IN THE BEGINNING

In the beginning there was only Lord Brahma and Garbhodakasayi Vishnu. Lord Brahma first created sacrifice to Lord Vishnu out of the body of Lord Vishnu.

"When I was born from the abdominal lotus flower of the Lord
[ Maha-Vishnu], the great person, I had no other ingredients for sacrificial performances except the bodily limbs of the great Personality of Godhead." SB 2.6.23

That is why all sacrifices are meant to satisfy Lord Vishnu. He is the very source of sacrifice.

"Thus I created the ingredients and paraphernalia for offering sacrifice out of the parts and parcels of the body of the Supreme Lord, the enjoyer of the sacrifice, and I performed the sacrifice to satisfy the Lord." SB 2.6.28

EARLY MORNING MEDITATION.. WORLD OF REFLECTIONS AND DESIGNATIONS

Early morning meditation:
Without engaging in devotional activities
we are caught in a reflection only.
Eyesight is a good way to try to understand.

I look at a reflection of myself in a mirror
It is not just myself I see but also my surroundings
The reflection has no substance It is a perception only.
I perceive myself and my surroundings on the surface of the glass.
Only my eyesight can perceive it. If I try to touch the images, there is only glass.
If I try to taste or smell or hear... there is only glass. 

For instance...sense of hearing. Consider sounds not aimed at devotional service.
There is the name only in sound. Water, water, water..
There is no water only the sound... water, water, water.
The substance "water" is different from the sound designating it.
If I try to see, touch or taste or smell... water.. There is no water there only the sound water.

The material world is the world of reflections and designations only.
All the sense are like that.
It is a little easier to perceive with sight and sound.
But the mind is also like that. 

Thoughts not engaged in devotional activities
can do nothing more than shuffle the reflections and designations around.
Such thoughts can never reach a conclusion. 
The very best the greatest thinkers can do is to realize there is more than the mind, the reflections, the designations.... but what that "more" is they cannot say without devotional activities.

The great, great, great mercy of the Lord's incarnation in the Hare Krishna Mahamantra:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
"Oh energy of the Lord, Hare, Oh Lord Krishna, please engage me in Your devotional service."

NOTHING TO EAT IN THE HOUSE

There is nothing to eat in the house.
Three lemons and a grapefruit in the frig.
That's not going to do it.
Oh, wait, what is this yogurt container on the top shelf behind the blender?

Oh, great. I'd forgotten about this. The nuts in a shell my neighbor Gratzinia so thoughtfully brought as a gift for Christmas last year. The walnuts and pecans are long gone but there is at least a pound of Brazil nuts and filberts.
But that was such along time ago. Almost a year. They are probably not any good now. All dried out and rotten. No.. they are good. Just as fresh as if they had been picked from the tree this morning.
What amazing technology. To stay safe and sound like that just inside a little shell. Nothing could harm them.
Now I feel badly. They were waiting all this time that maybe they would become a tree. And instead a big animal has come and broken open their safety shells and is eating them.
Dear Lord Krishna, I wish I didn't have to do these things. Please accept my offering. I thought I could find happiness by trying to enjoy Your external energy.

I HAVE TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO ABSORB OTHER PEOPLE'S "STUFF"

I tend to absorb a lot of people's "stuff" so I have to be careful to not let it stick to me. After all if I am reaching out to them on behalf of guru and Krishna, I have to hear them. What they are saying, how they are feeling, what they are afraid of, what they think they have understood so far in life, etc. It is not impersonal. I am a person and they are a person.

I have stuff too that I am gradually getting rid of, but they have a lot more stuff since they are just being introduced to the process. If I am just running through the streets like on sankirtana throwing pamphlets at people that is one thing. Just keep running and throw as many as you can out to people. But If I am spending time with someone, one on one in my house. That is a different situation. It is more intimate in Krishna consciousness.

CLASH AND FRUSTRATION ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF IGNORANCE

 

Clash and frustration are the symptoms of nescience.... ignorance.

"In the material world, therefore, everyone is engaged in acquiring material opulence to lord it over the material world. Therefore there is always clash and frustration, which are the symptoms of nescience." SB 2.6.21 purport

The striking example of Kamsa and Vasudeva. Kamsa the epitome of "lording it over" was about to run his sister through with a sword to insure his continued supremacy. Vasudeva promised to deliver any children born of Devaki to Kamsa for him to kill if he thought it was necessary. Srila Prabhupada explains that a materialist like Kamsa is capable of doing any hideous thing and a devotee of the Lord is capable of tolerating it [without clash or frustration] by always taking shelter of Krishna consciousness in all circumstances.

THE HIGHEST BENEFIT...TRAIN HIM TO BECOME DETACHED FROM SEX LIFE

We don't usually hear Srila Prabhupada speak so directly about "sex life." He tactfully uses the words "sense gratification" to indicate a broad range of materially entangling desires. But here in this purport Srila Prabhupada is very specific.

"The highest benefit that can be awarded to a human being is to train him to be detached from sex life, particularly because due to sex indulgence only the conditioned life of material existence continues birth after birth." SB 2.6.20 purport

He then goes on to explain how the ashramas in the varnashrama system are there to accomplish this aim. Ideally starting from childhood there is brahmacari training. Later on after household life it then becomes easier to give up sex life altogether and prepare for vanaprastha and sannyasi. This is the structure of civilized human society with the aim of spiritual perfection.

For those within the system who purposefully disregard the strict practice their fate is described here. It's not all that bad. It's not hopeless. Srila Prabhupada does say "the pious householders." But they do miss the boat this time around.

"The householders and persons who have broken the vow of celibacy deliberately cannot enter into the kingdom of deathlessness. The pious householders or the fallen yogis or the fallen transcendentalists can be promoted to the higher planets within the material world (one-fourth of the energy of the Lord), but they will fail to enter into the kingdom of deathlessness." SB 2.6.20 purport

I wanted to take a minute to express my sincere and heartfelt sympathies for the children who were subjected to sexual (and other) abuse in the gurukulas. And to their families. The institution that was to be providing education for becoming free from sex desire, brahmacari, came under the control of persons who misused their power. The guardians and educators becoming molesters and abusers. So unfortunate. Although it is understandable in this age we are living.

