krsna

:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: who the hell should we vote for then, my dear prabhu??? :smash:

The Charlatan Obama BY: SYAMAKUNDA DAS (ACBSP) Jul 28, USA (SUN) — For all of my Godbrothers and Godsisters who want to vote for the party that supports abortion (over 300,000 for Planned Parenthood alone), the party that supports the Darwin’s Theory Group (the anti-intelligent design people), the party that is for same sex marriage, denigration of society in general (the Hollywood Group and all of their Godless movies), the party that is for the “Nanny State” (“we need big government to take care of us”), the party of socialists and such, go right ahead. If you think that the religious right is bad, just wait until the atheists really get a handle on society. I would expect that devotees will fall for the charlatan Obama (just see, he has a Hanuman Trinket in his pocket - he must be righteous) - just like many of my Godbrothers gave excellent Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam classes while in private, they were molesting children. Oh well, Srila Prabhupada said that in Kali Yuga, communism will eventually win out. From The London Times -- July 25, 2008: <CENTER>He ventured forth to bring light to the world: The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers </CENTER><CENTER> </CENTER><CENTER>By Gerard Baker </CENTER><CENTER> </CENTER> And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness. The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow. When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?” In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites. And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world. He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the Taleban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world. And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more. From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it. And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child's very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light. And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares. From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ass. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered “Hosanna” and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet. In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace. As word spread throughout the land about the Child's wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites. And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child's journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over. The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for. And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again. Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it. And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times. Then the Child ventured forth from Israel and Palestine and stepped onto the shores of the Old Continent. In the land of Queen Angela of Merkel, vast multitudes gathered to hear his voice, and he preached to them at length. But when he had finished speaking his disciples told him the crowd was hungry, for they had had nothing to eat all the hours they had waited for him. And so the Child told his disciples to fetch some food but all they had was five loaves and a couple of frankfurters. So he took the bread and the frankfurters and blessed them and told his disciples to feed the multitudes. And when all had eaten their fill, the scraps filled twelve baskets. Thence he travelled west to Mount Sarkozy. Even the beauteous Princess Carla of the tribe of the Bruni was struck by awe and she was great in love with the Child, but he was tempted not. On the Seventh Day he walked across the Channel of the Angles to the ancient land of the hooligans. There he was welcomed with open arms by the once great prophet Blair and his successor, Gordon the Leper, and his successor, David the Golden One. And suddenly, with the men appeared the archangel Gabriel and the whole host of the heavenly choir, ranks of cherubim and seraphim, all praising God and singing: “Yes, We Can.”

There Will Be Blood BY: BHAKTA WALLACE DORIAN <CENTER> </CENTER> Jul 27, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (SUN) — A perspective on the demoniac. While most movies that Hollywood churns out are trash in the truest sense of the term, there are those brilliant films that come along that transcend a given genre and catapult it into what I call an ocean of emotional complexity and revelation. The famous classic, “Citizen Kane” by the late Orson Welles, is another example that comes to mind when dissecting the old adage that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” “There Will Be Blood” directed with panache by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, who received Best Actor Award in 2007 for his role as Daniel Plainview, delivers a haunting, gargantuan performance. I couldn’t help but think Mr. Lewis would make a great demonic king in one of the Krishna stories. The film, very dense in it’s evocation of late 19th and early 20th century America, tells a compelling tale of greed with the coming of the “oil age”, that moves head-on like a locomotive and crashes with evangelicalism and religion, albeit, not in it’s purest form either. The full plot-line of the story can be found here . From a Krishna conscious perspective I couldn’t help but think of the many so-called “Eli Sundays” that may be hiding behind a cloak of religiosity and false pretense that so many devotees have read about over the years on various websites. Be that as it may, what I especially liked about the film is Mr. Lewis’s portrayal of a man obsessed by self-hate and greed that immediately brings to mind what Lord Sri Krsna tells Arjuna in ( Bg. Texts 13-15 Chapter 16 ): "The demoniac person thinks: “So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy and I have killed him; and my other enemy will also be killed. I am the lord of everything, I am the enjoyer, I am perfect powerful and happy. I am the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none so happy and powerful as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice.” Bhakta Wallace Dorian is a playwright living in Los Angeles. His stage play, “ The Women of The Mahabharata ” will receive its world premiere in New York City in October 2008.

