"Contrived Equality vrs. Real Equality" Tue. 7:30 pm Ojai, Ca. c/o AVA

[Guest guest]

>From "Roberts, William NAVSEA" <william.roberts

 

Hari Bolo Friends of the Vedas!

Please accept my respects. All glory to the transcendental light of

the Bhagavad-Gita as It Is!

Come join this wonderful evening that includes:

1) Congregational Mantra Meditation

2) A short study in Sanskrit

3) A FREE Vegetarian Feast and

4) A Bona-fide Sat-sanga where we will discuss:

"Contrived Equality vs. Real Equality"

The Next Gathering of the American Vedic Association’s Bhagavad Gita

Discussion and Fellowship is:

Tuesday, April 18th, 2006 7:30PM (AVA Broadcast starts at 5pm

Every Tuesday CH.10 Ojai!)

The woman’s liberation movement asserted that men and women are

equal. This spiritual truth is a material absurdity and it

constitutes the distinguishing difference between contrived and real

equality. This will be the topic of discussion at the nest AVA

meeting! 7:30pm 640-0405 Always Free!

Guest Speaker for Janmastami 2006?

AVA is particularly interested in hosting a senior Vaishnava to

speak at our Janmastami program scheduled this year on Saturday

evening August 12th at 6:00pm. We welcome proposals from any

individual in the Vaishnava community who would like to speak at

this special event. We humbly request all candidates to respect our

intent to follow Vaishnava protocol during the final selection

process. Please note that AVA always schedules the Ojai Janmastami

festival on the First Saturday evening prior to the actual Lunar

Data for Janmastami which this year happens to be on Wednesday,

August 16, 2006. This is done intentionally to accommodate working

members of our congregation and free the Devotees and AVA guests to

attend Janmastami scheduled later in the week at their local

temples.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Start This Issue Feature Article *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Contrived Equality vs. Real Equality

One of the most beguiling illusions of our day is the desire

to reconcile the nagging belief that we are all equal despite all

the overwhelming physical evidence to the contrary! Somewhere deep

in our soul sensitive people hear the universe murmur; “We all have

something in common.” This primordial whisper feels so right that

even when it’s plainly obvious that a man can’t have a baby, still

some insist that men and woman are the same! The quest for absolute

equality began appropriately enough with the emancipation

proclamation, and later appeared as the equally meritorious Woman’s

Suffrage Movement. The mission to establish perfect equality then

spread in the form of the “Special Olympics,” the co-ed staffing of

the “Deck Crews” in the US Navy Fleet, gay marriages and even

organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

(Peta)!

All these radical adjustments may appear like the right

thing to do but none of them change the fact that men will dominate

in sports that demand physical strength while women will capture the

headlines wherever agility is required like in gymnastics and

ballet.

At some point the thoughtful will realize that the

cantankerous ghost of material equality is an illusion that has its

own limitations! The misguided quest for absolute equality is

already wreaking havoc in the courtroom where the person who

committed the crime is often granted more rights than the victims

who suffered from their inflicted injustice! Now children are

demanding to be treated equal to adults and this has led to a loss

of respect for their teachers, while those who educate, have been

stripped of effective tools for disciplining their students!

Recent studies now indicate that 50% of high school students have

had “casual sex” within the last 30 days, and the situation of guns,

weapons and drugs, has gotten so precarious that Police officers are

now assigned to patrol many of the nations High Schools.

Equality Avenue is a One-Way Street!

Interestingly enough however, the cries for equality are always

selfishly motivated and therefore usually only directed up the

social pecking order. It was the desire of adults who did not want

THEIR liberties to be censured, that led to unmonitored Internet

access at the libraries which also allowed children to have access

to dangerous sites which would expose them to all sorts of

offensive, dangerous and potentially life damaging ideas and images!

It was not the Southern plantation owners who charitably desired to

grant liberation to the slaves they depended on for commerce; just

as in Southern California today, most US citizens are not generous

about granting illegal aliens unbiased equal access to state funded

programs.

“In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social

superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he

has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the

doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not

downwards.”