Without this brahmacari training from childhood there is no question of varnashrama. It is a very fallen age. Ever so thankfully the Hare Krishna mantra is there by the inconceivable mercy of the Lord with or without varnashrama.

And there is this at the end of Srila Prabhupada's purport:
"For a transcendentalist, therefore, who at all wants to be promoted to the kingdom beyond material miseries, it is worse than suicide to deliberately indulge in sex life, especially in the renounced order of life. Sex life in the renounced order of life is the most perverted form of religious life, and such a misguided person can only be saved if, by chance, he meets a pure devotee." SB 2.6.20 purport

GREAT MEETING TRAVIS TODAY

Great meeting Travis today. Needing some work on the air conditioning unit. I don't use it much in order to save money. But the vents may never have been cleaned and the last record of service is 2008. When I do turn it on for about an hour in the early evening to cool the building off for the night I get sick.

Travis came to give an estimate for the vent cleaning service. Immediately he expressed interest in meditation and higher consciousness and that brought us to Krishna consciousness. 

An hour and a half later out of his busy schedule and a pocket Gita, a Perfection of Yoga, several Hare Krishna mantras, a little bag full of peanut prasadam and a wonderful exchange of the message of Godhead happened again. He is very good at hearing. And is searching for answers.
He has the Facebook address. Maybe he will come online.
Hare Krishna...

EVEN THE IMPERSONAL IS PERSONAL INDIRECTLY

 

How great Thou art...
We have been posting and discussing the universal form of the Lord recently.

"The universal form of the Lord, or the impersonal feature of the Lord known as brahmajyoti, is clearly explained here, compared to the radiation of the sun. The sunshine may expand all over the universe, but the source of the sunshine, namely the sun planet or the deity known as the Suryanarayana, is the basis of such radiation." SB 2.6.17 purport

The universal form is described in the same purport as a "secondary imagination of the brahmajyoti." It is interesting to note that even the impersonal feature of the lord is actually personal...in an indirect way.

"So the universal form of the Lord is the secondary imagination of the impersonal form of the Lord, but the primary form of the Lord is Syamasundara, with two hands, playing on His eternal flute." SB 2.6.17 purport

THE BRAHMAJYOTI, RESERVOIR OF ALL ENERGY

 

It is becoming more clear that indeed all of the Lord's energies are there in His brahmajyoti. Everything is created from those energies. Both material creations and spiritual creations... Perhaps a better word than "creation" at least in referring to the spiritual worlds would be expanded or emanated from. Since the spiritual planets never "come into being" and are eternally the same... although they are always increasing in bliss, and knowledge. Whereas the material universes can actually be considered to be created since they are completely destroyed also and are always changing. 

In the verse (SB 2.6.17) Lord Brahma compares the sun and the sun's rays radiating from the sun to Krishna and His energies... the brahmajyoti radiating from Him. In the purport Srila Prabhupada elaborates how the Lord's energies in the brahmajyoti are divided to form the spiritual and material worlds.

"Seventy-five percent of the expansive radiation of the Lord is manifested in the spiritual sky (tripad-vibhuti), and twenty-five percent of His personal radiation comprehends the entire expansion of the material universes. This is also explained and stated in the Bhagavad-gita (10.42). Thus the seventy-five percent expansion of His radiation is called His internal energy, whereas the twenty-five percent expansion is called the external energy of the Lord." SB 2.6.17 purport

The marginal energy...the living entities... are also there in the brahmajyoti.
"The living entities, who are residents of the spiritual as well as the material expansions, are His marginal energy (tatastha-sakti), and they are at liberty to live in either of the energies, external or internal." SB 2.6.17 purport

DO NOT CHANGE EVEN ONE WORD!!!

 

No one should change anything in Srila Prabhupada's books. If there are a few misprints or "errors" it is no big deal.

There is a Greek legend about the sculptor who has made the perfect statue of the form of a woman,. It was gorgeous, proportions, shape expression everything...absolutely perfect figure. Except for one thing.. there was a tiny speck of stone under her chin that had not been carved away. It was very, very small, really hardly noticeable all. But the sculptor insisted on chipping away at it and the entire statue crumbled. 

Do not change even one word..................

Here is a practical example why I say like this.,..
Every now and then I come across a word usage that I've never seen before. At first I think, "Is this an editorial error?" Other words seem like that they would be better to use in context of the sentence. Then I go to the dictionary and find there is a meaning of the word that fits the sentence. Sometimes it is way down on the list but it fits very nicely and uniquely. Poetically. This happened this morning with the word "comprehends" in this purport...

"Seventy-five percent of the expansive radiation of the Lord is manifested in the spiritual sky (tripad-vibhuti), and twenty-five percent of His personal radiation comprehends the entire expansion of the material universes." SB 2.6.17 purport

Definition #2 of comprehend... include in scope; include as part of something broader; have as one's sphere or territory.

This word is especially nice because of it's other usages like definition #1... to get the meaning of something, understand..

By using the word "comprehend" Srila Prabhupada keeps us in the realm of consciousness rather than use a word like "contains" which brings in subtle connections to gross material forms...boxes, cartons, storage units etc.

SRILA PRABHUPADA SPEAKS SO BEAUTIFULLY

 

Srila Prabhupada speaks so beautifully. After all these purports were spoken into a Dictaphone as were all His books. They are "spoken" and then transcribed and written down. When Srila Prabhupada is talking about the spiritual world and what the residents are doing there... He Himself is obviously in the spiritual world and being one of the residents He is doing what He says they are doing. We are instantly transported to the spiritual world.

Speaking about the residents of the spiritual planets.

