesa-dharanam."

At this, Prabhupada gave a hearty laugh. "Hmm. Lavanyam, now you know very well in the Western country. Beauty increases by having long hair. Now see how it is current. Who expected that this foretelling is there in the Bhagavatam? To increase beauty, have long hair. Is it not? Just see. How five thousand years this thing was foretold. That is the proof." He grinned at us and declared, "There was no hippie movement then. But Vyasadeva foretold that in the Kali-yuga if one keeps long hair he will think himself as very beautiful. There are so many things."

Then he gave a round-up of the future of this age. "Ultimately, with the advancement of Kali-yuga you'll have no food. Food means there will be no food grains, there will be no milk, no sugar, like that. No fruits. If you get fruits, there will be no pulp, it is simply seeds. These things are there. You get a mango, but a mango means simply the big seed, that's all. So how can you check it? If nature's way, things are going to happen like that, what the scientists will do? If there is no rice, no wheat, will the scientists ...? They can say replace with a pill, but they cannot produce wheat or rice or dal or milk, sugar. That is not possible."

Dhrstadyumna Maharaja interjected that the scientists have fashioned a way for the spacemen to drink their own urine and eat their own stool.

"Yes, that is the most scientific improvement," Srila Prabhupada announced cuttingly. "Yes. That they can do. By scientific improvement, they can drink their own urine -- very tasty!"

One of the devotees wanted to know how the general mass of people could take to Krsna consciousness in the face of all these disqualifications.

Maintaining his good humor Srila Prabhupada replied that Krsna consciousness is the only remedy. "In the Kali-yuga, it is an ocean of faults. How ...? Suppose all over your body there are boils. So where you will apply ointment? You just dip down!"

It was a wonderful evening's meeting. Prabhupada's congenial mood and warmth offered many of the devotees a chance to see him in a much more intimate way than they are used to. Most disciples only see him in the very formal setting of the Srimad-Bhagavatam class, and a few are fortunate to accompany him on his walks. But circumstances like this, with such free and happy exchanges, draw on the hearts and minds of us all, increasing our love and affection for him unlimitedly.

- From the "A Transcendental Diary Vol 3" by HG Hari Sauri dasa

Same Vyasa Muni Reborn

A strange feature of the modern world is that in spite of vast advances in science and technology and the establishment of a good number of institutions for human welfare, mankind has not found true peace and happiness. Knowledge of material sciences and arts has increased tremendously in recent times, and millions of volumes on each fill the libraries the world over. People and leaders in every country are generally well versed in these arts and sciences, but despite their efforts human society everywhere continues to be in turmoil and distress. The reason is not far to seek. It is that they have not learned the science of God, the most fundamental of every other art and science, and fail to apply it to the facts of life. The need of the hour is, therefore, to do it if mankind is not only to survive but flower into a glorious existence.

To teach this science of God to people everywhere and to aid them in their progress and development towards the real goal of life, Srimad-Bhagavatam is most eminently fitted. In fact, this great ancient work of Vyasa will fill this need of the modern times, for it is a cultural presentation for the respiritualization of the entire human society. His Divine Grace, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of the ISKCON movement, has taken it upon himself, in addition to his ceaseless travels and other multifarious activities in the service of the Lord, the stupendous task of translating this Sanskrit work into English in about sixty volumes for the welfare and happiness of mankind. It is really astonishing how he is able to do this single-handed, and when one comes to think of this, apart from his other great literary works, one is tempted to wonder if he is not the same Vyasa Muni reborn today to adapt his own old work into a universal language of this age for the spiritual upliftment of the modern man.