- Bertrand Russell

Four Different Social Orders

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna declares that every society

throughout history has an inherent social taxonomy of four major

divisions characterized by the natural division of labor they each

attract.

“According to the three modes of material nature and the work

associated with them, the four divisions of human society are

created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you

should know that I am yet the non doer, being unchangeable.

“--Bhagavad Gita as It Is, Chapter 4, “Transcendental

Knowledge”

Text 13 (LINK: <http://bhagavadgitaasitis.com/4/13/en> )

The four divisions Krishna identified were: 1) Brahmans: Priest &

Teacher Class 2) Ksatrias: Ruling & Governing Class 3) Vaishas:

Mercantile & Entrepreneur Class 4) Sudra: Artisan & Labor Class.

Well golly gee… Krishna certainly doesn’t seem to be saying that we

are all equal… at least not based on any form of material

assessment!

About 2500 years later, the father of modern medicine,

Hippocrates, also divided human nature into four different

categories which he referred to as 1) Sanguine 2) Melancholic 3)

Phlegmatic and 4) Choleric’s! Shortly after that, Aristotle, one

of the greatest philosophers that ever lived, also broke the human

social structure into four unique categories distinguished by: 1)

Beauty & Aesthetics 2) Unity & Connection 3) Morals & Fairness 4)

Truth & Intelligence.

More recently modern behavioral scientists have developed all sorts

of “Personality” tests to identify just how different we really are

to help employers match temperament types with compatible career

choices. Is it just a coincidence that one of the most popular of

those tests, known in the industry as the “Myers Briggs Kiersey

Temperament Types” test, is also based on a matrix of four major

categories with each having four finer subdivisions?

Women Still Wear Bras

If we are all so equal, then why is there so much money invested in

statisticians, demographers and actuaries, in order to predict who

is most likely to go to jail, purchase a particular product,

graduate from college, live in particular neighborhood, get married

or die by a certain age?

Despite how many appealing things Gloria Steinam said about

liberated women for the last 30 years, they still yearn to bear

children, raise a family, and wear a bra. The only obvious

conclusion to all these examples is that in the material sense of

the word, we are clearly not equal and you don’t have to be John F.

Kennedy to understand this simple point.

“There is always inequity in life. Some men are killed in war and

some men are wounded, and some men are stationed in the Antarctic

and some are stationed in San Francisco. It's very hard in military

or personal life to assure complete equality. Life is unfair. “-

John F. Kennedy

Real Equality

The reason why we can’t shake the sensation of equality, is

that within every form of life there is a unique spiritual spark,

which is part and partial of the Supreme Lord. That unique JivaAtma

(Individual Soul) pervades the body with consciousness just as the

sun pervades the universe with sunshine.

“O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe,

so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminates the

entire body by consciousness.” -Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Chapter 13,

“Nature the Enjoyer & Consciousness,” Text 34. (LINK:

<http://bhagavadgitaasitis.com/13/34/en> )

Here Krishna clearly says that the awareness we have of our own body

is the symptom of the individual (the Jiva-Atma) that resides within

it. It is the presence of that unique, individual and eternal part

of the Supreme Soul (Param-Atma) that makes us equal. Because

Krishna has free will, we too have that privilege, but for the most

part we misuse it just like the prodigal son misused the talents he

was given by his loving father. The Jiva-Atma is further referred

to as Krishna’s marginal potency because his consciousness can be

swayed due to association with His inferior energy (Matter). When

that happens, the individual becomes so entangled with the material

world he forgets his true nature and becomes so horribly mixed up

and confused he commits all sorts of egregious atrocities. How

else can we end up with the misnomer that this country is the “Home

of the Free and the Land of the Brave,” after Lord Jeffrey Amherst

distributed the native Americans’ smallpox infected blankets in

1763, and began the ethnic cleansing that later put most of the

indigenous people of this land in their grave, in-jail or

economically trapped on substandard tribal reservations! Who was

thinking of equality back then?

The following discussion took place between His Divine Grace A.C.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and a reporter in Philadelphia during

July of 1975. He provides further insight into how to better

understand that the equality we share is not based on material

designations which are superficial, temporary, and always subject to

change, but on our spiritual heritage as a fragmental portion of the

Supreme Lord.