"They have nothing to do there except to render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Narayana, who is the predominating Deity of such Vaikuntha planets. Those liberated souls are engaged incessantly in singing songs mentioned in the Sama-veda..." SB 2.6.18 purport

In other words the residents of the spiritual planets have nothing to do except to glorify the Lord, singing...
Oh what mercy is this Hare Krishna Mahamantra!!!
Heard from the lips of the Pure Devotee.

AFTER GIVING HIM THE BOOKS I THOUGHT...

 

Krishna has sent another neighbor. A young man who suffers with chronic pain. I am out in the evening either sitting in front of the house under the big tree chanting japa or walking back and forth in front of the houses that border on the small man made lake. I see him all the time. Long hair, gentle manner, walking the family dog. It took a month for us to wave hello. Then another month to talk a little bit. We both saw something in the night sky... a UFO.. :) A mysterious green orb that didn't move for hours and then all of a sudden dropped at free fall. He has taken the famous dried papaya prasadam. Now tonight he has taken Bhagavad gita and Perfection of Yoga. He is very shy. But when he talks it is obvious that he has an open active mind and curiosity to know about everything.

After giving him the books I thought:
Everything in the material is constantly changing.
Some things don't change. That's where we want to be... where things don't change.
This is something that doesn't change:
Approaching Krishna consciousness by first hearing Bhagavad gita. If you notice Bhagavad gita is not about Radha and Krishna. Bhagavad gita is about Arjuna and Krishna.
Then on to Srimad Bhagavatam. Starting at the beginning and going all the way through 9 cantos before hearing the 10th canto which is where we meet Radha and Krishna and Yasoda and the Vrndavan lila, as well as Mathura lila and Dvarka lila.
Then we go on to hear the Chaitanya Charitamrta where we find the deepest moods of devotional service in separation.

This is the process. Jumping over any of it will not work. Now I know Radha Krishna? Some cheap, silly, childish understanding? Cheating.

This is the process. Step by step under the guidance of the pure devotee. Srila Prabhupada's books are not ordinary books. Srila Prabhupada is the foremost representative of Srila Vyasadeva for our time. He is presenting the Vedas perfectly according to time place and circumstance.

Srila Prabhupada's books are so extra ordinary that it is possible to start to read anywhere at all and immediately experience Krishna consciousness. For instance everything is there in Krishna Book which is a summary study of the 10th Canto Bhagavatam. So if the only book someone read was Krishna Book they would become Krishna conscious. So both things are there. Not to take Krishna consciousness cheaply and skip around and skip over in reading. And also no matter where someone begins to read Krishna consciousness is there.

It reminds me of Bhagavad gita... "If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit a water, I will accept it." BG 9.26 In the purport Srila Prabhupada points out that Krishna is happy to accept even a little flower or some water from a devotee if it is offered with love. But that does not mean a very wealthy man should just offer some water and flower and keep all his resources for himself.

In approaching Srila Prabhupada's books an intelligent person must use that intelligence to approach in the prescribed way.

KNOWLEDGE OF BOTH WORLDS

Many misconceptions I had about the Universal Form of the Lord are being cleared up in this section of Bhagavatam (SB 2.6). I sincerely hope I have not mislead anyone who may have read some of my previous posts. I try to post according to my realizations and not just dogmatically present something. So I am learning as I go. My experience is that if I make some effort even if I am not quite right about something Krishna will correct me.

The Universal Form section of Bhagavatam is so fascinating. We really do need to have knowledge of both worlds... the spiritual world made of the internal energy of the Lord as well as the material word made of His external energy.

If the residents of the spiritual world are in full knowledge they must certainly have knowledge of the external energy as well. However they have no attraction for going there unless Krishna requests them to on His behalf.

WHEN THE "LIGHT" GOES OUT, IT'S ALL THE SAME.

 

The Maya is always testing.The environment was a little difficult. A lot of stimulus coming from the entertainment. A violin player at a birthday party at the nursing home. Love songs. With the sweet melancholy sound of the violin reaching crescendo pitches that make your hair stand on end. The residents so needy of human loving exchanges, eyes sad and vacant. Very intense. I am sitting with my father at a table watching the entertainment and chanting japa softly, my only protection. Hare Krishna... softly.

The head nurse is a big bodied black woman who keeps things running at fever pitch. I look at her and she seems like a mother hen. I like her and appreciate her dedication which goes way beyond the job description.
I helped her by writing at her request to the supervisors on higher levels about something that needed improving. They weren't listening to her but when they got my letter they started to fix things. She was very appreciative.
The people that work there are not standoffish or formal in anyway. They are very direct and hands on, after all they are changing disposable underwear and giving everyone showers. How formal and standoffish can you be in a situation like that?
The nurse came into the room. She must be over six feet tall and very round and curvy everywhere. They don't wear uniforms, just their favorite street clothes. She saw me and immediately came over to sit on the arm of my chair and hug me keeping me in an embrace for quite some time. It was a very sensual embrace. I have to be honest it was a lot for me. It didn't feel like just a friendly embrace it felt like a lot more.
Now how to deal with this? Hours later I am still buzzing.
I am glad this happened. I may think I am so advanced and Krishna conscious and all that, but put me in a situation where my senses are agitated....How did I do? I got thrown off my meditation. I'm still chanting japa but it is just a sound I am making. My senses have overpowered me. Desire for material sense gratification has presented herself once again. The witch called Maya. This is really want you want, material sense gratification, not Krishna consciousness.
Now with the benefit of time passing and distance from the situation, the violin player and the love songs are gone, the senses are calming down and I can look at the situation. Krishna consciousness means I am only interested in Krishna consciousness. So even if there is some disturbance from the body, mind or senses, or others it will have no effect. That's how strong Krishna consciousness has to become. If I am only interested in developing a relationship with Krishna a "disturbance" will have no effect. No more than a mosquito.
This is the Krishna consciousness I want. I will never give up trying for it. Practicing until I am there. Until nothing can distract me from Krishna consciousness. Not hell, high water, nor death.
I'm getting better at it. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

FOREVER IF I WANT

 

I can stay here forever in the material world if I want to.
How cool is that!
I just have to undergo repeated births and deaths, changes of body. Old age and disease.
But what a variety there is, 8,400,000 species. I don't want to miss anything. Let me experience every single one of them. That should keep me busy.
All the different varieties of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Endlessly running after sense pleasure.
And when I have managed to go through the whole spectrum let me start all over again. I will have forgotten I had ever even gone through it at all. Every time I am take on a different body I forget all the other bodies I had and think "I" have just been created.
Wow. Sign me up. What a ride!! A never ending carnival!
I need a break... a vacation from this spiritual world. I'm outta here. This looks like it could be a lot of fun. Phantasmagoria... yes
Besides You don't really need me, Krishna. You're already perfectly happy without me. I want to be happy too...without You.
I'll be back someday. And show You a thing or two.

