armisael108

A friend of mine asked me to post more images of the wonderful deities. All images are from the ISKCON websites... but gathered in one post /images/graemlins/smile.gif Thanks gHari for the initial post.

I don't know how to make the image appear in the post...

Sorry, I'm not part of that Matha, I simply answered based on a commentary of a spiritual master I know and follow his teachings.

Dear guest, this title people give to Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati is not that he is divine, in terms of being God. I remember reading Bhaktivedanta's purport about Vidura calling the sage Maitreya as Bhagavan and he explained that he gave this title because that sage knew Bhagavan. It is an honorary title to give such exalted devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are as good as God, but not God. Never are they God. Quality not quantity.

Yes there is a quick fix... it depends on the person's desire to change mentality. This mentality change can be done in an instant as well as over billions of lifetimes. Pick your choice (I know I have... the unfortunate not so quick), but don't forget you can't fool Krishna.

Desires will come, there is a verse in Bhagavad-Gita saying (2.70): "A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires—that enter like rivers into the ocean which is ever being filled but is always still—can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires." Puport: Although the vast ocean is always filled with water, it is always, especially during the rainy season, being filled with much more water. But the ocean remains the same—steady; it is not agitated, nor does it cross beyond the limit of its brink. That is also true of a person fixed in Kåñëa consciousness. As long as one has the material body, the demands of the body for sense gratification will continue. The devotee, however, is not disturbed by such desires because of his fullness. A Krsna conscious man is not in need of anything because the Lord fulfills all his material necessities. Therefore he is like the ocean—always full in himself. Desires may come to him like the waters of the rivers that flow into the ocean, but he is steady in his activities, and he is not even slightly disturbed by desires for sense gratification. That is the proof of a Kåñëa conscious man—one who has lost all inclinations for material sense gratification, although the desires are present. Because he remains satisfied in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he can remain steady, like the ocean, and therefore enjoy full peace. Others, however, who fulfill desires even up to the limit of liberation, what to speak of material success, never attain peace. The fruitive workers, the salvationists, and also the yogis who are after mystic powers, are all unhappy because of unfulfilled desires. But the person in Krsna consciousness is happy in the service of the Lord, and he has no desires to be fulfilled. In fact, he does not even desire liberation from the so-called material bondage. The devotees of Krsna have no material desires, and therefore they are in perfect peace. ***** From what I've seen, is that to the point you realize your desire, but act properly, the senses are under your control. I will react when seeing a beautiful woman, yes desire may come, depending on the situation and presentation. The practice is to simply be undisturbed by this desire... I say to myself, "eh a desire to enjoy, I need to improve myself." and move on, start chating Hare Krishna. What I need to improve is to see that in every body, there is a soul and the Supersoul situated in it. Hare Krishna

In reply to "Wrong Mentality" I initially replied in a way I deem unfit. I decided to delete my post and simply say this: "No where in my post did I recommend/mention sex on that night." I will personally never recommend/mention someone to have sex, I'm a celibate.

We can't close our eyes, or plug our ears, or stop smelling, stop tasting, or feeling with the skin... that is natural. It all boils down to intelligence, our material society's current intelligence is simple: sense gratification. We see it ion TV, magazines, highway ads, Web ads, etc etc etc... the same message all over: "You want to have this or that" Like my previous post I mentioned the association, it brings the intelligence we need to properly utilise our given senses. They are nice gifts by our beloved Father, Sri Krishna. If we associate with spiritually inclined people, we start using our senses for Krishna's pleasure, the senses will start yearning for anything related to Krishna. I personally never liked any negative approach to solving a problem (ie close my eyes), I always prefered using a positive approach (ie looking at Krishna's beauty), from what I experienced, the more ones gets positively active in Krishna conscious activities, the less the senses desire to stray. Even the wildest horses can be tamed... patience and enthousiasm is the key.