Life’s ultimate goal: the essence of the Bhagavatam. Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 7.92–96:

Hard to Accept that ISKCON is Really NOT Hindu Submitted by Mukunda Goswami Philosophical points unique to the philosophy of ISKCON include: 1. There is a spiritual universe and higher material realms. 2. The spiritual universe is larger and more populous than the material universe. 3. God is always ultimately in charge of everything. 4. We are not these bodies. 5. The soul is always reborn in the material world, where he/she is one out of 8,400,000 forms of life. 6. The soul is more powerful than the body. 7. God and His Name are the same. 8. The Deity is God Himself. 9. God is a Person. 10. We can relate with God in five principal ways: neutral, servitor, friend, parent, lover. 11. God is defined as having six opulences. 12. Yugas recur. 13. In previous ages humans lived for 100,000 years. 14. The stature of humans in previous times was larger. 15. So-called advancement in medicine, transportation and communication is primitive, coarse and gross. 16. Humans are polished animals.

good post, good bija. haribol!

Angel's Chic BY: ATMA COMMUNICATIONS <CENTER></CENTER> Jul 21, BUSHEY, ENGLAND (SUN) — Arjuna Krishna-Das (aka Arjunanatha dasa, ISKCON) has just published his first novel, Angel's Chîc. Set in an alternate reality Liverpool, India, Tibet and the heavenly planet Chandraloka (the Moon), Angel's Chîc is the first novel to blend social realism, science fiction, fantasy and Krishna Consciousness, and is set to become the first piece of best-selling Krishna Conscious fiction. Arjuna wrote the story around 1992 in his twenties, when he first encountered Krishna Consciousness. "It combines all sorts of characters and places from my life" he explains. I loved Srila Prabhupada's books so much, and I wondered what would happen if people from the world I knew stepped into the worlds of the Bhagavatam." Written in a dryly humorous style, Angel's Chîc describes the adventures of a brilliant scientist and a scatty hippy when crisis in the shape of a teleport machine brings them together. Angel's Chîc is also loosely based on the story of the Syamantaka jewel from Krishna Book, a gem so imbued with power that it cures any illness and drips gold. "I think Angel's Chîc will open many people's eyes to Krishna Consciousness," he continues. "especially young people. Or people who lived through the 90s. Some people might never read Srila Prabhupada's books straight-off, but everyone loves a good contemporary adventure story. And once they've read Angel's Chîc, they will be curious to discover more about Krishna. It's just like putting the maha-mantra lyrics to pop music, and we know, especially in England, how important that was to the birth of ISKCON." Not one to avoid controversy, Arjuna has also woven into the story a possible explanation of how, according to Srila Prabhupada, man never went to the Moon. The book has entranced every reader so far: "If you want to read something that is different and not run of the mill then this is the book for you. It has all the colour of Hinduism with a down-to-earth flavour of 90's Liverpool…" - Philip Weeks. "Having just finished reading Angel's Chic, I felt compelled to write my appreciation. It grabs your attention from the off. The characters are believable. The escapades of the two heroes are full of fun and moral dilemmas, and I couldn't put the book down until the last page. What a remarkable first book this is. Well done Arjuna. I Can't wait for your next. What a good film it would make!" - Bart Thakery "Absolutely amazing and wonderfully written! I was hypnotised by the climax towards the end of the book, and read until 4am. It's a marvellous piece of writing and you certainly did some research. Surreal sci-fi and horror" - Jo Kerr Arjuna lives close to Bhaktivedanta Manor with his wife and two children, where he works as a technical author in the audio microelectronics industry. He is a disciple of HG Krishna-Kshetra Prabhu. Angel's Chîc is published by Atma Communications, a new publisher of Vedic Fiction, with several other works in the pipeline. It is available through all good book-sellers, including Amazon. Atma Communications Krishna-das Website Buy Angel's Chic on Amazon Amazon UK

Indianized Version Of Bible Hit Among Christians Source: http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14714631 MUMBAI, INDIA, July 13, 2008: An “Indianized” version of the Bible released in India has become a huge hit among the Christian community. The Bible has proved to be extremely popular among the Catholics in Mumbai where over 15,000 copies were sold out within ten days of its release. An interesting feature of this Bible is that it has drawn references to other religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. “What made it special was that they have also drawn the Indian mythology into it. It’s not only based on Bible and its foreign stories,” said Corin Mendonsa, a buyer of the book. Another interesting thing about the book is that it depicts Mother Mary and other characters in typical Indian clothes. According to the Catholic community this Bible is getting a good response from the market. The new Bible, which has about 2,200 pages, costs just Rs 250. ---------------- How about folks, a westernized Gita for all them nice Westerners who can't get over their Indianized bias??? Would it work???