SIMPLY BY ACCEPTING THE LORD AS THE PROPRIETOR OF EVERYTHING

"The Lord's arms are the productive fields for the great demigods and other leaders of the living entities who protect the general mass." SB 2.6.6

Srila Prabhupada elaborates. How those who are in positions of leadership are there by the Lord's Grace. Whatever powers they have are given to them by the Lord. If they simply acknowledge that alone, rather than consider that they alone are responsible for their abilities and position, they can perfect their life just by performing their duties in a consciousness of gratitude and appreciation.

"Simply by accepting the Lord as the supreme proprietor of everything, as He is actually so, one can achieve the highest perfection of life. Whatever a person may be in the estimation of the social order of things, if a person tries to reciprocate a feeling of love towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is satisfied with the blessings of the Lord, he will at once feel the highest peace of mind for which he is hankering life after life. Peace of mind, or in other words the healthy state of mind, can only be achieved when the mind is situated in the transcendental loving service of the Lord." SB 2.6.6 purport

This next section is especially interesting. Srila Prabhupada is talking about human society in general. He uses the example of a successful business man who engages his sons in the family business. If we can extrapolate to consider ISKCON society with Srila Prabhupada the founding acarya to be seen as the founding "father" whose disciples are spiritual sons and daughters then successive generations can been in a way that is more familiar to us. A family. There are friends of the family...as well as family members who are born into the family ...initiated into.

"The parts and parcels of the Lord are endowed with specific powers for rendering service unto the Lord, just as a big business magnate's sons are empowered with specific powers of administration. The obedient son of the father never goes against the will of the father and therefore passes life very peacefully in concurrence with the head of the family, the father. Similarly, the Lord being the father, all living beings should fully and satisfactorily discharge the duty and will of the father, as faithful sons. This very mentality will at once bring peace and prosperity to the human society." SB 2.6.6 purport

CAN GOD CREATE OR CAN'T HE?

Venugopal Das Das .....please answer this simple question for me..... Can God create or cant He?
Meena Devi Dasi Great question. Yes. He is creating everything. But creating using His material energy is different than creating using His spiritual energy. His spiritual creations are not subject to "beginning, middle and end" In our present materially conditioned state we are not able to conceive of how that can be. Our only experience of creation means, being born, living for a while and then dying. Or for machinery and objects... coming into being, lasting for some and then deteriorating. His spiritual energy is not subjected to time... past present and future. There is only eternal present. How He is creating spiritually (the word "sourcing" would describe more accurately) can be realized when we become free from the false ego of.. I am this body and mind. Which means purified senses. Which means devotional service. Which can be as simple as just chanting the Hare Mahamantra when received from a pure devotee and when done attentively.

FOR THE PRESENT

Dear Lord Krishna,
I know that my present situation will change at some point. Nothing in the material world lasts for forever. This is a good situation for me. I am so very grateful. I have solitude and everything I need. And am free to hear and chant and remember and pray. My offerings are simple and I have opportunity to share something with others. My time is concentrated on You in Your incarnation as the Holy Name and hearing about You from bonafide sources.
I pray to use this time wisely. I do not know what my next situation will be. It may be even better facility for becoming conscious of my relationship with You or it may be a difficult situation with disturbances. It is up to You. You know what is best for me. But for now let me use this nice situation wisely.

Oh Devakinandana, Mother Devaki was protected by Vasudava when Kamsa wanted to kill her. He thought quickly how to save her.
"Vasudeva thought of his wife as follows : "For the present let me save the life of Devaki, then later on, if there are children, I shall see how to save them." KB 1.1

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SOMETHING LIKE TRYING TO PAINT A BRIDGE

The problem with reading and recording is like this.
I read and recorded Krishna Book a few years ago. Then I went on to record some other books, Nectar of Devotion, Sri Isopanishad, some cantos of Bhagavatam and some other books also. When I went back to listen to the Krishna Book recordings I was not happy with them. My tone of voice obviously reflecting my consciousness which had grown a bit from the time of the recordings just from reading the other books. The recording quality also sounded scratchy and unpleasant. 

So I read and recorded Krishna Book for a second time. I am going back now to clean the recordings up and although I feel these are a much better offering than the first set... just by reading through the 90 or so chapters and now going back to clean them up, I am on chapter 8, again I am not happy with my tone of voice in the beginning chapters as compared to the later chapters. Obviously this will be an ongoing problem. The more I read the more my consciousness will grow.

Something like trying to paint a bridge. By the time you get to the end of the bridge it's necessary to go back to the beginning and paint it again

DESCRIBE THE UNLIMITED?

Krishna is unlimited. How is it possible to completely describe the unlimited.? It is not. But we can say something about what He has revealed of Himself to His Pure Devotees.

He is personally present in His Holy Names.
Chanting His Holy Names received from His Pure Devotee reveals an unlimited ocean ....a beginningless never ending spiritual world.

We see how vast the material world is.. With it's uncountable forms and activities. We hear from Krishna's Pure Devotee that there is a spiritual world even more vast with unlimited shapes and forms and activities, planets and societies. We hear from the Pure Devotee some of the activities there that have been enacted in this universe and on this planet during Krishna's incarnations.