To control the mind it is similar as controlling a car, but on the subtle level. What is seen as mind control is always occuring, but what you control your mind to think is probably not what is prefered... therefore we think our mind is out of control. In one Bhagavad-Gita's purport the mind is is explained as the reins... the mind is always under control... but who controls the mind? The charioteer or the 5 horses (the senses) So what one really needs to do is to tame those senses. I remember reading not long ago about how Prabhupada gave the analogy of taming a tiger. "First you capture the tiger and cage him. Don't feed it for 1 week, then go in the cage with a whip and some food." In time the tiger understand that this person can bring him death or life, that person has control. We have to do the same with our senses, follow prescribed activities, avoid unwanted activities according to the spiritual master's instructions. In this way the senses will be easy to control... the mind will follow. The only problem is the society we live in, it is simply based on trying to satisfy the senses... which is very dangerous for someone trying to develop a spiritual life. Association is the key, that's why Srila Prabhupada created temple communities, to give a chance for everyone to get association with Krishna's pastimes.

another thing is that i have not so much problem with people who breaks rules, regulations, principles, external etiquette and so on... but i get very sad when the krsna consciousness is explained to the outside people explaining the four principles in a way that leaves the impression that they are the core of the krishna consciousness without any attempt to transmit the beauty and bliss of chanting hare krishna and the association with devotees ****** This is so true, this is how I was first explained, luckily besides meat eating (which I wasn't really fond of anyways) I followed the other rules so it wasn't much of a shock. Then at first I spoke about that to some of my friends and I just couldn't understand why they didn't like Krishna consciousness. With time I came to realize that I turned them off right at the start due to my misconception that Krishna consciousness is all about following those 4 regs.

Both by rising and by setting, the sun decreases the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead. Srila Prabhupada is refering to this verse.

Before we can answer a question like this we need to understand our nature and whom we derive from. We need to understand what is lust also. By knowing these 3 points we can understand why lust cannot be satisfied. SB 2.8.6: A pure devotee of the Lord whose heart has once been cleansed by the process of devotional service never relinquishes the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, for they fully satisfy him, as a traveler is satisfied at home after a troubled journey. Later in the Bhagavatam there is a story about a traveler going in a forest (the soul going in the material world) to satisfy his needs (lust), but is only satisfied when he returns out of the forest (going back to Vaikuntha) SB 3.13.13. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Janardana [Lord Krsna], is the form to accept all the results of sacrifice. If He is not satisfied, then one's labor for advancement is futile. He is the ultimate Self, and therefore one who does not satisfy Him certainly neglects his own interests. From this verse we can see that by satisfying our body (ie lust) we neglect ourselves, the soul. Therefore the soul feels unsatisfied. We need to water the root of the tree, Krishna... (supposed to quote a verse from SB, but too lazy this time) (ok I'll stop here I lost myself... hope you liked these verses) My only two cents in this is that until we are grateful to what we have right now, lust will always lurk in our mind. We already have everything we need and more, but familiarity with the objects of the senses brings contempt, therefore the undesired desire to have something else... something 'better'. (I'm talking from experience and my sickness to have better computer all the time)

This made me think with walking. You can falldown, but do you lose your walking ability? Depends right... you can break a leg if it is a very bad falldown, so temporarily you lose it. Now the worse is... if you falldown, at least don't give up right? If you trip while walking, do you say "ahh to damnation with walking it is useless afterall." Same with bhakti yoga... if the devotee decides to give up, then the knowledge is lost. That's my humble opinion.

Haribol, Suffering from a similar mental condition, what I see as my best remedy is to try and understand my fears based on my view of myself. You will see that the main issue is about trusting yourself first, this is not easy, I know I am fighting it daily. Marriage is not some patch to help, because if you haven't learnd how to love yourself, you can't even accept the love of your spouse. This is why we call Krishna consciousness, self-realization. There is a favorite verse of mine in Srimad-Bhagavatam: "When, by mature understanding, one can realize his individuality, then the situatioin he accepts under false ego becomes manifest to him." (3.27.16) You are asking the proper questions. What you want in life and what is life? Read some of Prabhupada's books and try to understand yourself in this position. (Now I don't remember web sites, but I'm sure some nice prabhu in this forum can post sites here.) This is not a quick pill that will solve your problems instantly, there is no such thing. That's why it is said "mature understanding"... coming from sproutling, to ripening to ripe, then mature. Hope this helps.