Beyond Sexism, Beyond Tokenism

Reporter: The Krishna consciousness movement has been what some

would consider sexist, because certain propensities for women have

been defined, by the devotees or the Vedic scriptures -- I'm not

sure which -- and I wondered if you would comment on that. The

allegation is not necessarily that the movement is against women,

but that it defines inferior roles for them by their natural traits.

HDG A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami: We give equal roles spiritually.

Materially, one person is an assistant, another person is a manager.

How can you avoid this? Everyone will be a manager; nobody will be

an assistant. Can you achieve equality materially? Materially, one

person is a parent, another is a child; one is an assistant, another

is a manager; one is a woman, another is a man. How can you stop

this? But spiritually they are all equal.

Reporter: So then what is happening materially is unimportant?

HDG A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami: “The thing is that when you come to the

spiritual platform, when you see the spirit soul within everyone --

then that is equality. For instance, you are differently dressed, in

a red blouse, and I am differently dressed. This difference must be

there. There are so many men and women -- and they are differently

dressed. You cannot say they are equal with respect to their dress.

But within the dress -- as spiritual beings -- they are all the

same. In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says:

“The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal

vision a learned and gentle brähmaëa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and

a dog-eater [outcaste]. - Bhagavad Gita as It Is, Chapter 5 “Karma

Yoga, Action in Krishna Consciousness” Text 18. (LINK:

<http://bhagavadgitaasitis.com/5/18/en> )

Through spiritual vision, we can see a learned scholar, a cow, an

elephant, a dog, and even a dog-eater as equals. And yet materially,

how can they be equal?

If I invite a learned scholar and ask him, "Please sit down with

this dog," will he be pleased? He will feel insulted. I may see

that within the dog there is a spirit soul and within the learned

scholar there is a spirit soul. But if I say, "Oh, you may be a

learned scholar and you may think the dog is just a dog, but I see

you as equals," that will be an insult. So the fact is that we

cannot disturb the divergent material situation, but at the same

time we have to understand what the situation is spiritually.

Artificially, on the platform of the material body, you may make man

and woman equal, but actually it is not a fact.

In one place in the Bhagavad-Gita, the Supreme Personality of

Godhead says that one who has spiritual vision sees everyone as

equal. And yet in another place the Supreme Lord says:

When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Krishna, the women of

the family become polluted, and from the degradation of womanhood, O

descendant of Vrsni, comes unwanted progeny. Bhagavad Gita As It Is,

Chapter 1. “Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra”

Text 40. (LINK: <http://bhagavadgitaasitis.com/1/40/en> )

Unless you protect women, low-class men will seduce them, and

society will be burdened with unwanted children.

Just take this "women's liberation" -- it is simply a trick by the

men. Now the men can have free prostitutes - that's all. And once a

man makes a woman pregnant, he can go away and let her choose

between begging support from the government or killing her

child . . . abortion. You may not like to hear it, but "women's

liberation" means that the men have tricked you. So to make progress

toward the end of spiritual realization, we must make some slight

material distinction: women must be protected.

If we were actually discriminating against women, then how could it

be that in our temple we are enjoying together? We are enjoying

because actually we are equal -- on the spiritual platform. We do

not say, "You are a woman. Oh, you cannot become a devotee." No. We

welcome everyone. We request everyone, "Come to the spiritual

platform. Then everything will be nice." When one is spiritually

realized, he knows that spiritually there is no distinction between

himself and anyone else -- and so he becomes happy. In the material

conception, one person is always trying to take another person's

position. But in the spiritual conception there is no more hankering

and no more lamentation because everyone understands that

spiritually we are equal.

Here at our temple you can see it practically: the boy is dancing,

the father is dancing, the black is dancing, the white is dancing,

the young are dancing, and the old are dancing. You can see it

practically. The woman is dancing, the man is dancing -- everyone is

dancing. They are not dancing artificially, like dogs. They are

dancing out of spiritual ecstasy. This is the spiritual platform,

the "dancing platform." They are dancing naturally, spontaneously,

because they are realizing God, because they are in relationship

with God. They are feeling the ecstasy that "We are all servants of

Krishna.”