Devotees reach Pandarpur to meet their favorite God, Krishna Source: ,prtpage-1.cms MUMBAI, INDIA, July 16, 2008: An estimated crowd of over a million people have walked together in the Waari — a holy pilgrimage in Maharashtra that is perhaps the world’s longest pilgrimage. Waari is undertaken in the Hindu month of Ashadhi Ekadashi. Every year, devotees walk along the 280 mile route from Alandi (near Pune) to Pandarpur (near Kolhapur) in Western Maharashtra. They walk to reach Pandharpur and offer their respects to Lord Vithal (Krishna). Remarkably, in over 700 years of Waari tradition, no stampede or chaos has ever taken place. The waarkaris (pilgrims) are mainly agriculturists and the majority of them are poor. After travelling for almost 15-20 days, devotees reach Pandarpur to meet their favorite God, Krishna. This year Waari started on June 26 and ended on July 14th.

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For Those Who (Like Me) Are Sinful, Short-living, Unfortunate And Above All Always Disturbed...

KRSNA says in the Bhagavad Gita- vasudeva sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabha - one who knows that the Supersoul is the source of all that be is a rare good soul indeed.

This happens only if you actually HEAR from the Lips of a PURE DEVOTEE. And THIS, my dear friend IS the Lord's MERCY on you:

<TABLE class=storycontent cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>How emotional pain can really hurt </TD></TR><TR><TD class=storybody><!-- S BO --><!-- S IBYL --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=466 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=bottom>By Vivienne Parry The Pain Of Emotion </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <!-- E IBYL --><!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=226 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> Grief can have physical effects </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --> Love really does hurt, just as poets and song lyric writers claim. New brain scanning technologies are revealing that the part of the brain that processes physical pain also deals with emotional pain. And in the same way that in some people injury can cause long-lasting chronic pain, science now reveals why some will never get over such heartbreak. Emotional pain can take many forms; a relationship break-up or social exclusion, for example. But it does not get any more extreme than losing a loved one, as Scottish broadcaster Mark Stephen did. In July 1995 he was driving a tractor while hay-making and accidentally hit his young daughter. She died shortly afterwards Mark's grief was overwhelming, he says. <!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=231 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD class=sibtbg> If you listen to people who are damaged emotionally, they will often translate their pain into physical similes Professor David Alexander, Aberdeen Centre for Trauma Research </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX --> "When people talk about a broken heart, that for me was where it was seated, just below your sternum. "It feels like your heart is leaking and you can't run away from it because you are the source of that pain." Thinking he would go mad with grief, he sought help from David Alexander. Professor Alexander is director of the Aberdeen Centre for Trauma Research. He led the psychiatric team that first responded to the Piper Alpha oil-rig disaster. Since then, he has been involved in helping survivors of many disasters including the Asian tsunami, the war in Iraq and, most recently, the earthquake in Pakistan. He also managed to get Mark Stephen through his darkest days. 'My guts are aching' Professor Alexander is not surprised about the link between physical and emotional pain: "If you listen to people who are damaged emotionally, they will often translate their pain into physical similes: 'My head is bursting, my guts are aching' and so on. The parallel is very strong." But medical research has tended to concentrate on physical pain. Neuroscientist Mary Frances O'Connor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is one of the scientists who have propelled emotional pain up the research agenda. "We're at a very new time when we can use technologies to look at the brain and the heart," she says. Naomi Eisenberger at UCLA has shown which parts of the brain are active when we feel emotional pain. She devised an intriguing computer game in which participants were deliberately made to feel left out. Simultaneous brain scanning revealed that the pain of being socially rejected was processed in much the same way in the brain as physical pain and in the same area, the anterior cingulate cortex. 'Complex grief' Why should physical and emotional pain be linked in this way? Social relationships are crucial to our survival as a species. In dangerous situations, a lone human is in peril whereas a group may survive. "The social attachment system is piggy-backed onto the physical pain system to make sure we stay connected to close others," says Naomi Eisenberger. "Being wrenched from another or rejected by a group is painful, so we avoid it." <!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=231 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD class=sibtbg> There is an increased risk of dying in the six months after bereavement Professor Martin Cowie, Brompton Hospital </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX --> Physical pain warns us not to do something, walk on a broken ankle for instance. And emotional pain too can be a warning - "don't go near that sort of man again", "avoid women like her". But sometimes physical pain can become chronic, long outlasting its original purpose, and emotional pain is the same. Mary Frances O'Connor calls it "complex grief" and it occurs in about 10% of people after bereavement. "They experience a lot of bitterness and anger, that their future is senseless. They don't adapt with time as others do." There is a very strong suspicion that people who are not adapting to bereavement are also those who experience the greatest levels of physical pain. But can we die from a broken heart? Martin Cowie is professor of cardiology at the Brompton Hospital. He is very sure of the answer: "Yes, we can. "There is an increased risk of dying in the six months after bereavement and it's particularly marked amongst men." The bereaved are much more likely to be involved in accidents, which is perhaps understandable, but also to die from heart attacks and stroke. The hormones involved in the stress of bereavement make these events more likely. This knowledge makes it essential to identify and treat those whose emotional pain is likely to become chronic, causing debilitating depression or even death. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