So far eighteen volumes of this most beautiful literature on God have been brought out by ISKCON and the rest are under preparation. Needless to say, that in keeping with the excellence of their other publications, the publishers have seen to it that the printing, get-up, and pictures in these volumes are also of the highest quality, as though to serve as an ornament to the divine contents of the books. This is a rare opportunity to people and leaders of every country, race and community in the world to know and understand the glorious science of God and work for their perfection. I would say that this encyclopedia of spiritual knowledge is more important and fundamental than the encyclopedia of any other branch of knowledge and should, therefore, find a rightful place not only in the public and private libraries, big and small, of educational and other institutions, as also of every household, but above all in the hearts and minds of every man and woman.

- Signed by Sri R. Subramaniam, the Deputy Director of Research in the Lok Sabha Secretariat of India's National Parliament

Higher education and career in Krishna consciousness

H.H.Romapada Swami Maharaja has given answers to some commonly asked questions regarding Krishna Consciousness, something I think is very important to know. Please read his response to the questions. Hare Krishna

Q. Is it wrong to pursue higher education and career in Krishna consciousness?

Q. In our pursuance of Vedic society in Krishna Consciousness, would it mean that I should stop working and manage only household activities or activities related to the temple, after marriage?

Q. In my limited interaction with the devotees, I have found devotees pursuing a job for sustenance and enjoying only things related to Krishna Consciousness. And couple of them have given up their further education in pursuance of Krishna Consciousness.

Q. When we are living in the material world, why not perform the best things possible in the material world too. It is something like exercising daily which keeps your body fit, and unless you are in decent health you cannot perform your devotional activities. When we have to carry out devotional activities in the material world, we need money too. So what is wrong in pursuing further education or getting a better job and performing them for the service of Krishna when you are capable of doing it... or providing your family better conditions to prosper both in the material and spiritual world?

Answers: The Vedic way of life is all-encompassing -- it takes into account all necessary ingredients for perfectly conducting our daily affairs in this world too, whether within the family, society or occupational field, considering one's overall physical, emotional and intellectual well-being as well. If you deeply understand the varnashrama system, you will come to appreciate how scientific and brilliant it is, much superior to our modern social setup, which begins to look ill-defined and lop-sided in comparison! The entire society is so organized in a varnashrama such that each member is engaged perfectly, just according to their natural propensities and in a manner that will progressively help them mature spiritually.

The Vedas prescribe two different types of occupation -- pravritti marga and nivritti marga. Pravritti marga is the path of gradual material elevation, where even though there is the propensity for material enjoyment and economic development, it is regulated under Vedic injunctions. Thus, the kind of occupation one does, the activities of grhastha asrama, how one earns and spends his money etc are all performed within the purview of religious principles, guided by scriptures and brahmanas. This arrangement helps one become peaceful and satisfied in material life, and further one becomes gradually detached from the sense of "me and mine" and progressively develops an attitude of service and devotion to God. Whereas, pursuing these goals without such guidelines makes even material life very complex and unpredictable, and only makes one more attached and entangled in the complicated cycle of karmic reactions.

On the other hand, when someone is already sufficiently renounced, and doesn't feel the need for such social engagements and economic gains, they are encouraged to follow the 'nivritti marga' or the path of gradually reducing the degree of one's involvement and entanglement with matter, in favor of gradually increasing one's full engagement in direct service to God and for the spiritual benefit of the entire society. Such devotees are not losing out on the pleasures of this world; rather, they have strong enough faith and realization that all needs are fully satisfied simply by watering the root. Note that one who is not yet ready for such a life is never artificially induced to do so. Krishna discouraged Arjuna's proposition to withdraw from his duty and retire to the forest, saying that such premature renunciation will only make him a mithyacara (pretender) [cf. BG 3.6]. However, those who are capable of dedicating themselves in that way are rendering a great service and should be ecouraged by all means. Ei
ther of these paths, pravritti or nivritti, is approved by the Vedas, if it is taken up properly.