May that Supreme Personality of Godhead be pleased with us and accept us into His transcendental devotional service. May the purpose of our human lives become perfect.

JUST SOME THOUGHTS LATE AT NIGHT

Just some thoughts late at night:
As a conditioned soul I find myself in an awkward position. Due to eons of the cycle of repeated births and deaths I can no longer distinguish spirit from matter. Like a mixture of oil and water that has been shaken up so vigorously it appears the oil has dissolved in the water... but it has not.

My prime necessity is to be able to understand the difference between spirit and matter. That is real knowledge. What keeps me in ignorance is my attachment to material sense gratification which means identifying the material body and mind as myself.

I need a system of purification of my mind and senses. To simply abstain from sense gratification will not work. My senses are there and neither my senses nor my mind can ever be ignored.
By the mercy of the Pure Devotee Spiritual master the system of purification is given. Like a doctor prescribing the appropriate medicine to cure the disease. Engage the mind and the senses in devotional service under the direction of a pure devotee of Lord Krishna.

The very first step in becoming Krishna conscious is to be able to recognize spirit from matter no matter how emulsified. Without reaching that realization I will be stuck on the material plane no matter how accommodating or pleasant my material arrangements may be. "Attentively" hearing and chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra as prescribed by the spiritual master is the medicine.

The 10th offense to be avoided in the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra:
"10) To not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy names and to maintain material attachments, even after understanding so many instructions on this matter."

Ten offenses to be avoided in chanting the Holy Names of the Lord:
Ten Offenses

REAL AND IMAGINERY AT THE SAME TIME

 

I really love it when discussion of an aspect of Krishna consciousness keeps going for a while. I am reading in Bhagavatam about the Universal Form of the Lord and so I am posting some things to share. Devotees make great comments. And this ignites further research. It is not argument... the battle of the minds... "I think like this so I am right." No. No. Heavens no. It is sharing whatever "realizations" we may have and being willing to learn something new from each other.

These kinds of discussions can only really take place when we actually have personal realizations. Just quoting and throwing out quotes will not do. There must be personal realizations otherwise there can be no real discussion. It will not be fruitful. After all the purpose of discussing Krishna is to attract the Lord. "Oh, they are talking about Me?" It is like an offering of food stuff. We prepare something nice to offer to Krishna for His eating pleasure. When discussing Krishna it is like that. It is for His pleasure. Not as a battle for who is the "winner."

Recently a devotee posted that his understanding is that the Virata Universal Form is real and that this is supported in the Rig Veda. So I had to dig a little deeper how to reconcile that the Universal Form could be real and imaginary at the same time.

My understanding is that the Universal Form is not a Vishnu Form and is not eternal. This is explained by Srila Prabhupada in several places. Therefor it is referred to as imaginary. We know that it is only manifest as long as the material universe is manifest. Srila Prabhupada says It has nothing to do with the spiritual world or the internal energy of the Lord.

If we consider the benefit to those who meditate on the Universal Form we see it is helpful for developing Krishna consciousness just like the things of this world can be helpful if they are seen in relationship to devotional service. A car is not eternal and really has nothing to do with the spiritual world. but if it is used in Krishna's service rather than for joy riding the devotee becomes purified. The universal form is not eternal but it can be useful for philosophers to meditate on it and in that sense it could be said to act like a vehicle bringing the meditator closer to appreciating the magnificence of the Lord.

"...the kingdom of God, which is sanatana or eternal and is therefore not exactly like the material creations described above. The virata universal form of the Lord is an imagination for the material world. It has nothing to do with the spiritual world, or the kingdom of God." SB 2.5.39 purport.
It can be considered real in the same way anything which is temporary in the material world is considered "real."

Krishna reveals His universal Form to Arjuna to reassure him that He is indeed the Lord of the universe and as the devotee pointed out anyone claiming to be God must be able to show their Universal Form. So yes the Universal Form is real but it is temporary so it is also imaginary.

IF THE UNIVERSAL FORM IS IMAGINERY... WHAT IS THE VALUE?

 

I always wondered, "Why would anyone bother to meditate on the Universal Form of the Lord which is accepted by the acaryas as an imaginary form?" Why even think about an "imaginary" form. The best I could do with it on my own was that anything to do with Krishna has spiritual value so even imagining something about Krishna would help. And basically that is the case with Universal Form of the Lord.

But in this section of Bhagavatam it becomes more clear the beauty of it all in Krishna consciousness. First of all Maha Vishnu is lying in the Causal Ocean. This is not imaginary. He is actually lying there. And then He expands as Garbhodakasayi Vishnu (Hiranyagarbha) to enter each of the universes that are emanating from the pores of His Maha Vishnu body. This where the meditation on the Universal Form of the Lord takes place. It is a way to perceive the all-pervading presence of the Lord Garbhodakasayi Vishnu within the universe.

"The Lord [ Maha-Vishnu], although lying in the Causal Ocean, came out of it, and dividing Himself as Hiranyagarbha, He entered into each universe and assumed the virata rupa, with thousands of legs, arms, mouths, and heads, etc." SB 2.5.35

"Great philosophers imagine that the complete planetary systems in the universe are displays of the different limbs of the universal body of the Lord, downwards and upwards." SB 2.5.36

These two verses describe how the Universal Form is understood and who benefits from the meditation. In later verses there is a detailed description of the correlations between what we see and experience in the material world and the parts of the body of the Universal Form.

In the purport Srila Prabhupada gives one of the purposes and its essence of the meditation. By seeing like this it can be understood that "no one is without a relationship with the Lord."
There are fourteen spheres of planetary systems within this universe.