And this is despite any material distinctions. A man's bodily

structure and a woman's bodily structure are different. How can you

say they are equal? If a man and a woman are equal materially, then

why doesn't the man also become pregnant? The distinction is there

by nature. Sometimes people think that I am making the distinction,

but the distinction is already there. But despite this distinction,

when the man and the woman think in connection with Krishna -- "I am

a spirit soul; my function is to serve God" -- then they are equal.

Our proposition is that artificially we should not try to make

equality. That will be a failure. It is already a failure. For

instance, in London I saw a woman police officer, so I was joking

with her: "If I capture your hand and snatch you, what will you do?

You will simply cry. So what is the use of your being a police

officer?" A police officer requires bodily strength. If there is

some hooligan, he can give him a slap or catch him; but what will a

woman do? So we say, "Be practical." Artificial equality will not

endure.

We are all equal, undoubtedly, because we are all spirit souls.

Asmin dehe: within everyone's material body there is a spirit soul.

That we have to understand first of all, and then if we cultivate

knowledge and understanding on that platform of spirit soul, then we

shall feel equal and there will be no disturbance. Everyone will be

peaceful. That is wanted. We are stressing this point -- that if you

say artificially that we are equal; it will not have any effect. But

when you understand that we are equal spiritually, that will be

beneficial. That will bring peace and happiness all over the world.”

“Beyond Sexism, Beyond Tokenism” - BTG #14-09, 1979

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* End This Issue Feature Article *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Invitation to Everyone Who Receives This Newsletter!

The purpose of this newsletter is to seek out and invite anyone who

is serious about real spiritual growth to come join us for a great

evening of Krishna Kata, (Discussions about Krishna), Krishna

Prasadam, (Wonderful Vegetarian Dinner first offered to Krishna with

Love) and Krishna Nama-Bhajanas. (Glorification of Krishna’s names

and Pastimes in Sanskrit.) 1st & 3rd Tuesday of every month.

Reservations are NOT required. (805) 640-0405

Invitation to Fellow Vaishnavas!

Vaishnavas who have experience speaking on the

transcendental name, fame, and pastimes of the Supreme Personality

of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna are invited to contact AVA if you would

like to speak atone of our programs. The AVA congregation meets on

the first and third Tuesdays of the month with special events held

to celebrate Janmastami and Gour Purnima. If you are in the area,

or would like to visit with us for the evening, please let us know

of that desire and we will schedule a date and work out the details

for when you can speak.

This invitation is extended to any male of female initiated member

of Lord Caitanya’s Brahma-Madva Gaudia Sampraday Sankirtan tree.

Our mood is that of transcendental collaboration for the

glorification of Krishna sans niti-katha. Those who are interested

in leading kirtan, or assisting in the preparation of the FREE

Vegetarian feast are also invited to contact us so we can make the

necessary arrangements to accommodate you.

Video Biography of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!

Founder Acarya of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness

will be broadcast on:

Adelphia Channel 10 on Tuesdays at 5 p.m.!

THAT’S RIGHT! The entire life biography of Bhaktivedanta Swami can

now be seen on public access television Tuesday evenings at 5pm

(Channel 10). This excellent biography was produced for DurDarshan,

(Indian Television) and it can now be seen right here in Ojai!

Viewers will be given the rare opportunity to follow along and

experience all the events that molded the path of Krishna’s Pure

Devotee. This is a very touching story that will charm those who

take the time to watch it. Individuals who are able to watch

several consecutive weeks will better appreciate how it was possible

for an elderly gentleman over 65 years old to open 108 temples all

over the world in less then 12 years while also single handedly

translating and publishing the largest collection of authorized

books about Vedic culture!

Many people equate the ability to perform some type of miracle as a

true sign of divinity. Consequently, His Divine Grace would often

be asked, “What kind of miracles have you performed?”

Unfortunately, in this age of Kali Yuga, many people are unable to

distinguish the difference between a real miracle and just a well

performed magic.

