Why is it that more and more people are taking the elevator/lift to the top???

[krsna]

"Since in this age of Kali-yuga people have short life spans and are always disturbed and anxious, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by His causeless mercy, has given us the elevator by which we can come immediately to the platform of bhakti-yoga. That direct means is the chanting of Hare Krsna, and that is the special gift of Lord Caitanya."

 

 

 

(The Path of Perfection, Chapter 8)

 

[AncientMariner]

My guess would be they are starting to get sick of the rat race of western civilization and after many years of Tae Bo videos they are realizing that the Jane Fonda workout will not save them from death. Hopefully it is not just another American fad and people chant the mantra long enough so they begin to grasp the true purport of Vedic literature. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Guest guest]

It's the recommended process for the age of Kali by God Himself.

It may take a little time and a few kicks or a meeting with a devovee, but eventually we'll figure it out.

[AncientMariner]

pamho, All glories to Srila Prabhupada

 

Yep, with that attitude your success is guaranteed and your fame and opulence will increase and all your enemies will be conquered. God bless America, she isn't sunk yet. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[krsna]

"It is my great delight that you have realized how Krishna Consciousness has transformed lives from drug addicted hippies to loving servants of Krishna and humanity. Loving service of Krishna is so exalted, that it automatically turns loving service to humanity.

 

Krishna is just like the root of the tree and if you pour water on the root, it automatically reaches other parts of the tree. It is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, yasyasta bhakti bhagavati akincana sarvai gunai statra sama sate surah harau abhaktasya kuto mahad-guna manorathena asata dhavato bahi. If a person has unflinching devotion at the lotus feet of Hari (God), then all the good qualities of great personalities like the demigods, automatically become manifest in the person of a devotee. Whereas a non-devotee, even if he is decorated with material qualities, he is forced to act on the material plane and he stays in temporary field of activities.

 

The idea is that spirit soul is eternal and the material body is temporary, or for the sake of sense gratification. The mental plane is also material. People being forced to stay on the material platform, they are planning for temporary happiness, and being frustrated, they are jumping from one platform to another which are all temporary.

 

But, fortunately, if one beomes situated on the platform of Krishna Consciousness then his jumping over material platforms becomes ceased. It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita as follows: yam labdhva caparam labham manyate nadhikam tatah -- Upon gaining this, he thinks that there is no greater gain.

 

So, at the present moment, there is great necessity to give to the human society Krishna, or God. Everyone speaks of God, but nobody has clear idea what is God, or where is God. We Hare Krishna people are trying to do our best to say, "here is God, Krishna". So, please try to co-operate with this movement and I am sure the world will be happy."

 

 

 

(Srila Prabhupada letter, 11th June, 1975)

 

[krsna]

 

/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[krsna]

Meditation

 

 

Meditation is an action of the mind, and as long as the mind is not fully spiritualized, ones meditation cannot be spiritual (cinmaya). Bhakti purifies the mind so that it gradually becomes spiritual, and when one meditates with the mind that has become purified in that way, such meditation certainly becomes cinmaya.

 

When bhajananandi Vaisnavas chant Krsna’s name, the material world cannot touch them, because they are cinmaya. Internally, they are situated in the spiritual world as they meditate on Krsna’s daily pastimes and relish the bliss of confidential service.

 

Jaiva Dharma Ch - 4

 

Sri Chaitanya has instructed us like this,

 

"O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names, like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them."

 

The teaching is we should absorb ourselves 24 hours a day in the chanting of the Lords Holy Names.

 

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

 

The Hare Krsna Mantra simply translated means,

 

" My dear internal potency of the Lord ( Hare ) please engage me in your Pure Devotional Service ".

 

[krsna]

We do not mean to say that Reason is a foolish principle. On the contrary we do not find better admirers of Reason than our humble selves. We hold that man's superiority amongst all created beings consists in man's possessing the noble gift of Reason.