"The lower systems are called the Bhurloka, the middle systems are called Bhuvarloka, and the higher planetary systems, up to Brahmaloka, the highest planetary system of the universe, are called the Svarloka. And all of them are situated on the body of the Lord. In other words, no one within this universe is without a relationship with the Lord." SB 2.5.38

And a second purpose and its essence that the Supreme Lord is the Supreme controller:

"the Supreme Lord is conscious of every part of His body, nowhere in the creation is there anything beyond His control." SB 2.5.38 purport

THEN THAT BECOMES THEIR SERVICE

Discussion of topics in the Bhagavatam and Gita is not going to be appealing to everyone. And the movement is divinely designed so that it is not even necessary for everyone to engage in philosophical discussions in Krishna consciousness. The all-merciful Lord has made Krishna consciousness as simple as possible for us in the age of distraction.
But there will be some of us who actually relish discussing Krishna consciousness in a philosophical way even with our limitations as creatures born into the Kali yuga. Who find the taste of every word of Srila Prabhupada filled with devotional nectar and so intoxicating that they really have no desire to do anything else than to constantly relish hearing the message of Godhead emanating from the lips of the Pure Devotee. Chanting and discussing.
That then becomes their service. To simply hear and chant.

THREE PHASES OF TIME

 

Time has three phases... beginning, duration and end corresponding to the three modes of material nature, passion or creation, goodness or maintenance and ignorance or destruction. Everything in the material creation is subject to time and the three phases of time. The very beginning of the material creation is beginning of time for the entire creation. Time sets the whole thing into motion. While every action no matter how big or small within the material creation is subject to time and the three phases.

"By the omnipotency of the Supreme Lord, the whole material creation evolves by the process of transformation and reactions one after another, and by the same omnipotency, they are wound up again one after another and conserved in the body of the Supreme. Kala, or time, is the synonym of nature and is the transformed manifestation of the principles of material creation. As such, kala may be taken as the first cause of all creation, and by transformation of nature different activities of the material world become visible." SB 2.5.22 purport

IN KRISHNA'S SERVICE

 

Tarun Govinda Das comments:
Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami or his Gurudeva wrote that actually nothing is missing except Krishna consciousness...
To be conscious of

1) Radha and Krishna
2) our relationship to Them as an eternal spiritual soul
3) our soul-to-soul relationship to other living beings
This is missing and people use external connections as the all in all and forget their true nature in a digital jungle.
For example, how in the Lord's sweetest name can one be a member of 456 Facebook groups??????
Seriously.
Meena Devi Dasi If it is used in Krishna's service it will lose it's materially contaminating quality. The abilities of the human being are deteriorating in this age. So memory is very bad. Previously there was no printing press and going way back no scripts or books. All the knowledge was kept by the brahmanas and gurus and passed down by aural reception. So now there are computers and printing presses and calculators, telephones and internet. They just have to be used in Krishna's service. We have lost access to mystic powers.

DEPENDENT... WHEN IS IT GOOD AND WHEN IS IT BAD?

 

There is immense benefit in a society for Krishna consciousness. The yajna for this age is the sankirtan yajna, especially the congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. So a society or community developed around the sankirtan yajna is invaluable. Not only do the participants in the sacrifice gain immense benefit but because they are highly visible to everyone others gain benefit also by being reminded of Krishna, spiritual life and spiritual activities. It is great, great movement of the Lord. And ISKCON is supercharged by His divine Grace for the express purpose of facilitating the sankirtan yajna.

I posted previously that to become attached to a community or a group is to open up for a disappointment. Even ISKCON or a subgroup of ISKCON. I still maintain that position. So how can I say ISKCON as a group or a society is magnificent and anyone who can participate should not miss the opportunity and then in the next breath say that depending on any group even ISKCON is a mistake?
The dependency is on guru and Krishna not on the surrounding group of other dependents. When everyone is doing like that, everyone depending on guru and Krishna then there is harmony. That is a healthy Krishna conscious society with Krishna in the center. With the sankirtan yajna in the center. After all what is the form of worship of the Deity in the temple? Sankirtana. At ever function sankirtana. Hearing and chanting...
Srila Prabhupada's books are also sankirtana. He has called the printing press the big mrdunga. If we want to reach Krishna consciousness it is through the mercy of Lord Chaitanya in the panca tattva.
"All different kinds of sacrifices are performed just to satisfy Lord Narayana with a view to reach Him, and the best sacrifice
recommended in this age of Kali is sankirtana-yajna, the mainstay on devotional service of a Narayana-para devotee." SB 2.5.15 purport
Srila Prabhupada has put everything into place. Let me take shelter at His Lotus Feet.

ONE NIGHT AT THE LAUNDROMAT

My body is just worn out. now.

No problem though. Now I can legitimately just chant and hear all day

because that is all I am able to do.

Hopefully I will be to do like that for some time.

I think I can make some more progress in Krishna consciousness if I am allowed to practice like this for a little while longer.

But I just wore the thing out. Burned the candle at both ends for years. My mantra. "I'm not this body."

Like one night at the laundromat in Boston in 1971. It was my service to do the brahamacarini laundry. All the clothing and towels, etc. were put into a big rubber trash barrel and I would wheel it over to the laundry a few blocks away in a stolen shopping cart.

My right ankle had been painful and swollen for a few days but I paid no attention to it. "I'm not this body."

I passed out at the laundry and went into a coma and woke up three days later in Massachusetts General Hospital hooked up to an IV with a young intern by the bedside. Evidently it was a staff infection in the ankle from sitting cross-legged on the floor it had turned to gangrene. He told me they thought they were going to have to amputate the foot.

I looked quickly at the foot of the bed. Did I still have a foot? Yes it was still there. He exclaimed how lucky I was. The gangrene reversed itself and disappeared. The doctors had never seen anything like that or even heard of it happening before.

Oh, I have lots of stories. "I'm not this body."

Miraculously escaping severe injury or death. Lots.

DOUBLE WHAMMY

This was a double whammy! I never expected a double.

You've probably noticed this too if you are reading or hearing from Srila Prabhupada. Something will come up in trying to communicate with others about Krishna consciousness and either it is difficult to connect about that specific point or there seems to be some confusion. Something needs clarification. Then the next time you read or hear from Srila Prabhupada that very thing is discussed and becomes clear.