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This article belongs in the ISKCON Internal section. Could the moderator move it there please?

He went to the land of KRSNA and got a lot of Mercy! :pray: :pray:

Now is a good time to start learning Russian, da! <TABLE style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" cellPadding=4 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD>А /a/<TABLE style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" cellPadding=4 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD>А /a/</TD><TD>Б /b/</TD><TD>В /v/</TD><TD>Г /g/</TD><TD>Д /d/</TD><TD>Е /je/</TD><TD>Ё /jo/</TD><TD>Ж /ʐ/</TD><TD>З /z/</TD><TD>И /i/</TD><TD>Й /j/</TD></TR><TR><TD>К /k/</TD><TD>Л /l/</TD><TD>М /m/</TD><TD>Н /n/</TD><TD>О /o/</TD><TD>П /p/</TD><TD>Р /r/</TD><TD>С /s/</TD><TD>Т /t/</TD><TD>У /u/</TD><TD>Ф /f/</TD></TR><TR><TD>Х /h/</TD><TD>Ц /t͡s/</TD><TD>Ч /t͡ɕ/</TD><TD>Ш /ʂ/</TD><TD>Щ /ɕɕ/</TD><TD>Ъ /-/</TD><TD>Ы [ɨ]</TD><TD>Ь /◌ʲ/</TD><TD>Э /e/</TD><TD>Ю /ju/</TD><TD>Я /ja/</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD>Б /b/</TD><TD>В /v/</TD><TD>Г /g/</TD><TD>Д /d/</TD><TD>Е /je/</TD><TD>Ё /jo/</TD><TD>Ж /ʐ/</TD><TD>З /z/</TD><TD>И /i/</TD><TD>Й /j/</TD></TR><TR><TD>К /k/</TD><TD>Л /l/</TD><TD>М /m/</TD><TD>Н /n/</TD><TD>О /o/</TD><TD>П /p/</TD><TD>Р /r/</TD><TD>С /s/</TD><TD>Т /t/</TD><TD>У /u/</TD><TD>Ф /f/</TD></TR><TR><TD>Х /h/</TD><TD>Ц /t͡s/</TD><TD>Ч /t͡ɕ/</TD><TD>Ш /ʂ/</TD><TD>Щ /ɕɕ/</TD><TD>Ъ /-/</TD><TD>Ы [ɨ]</TD><TD>Ь /◌ʲ/</TD><TD>Э /e/</TD><TD>Ю /ju/</TD><TD>Я /ja/</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Thousands Attend Marriage Conference in San Francisco By Krsnanandini Devi Dasi, Certified Family Life Educator, Director, Grihasta Vision Team (GVT) on 19 Jul 2008 <!--paging_filter-->Wouldn’t it be grand if married couples everywhere could have enduring, satisfying relationships, based on spiritual principles? Wouldn’t it be marvelous if all children could grow up in a healthy two-parent home? Such was the goal of most of the attendees of the 12th Annual SmartMarriages conference from July 2-6, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Founded by Diane Sollee, MSW, this is the premier conference of its kind in the world. More than 2,000 people from all over the globe come to share, present, gain insight and get inspiration from marriage and family books, programs, dvds, and presentations. Marriage Educators, Therapists, ministers, teachers, youth project leaders, government officials, judges, couples and other lay persons converge in a wonderful, near week-long experience of marriage and family strengthening workshops, keynotes, exhibits, roundtables and networking. Krsnanandini Devi Dasi and Tariq Saleem Ziyad, co-directors of the Dasi-Ziyad Family Institute, traveled over two thousand miles to attend this year’s SmartMarriages conference. The conference was held at the San Francisco Hilton, by far the largest and one of the most prestigious hotels in California. At this year’s SmartMarriages conference, the co-directors of Dasi-Ziyad Family Institute presented a workshop featuring an overview of their “From Couple to Couple” curriculum, which trains and certifies couples in healthy marriages to become Mentor Couple/Marriage Educators. These Mentor Couple Marriage Educators can then work with couples before and after marriage, modeling healthy relationship skills and teaching skills to their mentee couples. (To find out how you or a healthy couple you know can get this training, check the DZFI website at www.dzfi.org or the GVT website at www.vaisnavafamilyresources.org) Krsnanandini and Tariq rubbed shoulders with notables like John Gray, author of the Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus series of books, Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the Five Love Languages and related works, Dr. David Olson, co-founder of Life Innovations and the internationally acclaimed set of Prepare/Enrich premarital and marriage inventories, Dr. Scott Stanley, famed author of Fighting For Your Marriage and the Prep healthy marriage curriculum and Nisa Muhammad, Director of Wedded Bliss Foundation and creator of the National Black Marriage Day Initiative. These and other dedicated Marriage and Family proponents spend much time and effort to strengthen marriages and families. They know the benefits; And they know all too well the consequences of the break down of family. As researchers Wood, Goesling and Avellar state in their report, The Effects of Marriage on Health: A Synthesis of Recent Research Evidence, “A burgeoning literature suggests that marriage may have a wide range of benefits, including improvements to individuals’ economic well-being, mental and physical health and the well-being of their children…A focus on the most rigorous recent evidence reveals that marriage has positive effects on certain health-related outcomes.” Further, such research is validating what many marriage and family experts already know: Marriage Education programs work to “reduce strife, improve communication, increase parenting skills, increase, stability and enhance marital happiness.” Some highlights from the 2008 SmartMarriages conference include: From Dr. Gary Chapman: “Many couples love each other but don’t know how to connect. Sacrificing for one’s spouse is important. When it (a service for your spouse) doesn’t come naturally, it’s actually a greater expression of love. We must learn to speak one another’s love language.” From Dr. John Gray: “ Men talk to solve problems; Women talk to express feelings.” From Dennis Stoica’s (Director California Healthy Marriage Initiative): “Marriage matters to children. Divorce is hard on kids and it is a serious national problem.” From Michelle Weiner-Davis: (Founder, Divorce Buster Programs) “Real giving means giving what your spouse wants — no matter if you don’t understand it—it’s mutual caring.” Dr. Sue Johnson (Sociologist and author): “Without empathy and secure connection, there can be no real love. All humans need nurturing, soothing and protection…… Key moment which defines forgiveness: when the injured party looks into the eyes of the offender and sees that their pains matters. They have to see it in their faces.” Dr. Steven Stosny (Author and founder of Compassionworks.Com): “You can turn your resentful, angry or emotionally abusive relationship into a compassionate, loving one….. The urge to improve, appreciate, connect or protect are the motivations of our core values. The experience of value gives you meaning and purpose. Crime goes up when the sense of community goes down. People feel disconnected.” Many of these thoughts are reminiscent of the teachings of an ancient Vedic holy man, Srila Rupa Goswami. In his treatise on Devotional Service, Srila Rupa Goswami delineates 6 Kinds of Loving Exchanges which keep healthy connections between people: 1. Giving gifts in charity 2. Accepting gifts with appreciation 3. Offering food prepared with love and devotion 4. Accepting such food with grace and care 5. Revealing one’s mind confidentially 6. Respecting and honoring such confidential sharing. Over 125 workshops and 16 keynotes were presented at the conference, covering a wide spectrum of marriage, family, fatherhood and healthy relationship topics. Next year’s 2009 SmartMarriages Conference will take place in Orlando, Florida, July 6-12, 2009.