When people would ask Bhaktivedanta Swami if he could materialize

ashes, jewelry, or gold he would decry those who relied on such

cheap, parlor tricks for the purpose of gaining the trust of naive

followers! If they could produce gold then why did they accept so

much financial support from especially poor individuals who had

limited resources? In this way he would challenge charlatan gurus

while pointing out that anyone who had funds could easily purchase

these things.

He would further point out that the books he was translating had

inspired around 10,000 young people who had been raised in the

“Free-love, LSD-crazed, carnivorous-hippy” generation to set aside

drugs, gambling, reckless sexual habits, and meat eating so they

could seriously engage in the pure lifestyle of brahminical culture.

Such a task nobody could accomplish regardless of how much money

they had to spend, and yet that was the real miracle of what He had

accomplished!

Those who live in Ojai and want to see how all of this was possible

are encouraged to tune in to Channel 10 on Tuesdays! Meanwhile, we

would like to remind our readers that all of this is possible

because of the tireless efforts of Srimad Anadi Dasa Prabhu who had

committed hours of his time to the effort of converting the entire

Bhaktivedanta Swami Video Biography into 18 one-hour shows

compatible for broadcasting on Public Access television!

Volunteers wanted to assist in Public Access Broadcast of

AVA Shows!

When the series of AVA educational television is finally complete we

will re-run it in its entirety in Ojai. At that time we also want

to expand the viewing potential to other cities such as Ventura,

Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Santa Barbara, and Simi Valley! Readers

who receive this newsletter, and understand the importance of this

work, are encouraged to contact me if you would be willing to assist

us in getting these shows broadcast on your local Public Access

Station.

AVA will assume all administration fees related to getting the shows

aired, but we need representatives from each town to communicate

with the local public station and supervise that they actually

broadcast the series every week when they agreed to do so.

Vegetarian Cooking!

We are happy to see how nicely the AVA congregational

members are improving their Vegetarian culinary skills! Adopting

a diet that allows other creatures to live their lives peacefully is

a tradition that extends way back in both Vedic as well as Buddhist

traditions. One would think that all serious transcendentalists

would understand this simple principal, but unfortunately that does

not appear to be true.

Educating people about the importance of a Vegetarian diet is

essential for anyone who is serious about escaping the serious laws

of karma delineated in the Vedas. Unfortunately there are many

teachers who will compromise the importance of the Vegetarian diet

in order to attract more followers and promote their own watered

down ideas about what real spiritual maturity is all about.

AVA is committed to teaching the science of Self Realization the way

it has been handed down and respected by the great sages for

thousands of generations. That is why part of the service we offer

is to teach anyone who is interested in this process how to eat

properly.

Those who are raised in a carnivorous society but then want to

convert to a Vegetarian diet often experience a lot of cognitive

dissonance. On one hand, they are intellectually convinced that they

ought to be a vegetarian, but they simply don’t know how to convert

their diet over to that lifestyle. Instead of postponing that

on-going dilemma, why not consider learning how to cook wonderful

Vegetarian foods using herbs and spices that not only taste good,

but also make eating a tremendously fulfilling experience! You can

do that prior to any AVA meeting where we always prepare a nice meal

for all the guests who attend. Those who want to learn this

tremendous skill are advised to contact us 36 hours prior to the AVA

event so we can tell you what and when we will be cooking for that

program. You can then join us at that time and start learning how

to adopt the eating habits recommended in the Vedas for Human life,

which is also the most beneficial for rapid spiritual maturity. :-)

Public Engagements?

As the AVA newsletter continues to find new audiences, some

have asked about the possibility of bringing the subjects we discuss

into other gatherings. If it is possible to schedule those

requests we will be happy to do so as part of our service to the

community. For this purpose AVA has compiled a list of

contemporary subjects for which we have essays, books, charts,

graphs, and in some cases, videos to augment our presentations. For

more information about scheduling an engagement to learn more about

the Vedic Siddhanta (conclusion) please contact us directly.

Suggest A Subject?

Many of the subjects we cover in the “AVA Newsletter” come

from questions or topics that are only vaguely commented on by other

sources. If you have a subject you would like us to address,

please send the question in to us and we will consider it for a

future AVA topic. Simple questions are also addressed during the

“Bhagavad-Gita Fellowship” meetings for the benefit of all those who

attend.