I'm used that. It's always exhilarating when it happens but I am not shocked or incredulous when it does. I almost expect it although I forget that it does happen so when it does it is a pleasant surprise. Like when someone you love brings you a handful of flowers or something. But I never even considered this could happen twice in one day.

The first:

In discussing with Theresa at the 2nd session of Bhagavad gita she was confiding that she understands and accepts about the existence of God but she doesn't seem to have any experience of His presence in her life. She needs a sign or something, an intervention or something. So I am very happy for her because she is making some effort to chant Hare Krishna and hear about Krishna consciousness and taking prasadam and is engaging in devotional service in that way so it is only a matter of time before Krishna rewards her for her efforts.

The example I gave her was the very example I just read this morning in Bhagavatam. Of all the things that can be discussed in Bhagavatam this exact example popped up.

"When a hungry man is given food to eat, he feels satiation of hunger and the pleasure of dining simultaneously. Thus he does not have to ask whether he has actually been fed or not. The crucial test of hearing Srimad Bhagavatam is that one should get positive enlightenment by such an act." SB 2.4.5 purport

Jaya Srila Prabhupada...

The second:

The arguments rage on another post about the origin of the jiva. That somehow the jiva at some point was not a person and was created. I cannot accept that I was not a person at any point.

(Or that I have never been in the spiritual world. That is sure to pop up in the reading very soon. Because that is simply the problem of forgetfulness and illusion. Or as one devotee pointed out this morning: We are in the spiritual sky... the whole material creation is in the spiritual sky... it is like a cloud in the sky.)

But this is what I just read relating to have not been a person at some 'time":

"In the Kathopanisad the Supreme Lord is described as the chief eternal being amongst all other eternal individual beings (nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam) and the one Supreme Lord who maintains innumerable other individual living beings (eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman). So all living entities, both in conditioned state and in liberated state, are maintained by the Almighty Supreme Lord." SB 2.4.7

That's it. Clear and simple. Eternal living beings. Either conditioned or liberated. I am never created.

NEVER WAS THERE A TIME...

Nitesh Bhat commented: I don't have the realisation but what I have understood from srila prabhupada books is that the jiva never really falls from Vaikuntha. Jiva's who wanted to enjoy separately from krshna, krshna created the material world for them within the spritual sky. So all of us are actually present in some corner of the spritual sky. But as prabhupada said, a person stuck in a well should be more concerned about getting out of the well instead of how he got their. When we will meet krshna all our questions will be answered.

Meena Devi Dasi Yes. The material world as a prison house. I cannot accept that I was ever anything other than a person at any time... that my personhood was ever created or that it will ever end. I can be put into illusion and forgetfulness however.

"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be." BG 2.12

There is no such thing as a beginning to anything in the spiritual energy. So just from that "realization" alone the argument that some present that our personality is "created" is immediately thrown out.

THEY WASTE THEIR TIME IN ARGUING

I see there are arguments on various Krishna conscious issues.
One argument is around "the origin of jiva."
Two camps. Each throws quotes at the other to support their position.

1.The jiva never falls from the Vaikuntha planets. He comes from somewhere else and has never been to the any of the planets in the spiritual sky. Furthermore, He has never been a person before either....
and the other...

2. Yes he can and does fall from Vaikuntha into forgetfulness of his actual nature as spiritual spark servant of God due to misuse of independence. 

It's fast and furious, and gentlemanly for the most part. No one seems to get nasty and Avaishnava as in the arguments over initiations in ISKCON.

However what is missing is someone who actually has realization. No one is actually speaking from the platform of any personal realization on either side. Simply finding quotes and throwing them at each other. This will never settle the issue.

The only thing that can settle this issue is someone who actually has "personal" realization. And none of them do. They waste their time in arguing.

TIME SOLVES ALL PROBLEMS... EVENTUALLY

"The Blessed Lord said: Time I am....." BG 11.32
I love time. Time solves all problems.
"How is that?" Because all "problems" are temporary. They are begun in time, endure for a while in time and end in time.

If I do something that has a reaction that is the beginning, I am held under the reaction for some time and then the reaction is finished in time. The only thing that is eternal is engagement in Krishna consciousness. Action in Krishna consciousness has no beginning, no middle and no end.

So what is there not to love about time? If I do not act in any way for material sense gratification which is what begins a reaction but only act in Krishna consciousness then whatever reactions are playing out from previous materially entangling actions I may have performed in the past are simply playing out now and will come to an end. Like the blades of a fan. if the plug is pulled out the blades go around for a little while but eventually they stop.

"The Blessed Lord said: Time I am, destroyer of the worlds, and I have come to engage all people. With the exception of you [the Pāṇḍavas], all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain." BG 11.

WHEN KRISHNA IS THE CENTER OF THE FAMILY

Just before this section (quoted below) Srila Prabhupada discusses how it is not necessary to live a life of renunciation in order to become Krishna conscious. How usually it is thought that performing penances and austerities in solitary in the forest or in Vrndavan is the only way to achieve transcendence. He makes the point that with Krishna the center of the family perfection can be achieved. Krishna appeared in the dynasty of the Yadus and exhibited family life to show how this is the case. Of course when Krishna does something it is extraordinary so the members of Krishna's family were so numerous we cannot even count for all practical purposes. 

But here in this section we see how when Krishna is the center how purifying the family itself becomes. The family members of Krishna's family were able to purify others even more so than the Ganges just by others coming into contact with them.