Having said that, it should also be stated that although pursuing a higher degree or a career in today's society is much respected, it is not necessarily the 'best thing' one can do, even in the material world, and it may not always be conducive to the service of Krishna -- while certainly in other circumstances, and with proper guidance and consciousness, it can be very conducive. One must tread with great caution in this area, and seek close guidance from realized devotees to do this properly. In our Krishna consciousness movement, we do not have 'policy' either way: to prohibit or to promote to pursuance of a higher material education or career path; however, depending upon the qualities of a particular individual, it may be a much less optimal and fruitful option, compared to a thoughtfully pursued course of life that is based more closely on Vedic, Krishna conscious principles.

Although there is nothing wrong with an education or occupation that supports one's Krishna conscious practices, (taking the example of none less than Arjuna himself), where are such pure occupational engagements to be found in today's world? Because the purpose and goals of the larger society are completely materialistic and theistic in name only at best, most career and educational options and the environment in which one must pursue them are all highly polluted, and diametrically opposite to the principles of a spiritual way of life. Even the most innocent-sounding jobs for the highly educated are actually often very unwholesome, and not very conducive for a life in the mode of goodness, as well as being full of competition, exploitation and stress. Many of these occupations are not even geared towards the actual welfare of society but are meant to cater only to artificial comforts of life.

Many people even in the western world are beginning to recognize the serious imbalances and frustration caused by the present materialistic socio-economic setup and the stereotyped occupational roles for earning one's livelihood, and are looking for alternatives. The daivi varnashrama system which Srila Prabhupada has painstakingly outlined and brought to us can offer just that perfect alternative. Srila Prabhupada very much wanted that young and intelligent people should come forward to deeply understand and adopt these wonderful principles. If they set ideal examples, the common people who are all suffering due to being misled by irresponsible leaders will appreciate the difference and begin to follow. (yad-yad-acarati sresthas tad tad evetaro janah, BG 3.21)

In a Vedic society, the services of a teacher or a priest, and similarly those of a mother or a chaste wife, are very highly valued ---- because these individuals play a vital role in molding the character of the society. The brahmanas are the guiding intelligence of the social body, and on the women rested the heavy responsibility of preserving the culture and sanctity of the society. They were not merely menial or 'secondary' roles taken on by those who are incapable of anything better, as it happens to be in present day society. In contrast, fields such as engineering, medicine and economics which are highly valued in the modern culture were given only a third-grade importance in Vedic society. Seen in this light, the devotees who have seemingly given up higher education or career in pursuance of Krishna consciousness are actually pursuing a much superior form of education / vocation. Devotees who are sincerely dedicating themselves to raising God-conscious children, or for the cause of spiritual education
of others, are contributing *much* more meaningfully to their own welfare as well as that of their families and society, than they could have by merely pursuing a means of livelihood or career with no higher purpose!

The intention of this discussion is not to convince or pursuade you in any way or to suggest what any individual devotee should or should not do, but simply to minimally help appreciate the merit of the decision of those who have fully adopted the Vedic mode of life, over and above the modern paradigm. There are no hard and fast rules in molding one's life towards either model, but devotees are encouraged, without being coerced, to adopt these principles according to the degree of faith, conviction and realization that they personally have, their personal situations and in consultation with experienced devotees in matters of how to effectively apply this in individual situations.

To the degree that we can adopt these time-tested and compassionate teachings of our previous acharyas and sages, to that degree we will benefit and also serve as beacons of real-world examples, thereby nurturing the faith of others in the effulgent teachings as being practical in today's active world.


Contact information for the purpose of "Inquiries Into the Absolute":
Email: iskcondcr@gmail.com
Postal Address: 10310 Oaklyn Drive, Potomac, MD 20854-3932

Born again

This is a story of a Jew who met God in his near death experience. I find the story very compelling as it stresses on spiritual values versus religious. What’s more interesting is it perfectly highlights Bhagavat philosophy. In other words, I find the Bhagavad Gita spoken again to this person but just not with details. The person reflects Biblical versus in his narration, however, there are striking similarities. It also goes to show how the current Christian church is really missing the point. Anyways, please read his story in the given link

http://www.near-death.com/rosenblit.html

Hare Krishna