Vedic Authority

What makes the AVA program different from all other contemporary

sources of transcendental learning? We rely on the methodical,

thorough and scientific way the Vedas portray the world we live in.

The Vedas are so vast, and unlike any other literature known to man,

they are often criticized as confusing and esoteric. But this is

because the secret of the Vedas can only be unlocked by one who has

been properly trained how to “decode” them. Although that sounds

like an exhausting study, it is actually quite easy if the candidate

is willing to accept instruction from a good source. In fact, the

path of Bhakti (Loving Devotion to the Supreme Lord in His Personal

Form) is so powerful that the essences of all the Vedas become

automatically realized to that soul who surrenders to the

Personality of Godhead and engages in devotional service to Him.

“A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft

of the results derived from studying the Vedas, performing austere

sacrifices, giving charity or perusing philosophical and furtive

activities. Simply by performing devotional service he attains all

these and at the end he reaches the supreme eternal abode.” -

Bhagavad-Gita Gita As It Is Chapter 8 “Attaining the Supreme” Text

28.

To grow transcendentally requires a reliable authority like the

Bhagavad-Gita, (The torchlight of knowledge, Bg. 10.11) One is free

to reject Vedic authority, but the consequences of doing so returns

one to the words of speculation, conjecture, flawed empirical

analysis, and a plethora of silly ideas about what spiritual life is

from psycho-therapists, self declared gurus, charlatans, and

carpetbag religionists, to name just a few.

Back Issues of AVA Newsletter

The subjects that we have already covered in 2005 are also included

at the end of this newsletter. If you would like a digital copy of a

past “AVA Newsletter,” let us know and we will be happy to forward

it to you for your further erudition.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hoping this meets you in good health, happy spirits and

enthusiastically engaged in the service of Lord Krishna.

Your servant,

mayesvara dasa (md @ jagannatha.com)

aka: William Roberts* Director

American Vedic Association

“Dispel the Darkness of Ignorance With the Torchlight of Knowledge!”

- Bg. 10.11

687 Villanova Road

Ojai California, 93023

(805) 640-0405 AVA @ jagannatha.com

* William Roberts is the founding director of The American

Vedic Association. He began studying Vedic philosophy in 1973 and

assimilated the works of eminent Vaishnava saints while living in

India for several years. He became an ordained Brahman priest

under the tutelage of the world-class authority on Bhakti Yoga, HDG

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. The American Vedic Association is

currently sponsoring the Free Bhagavad-Gita Fellowship Gatherings

held on the First and Third Tuesday of every month. The program

includes a formal section which includes congregational changing of

sacred mantras, a short lesson in the pronunciation and

comprehension of Sanskrit, and a philosophical discussion. The

informal part of the program includes a Free Vegetarian Dinner, open

questions and answers, and when appropriate, an interesting subject

related transcendental Video. For more information call, (805)

640-0405, or contact william.roberts @ jagannatha.com.

Bhagavad-Gita Gita As It Is Discussion Fellowship

Every 1st & 3rd Tuesday of EACH Month

Sanskrit, Mantra, Kirtan, Prasadam!

 

• ۩ • ۩ ‎• AVA Topic Schedule 2006 •

۩ • ۩ •

Date/Event Meeting Subject

1st Tue, Dec-06-2005 All Faiths Equal Sophistry

1st Tue: Jan-03-2006 Forrest Fire Material World

3rd Tue: Jan-17-2006 Disciplic Succession

1st Tue: Feb-07-2006 Symptoms of a Saint

3rd Tue: Feb-21-2006 Who Is God? <--(Hot!)

1st Tue: Mar-07-2006 Hallowed Be Thy Name

Appearance Day of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu! - Mar-14 2006

3rd Tue: Mar-21-2006 Truth Belief, & Science

1st Tue: April-4-2006

American Vedic Association Bhagavad Gita As It Is Fellowship:

Nonsense Cheating & Fools- Pseudo scientists and spiritualists are

misleading the innocent public with their own speculative ideas

about the origin and purpose of life. Learn how what they teach is

neither science nor spiritual at the next AVA gathering! 7:30pm

640-0405 Always Free!