"Srila Sukadeva Gosvami has concluded the Ninetieth Chapter of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam by pointing out five particular excellences of Lord Krsna. The first excellence is that before Lord Krsna's appearance in the Yadu family the River Ganges was known as the purest of all things; even impure things could be purified simply by touching the water of the Ganges. This superexcellent power of the Ganges water was due to its having emanated from the toe of Lord Vishnu. But when Lord Krishna, the Supreme Vishnu, appeared in the family of the Yadu dynasty, He traveled personally throughout the kingdom of the Yadus, and by His intimate association with the Yadu dynasty, the whole family not only became very famous but also became more effective in purifying others than the water of the Ganges."KB 2.35

ONLY THEIR OFFICIAL FATHER AND MOTHER

Chills on this one...
"Vasudeva and Devaki were only Their official father and mother."
That did it. Of course anything connected to Krishna is completely transcendental and superb. But here we see official only goes so far. In Vrandavan lila there is nothing "official." Krishna simply transferred Himself to the lap of Mother Yasoda for love. That's it. Nothing more and nothing less. There are no marriage certificates, no birth certificates, no property deeds, no educational requirements, no complicated political situations.

"The devotees understand that actually Krishna was the son of mother Yasoda. Although Krishna first of all appeared as the son of Devaki, He immediately transferred Himself to the lap of mother Yasoda, and His childhood pastimes were blissfully enjoyed by mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja. This fact was also admitted by Vasudeva himself when he met Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda at Kuruksetra. He admitted that Krishna and Balarama were actually the sons of mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja. Vasudeva and Devaki were only Their official father and mother. Their actual father and mother were Nanda and Yasoda." KB 2.35

WHAT'S TEN QUADRILLION? 10,000,000,000,000,000

You've got to love this!!!!!!!!!!
In Chaitanya Bhagavata there is a descrition of the march on the Kazi in protest of his stopping the public sankirtan. Srila Vrndavana das Thakur writes that there were so many devotees in that march that no one knew where they were all coming from. There were millions and millions and millions and they just kept coming. There was no where near that many people in Navadvipa at that time. It was like an unlimited ocean of devotees in that march. 

Here is a description of the number devotees involved with the Yadu dynasty. The numbers are inconceivable.

"The members of the Yadu dynasty were so numerous that it would be very difficult to describe them all even if one had a duration of life of many thousands of years. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami informed Maharaja Pariksit that he had heard from reliable sources that simply to teach the children of the Yadu dynasty, there were as many as 38,800,000 tutors or acaryas. If so many teachers were needed to educate their children, one can simply imagine how vast was the number of family members. As for their military strength, it is said that King Ugrasena alone had ten quadrillion soldiers as personal
bodyguards." KB 2.35

What's ten quadrillion? 10,000,000,000,000,000 or one hundred thousand billion.

MY DEITY DOESN'T REQUIRE ANY FACILITIES AT ALL

I have been wondering why I am so hesitant to have anyone come into the house. I thought maybe it is because I have been living in solitary for so long that it is some kind of quirk I may have developed.

When I saw the next step for Theresa is kirtan and Bhagavad gita I thought in the house is where that should take place before the little altar like in a temple but all sorts of resistance arose.

I walked by her house to get her for the japa walk and went inside for a few minutes. It is like the other houses here immaculate. Everything has a place and everything is in it's place standing at attention. The floor is squeaky clean and polished (tiles) it glitters. The trees and plants outside all trimmed to perfection by the gardeners. It is like a small palace.

But am not living like that. The house is not a temple. I realized I am simply camped out here. My Deity is the Holy Name. My Deity doesn't require any facilities at all. So the house looks like a vacant house. There is no furniture, there are no pictures on the wall. It is completely bare. My time is in chanting and hearing not in maintaining a house. I could pack up and leave in an hour or two. Putting the Bhagavatam and the Chaitanya Charitamrta in boxes would be the time consuming part.

For Theresa to come inside I think would be too much of a shock for her and there is no need to come inside. Inside where? This might as well be a tent or a van. So meeting outside with the squirrels, peacocks, mockingbirds, lizards (and yesterday I saw a gecko) under the giant black olive next to the papaya tree full of fruit is the temple. The Deity is the holy Name decorated with the transcendental sounds coming from Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad gita.

FADED BLACK AND WHITE CRUMBLING PHOTO

We really do have to become free from grudges. Sitting in the nursing home, 97 years old. That is a lot of years, a lot of experiences, and all he can think of is his step mother when he was twelve and how she took his money that he earned from caddying. And how he was scorned in favor of his step brothers, Malvin and Carl.

He relishes the pain. He must, otherwise why he would fixate. He can't remember anything else. Not his wife of 65 years, not their trips to Europe, not his home that he worked so much on to improve inside and out.

Only his step mother when he was twelve, over and over and over again. That is all he can think of. Death is coming. Whatever we are thinking of at the time of death that state we will attain without fail.

It may be that the experience for a twelve year old was so intense and he felt so helpless and victimized he may have actually tried to find God at that time. Or done some soul searching. Perhaps he is feeling helpless and victimized now again. If so it is the perfect time to do some soul searching and try to find God, Lord Krishna.

If we have sores that have not healed we need to heal them.

If we have grudges we need to get rid of them.

If only this one hadn't done this or that... it's all their fault whatever.

Time is short and goes by in a blink.

We need to do soul searching and try to find God, Lord Krishna.

I had several grudges, open sores, I would question why? But now I question why think of them? What a silly waste of time. They have no more relevance to me now than a faded crumbling black and white photo.

This is the power of the Mahamantra when received from the lips of the pure devotee.

INCONSISTENT WITH RASA

More on (not moron) the chanting of Radhe and how that relates to the chanting of the Hare Krishna mahamantra.

Nitesh Bhat Comments: hare krishna mahamantra is in viprlambh bhav. Like the sampradaya of 4 kumars have Radhey krishna or Radhey sham instead of hare krishna, their mantra is in mood of union with krsna where as hare krshna is in mood of separation. That's what I have heard.

Meena Devi Dasi Yes. That makes sense for the mood of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. That helps to understand why Srila Prabhupada discouraged devotees from chanting Radhe Radhe. Part of the reason would surely be to protect Srimati Radharani but a deeper understanding would be that it is inconsistent with the rasa. Thank you for that. Very nice.