3rd Tue: April-18-2006

American Vedic Association Bhagavad Gita As It Is Fellowship:

Contrived Equality vs. Real Equality. The woman’s liberation

movement asserted that men and women are equal. This spiritual

truth is a material absurdity and it constitutes the distinguishing

difference between contrived and real equality. Discuss more at next

AVA meeting! 7:30pm 640-0405 Always Free!

1st Tue: May-2-2006

American Vedic Association Bhagavad Gita as It Is Fellowship: Human

Suffering = Unjust God? When calamities occur some turn to God for

help while others use them to declare He is unjust! Few look at

their own contribution to the problem like we will at the next AVA

meeting. Join us at 7:30pm 640-0405 Always Free!

3rd Tue: May-16-2006

American Vedic Association Bhagavad Gita as It Is Fellowship:

Speculating while drowning despite the prevalence ignorance, many

speculate about why and how we got here. Learn at AVA how the wise

sages of Vedic India acknowledged the limits of their own ability

and surrender to Vedic conclusions. 7:30pm 640-0405 Always Free!

1st Tue: June-6-2006

American Vedic Association Bhagavad Gita As It Is Fellowship: The

Non-Judgment Myth - A lot of people plea: "Don't be judgmental!"

But what does that really mean? At AVA you will learn how to make

wise non-prejudicial decisions and avoid the trap of claiming

aloofness, while your senses rage out of control and make all your

decisions for you! 7:30pm 640-0405 Always Free!

3rd Tue: June-20-2006

American Vedic Association Bhagavad Gita As It Is Fellowship:

Independence Means Do What You Like! Independence and

responsibility are interwoven. Ill or favorable outcomes are the

consequences of good or bad choices. Don’t guess-- learn how to

distinguish between the two at AVA! 7:30pm 640-0405 Always Free!

To Be Continued…

 

C/o William Roberts / mayesvara dasa: AVA Director (805) 640-0405

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Why This Newsletter Was Sent To You & the AVA Purpose

This newsletter is being sent to you because someone felt

you might have an interest in the “Science of Self Realization” as

it is explained in the Vedic literature of ancient India. It is

posted twice a month and its primary purpose is to remind the

American Vedic Association congregation to attend the bi-monthly

Bhagavad-Gita Gita Appreciation Gathering that is held on the 1st

and 3rd Tuesday of every month.

The material presented in these newsletters is based on the

conclusions of the Vedic Literature as understood by India’s

foremost authorities on that subject namely, Lord Brahma, Maharaja

Pariksit, Narada Muni, Madhavacarya, Ramanujacarya, Krishna Dasa

Kaviraja, Narotama Das Thakur, the Six Goswami’s of Vrindaban,

Bhaktivenode Thakur and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to name just a few.

The purpose of this correspondence is to help readers properly

explain Sanskrit terms, clarify misunderstandings about Indian

theology, and make the Vedic conclusion more accessible to the

Western mind.

Questions are always welcome, and may be integrated into

future newsletters. It is our hope that you will find the content

to be informative and meaningful. It is also an invitation for you

to consider joining us at one of our bi-monthly Bhagavad-Gita as It

Is meetings if you happen to be within a reasonable driving distance

from Ojai, California, USA.

Must Say No?

Most people are familiar with the Biblical advice given in

the “Sermon on the Mount”

“Give not what is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your

pearls before swine. Lest they trample them under their feet, and

turn against and rend* you.” - Bible, Matthew Chapter7, Text 6.

(*rend = tear you apart violently.)

This is not only a common theme found in all great

scriptures, yet even secular teachers have no interest in trying to

explain something to a defiant student. Therefore, if you prefer

not to receive any further information about the Vedas, AVA events,

or the process of spiritual growth honored by the great sages of

ancient India, then simply request to be removed from our mailing

list. We will lament seeing you go when we do, but will gladly

comply with your request.

“Bewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant

fully engage themselves in material activities and become attached.

But the wise should not unsettle them, although these duties are

inferior due to the performer’s lack of knowledge. “- BG 3.29

Thank you for your patience and interest!