 

What we maintain is this, that independent of this noble principle there is another higher gift in man which goes by the name of Love. Reason helps Love to maintain its proper bounds in the Spiritual world. Love often tends to degrade itself by exercising its function on objects other then God and converts itself into lust for women, wine, meat and gold. Here Reason advises her to rise higher till she reaches her proper sphere above.

 

Thus we find that the object of Reason is to help Love and not to create it. Reason may be properly styled as the servant of Love and must always be subject to her in all her hopes, aspirations, and holy works.

 

The Rationalist on the contrary considers Reason as all and all! This is a degredation of humanity! The progressive Rationalist, on the other hand, believes in the principle of love, but attempts to make her the maid-servant of Reason! This is another error! He makes spiritual love sometimes a prisoner in the jails of Reason! Love wants to soar on her spiritual wings to a realm where the Jailor (Reason) cannot go and the latter is sure to tie up her wings for fear lest she goes to an unworthy place!

 

Love utters sounds of a spiritual character peculiar to herself, but Reason, having no pervious experience of it, mistakes it for a disease and administers medicine for her cure!! Thus it is that the natural strength of the Queen of our Soul is crippled by artificial administration of the dry principle of Reason and she rests in us as if a bird taken in a cage! Oh! What a havoc doth Reason commit by abuse of his power. Oh! Shame to the Rationalist! God help the man!!

 

Theist take care of those amongst you who mix with you only by assuming the

name of Theist but are in fact Rationalists of a very dry character. They are divisible into two classes vis. the designing and the dupes. The designing Theist is he who is in fact a Rationalist but by assuming the name of Theist wants to degrade the sincere by his bad influence. He that calls himself a Theist in order to get rid of the name of Rationalist but still holds Love in subjection to Reason is a dupe because he is unable to find out his own position. The sincere Theist should however take care of both of them and preserve the sovereignty of Love over Reason and his comrades.

 

From an article called, The Temple of Jagannath at Puri, by Thakur Bhaktivinode on September 15, 1871. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[mahoney]

The 21st century reeks of monotony and a lack of originality

There is nothing much to enjoy as nature itself is in danger of being wiped out thanks to mindless procreation and unnecessary technological development.. if you get my drift..

God Mammon rules and even in the sacred instituion of marriage

has been desecrated by the God of materialism. nobody wants

true love anymore ,therefore is not sucide the easy way to achieve the divine for someone who has no more desires???

Any arguments???

[krsna]

Srila Prabhupada teaches us in The Science of Self Realization - Chapter One :

 

" Learning the Science of the Self -Discovering the Self " (which will be posted entirely in segments on Wednesdays ) :

 

Who are you?... Are you your body? Or your mind? Or are you something higher? Do you know who you are, or do you merely think you know? And does it really matter? Our materialistic society, with its unenlightened leadership, has made it virtually taboo to inquire into our real, higher self. Instead we use our valuable time maintaining, decorating, and pampering the body for its own sake. Might there be an alternative?

 

This very important Krsna consciousness movement is meant to save human society from spiritual death. At present human society is being misled by leaders who are blind, for they do not know the aim and objective of human life, which is self-realization and the reestablishment of our lost relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the missing point. The Krsna consciousness movement is trying to enlighten human society in this important matter.

 

According to Vedic civilization, the perfection of life is to realize one's relationship with Krsna, or God. In the Bhagavad-gita, which is accepted by all authorities in transcendental science as the basis of all Vedic knowledge, we understand that not only human beings but all living entities are parts and parcels of God. The parts are meant for serving the whole, just as the legs, hands, fingers, and ears are meant for serving the total body. We living entities, being parts and parcels of God, are duty-bound to serve Him.

 

Actually our position is that we are always rendering service to someone, either to our family, country, or society. If we have no one to serve, sometimes we keep a pet cat or dog and render service to it. All these factors prove that we are constitutionally meant to render service, yet in spite of serving to the best of our ability, we are not satisfied. Nor is the person to whom we are rendering that service satisfied. On the material platform, everyone is frustrated. The reason for this is that the service being rendered is not properly directed. For example, if we want to render service to a tree, we must water the root. If we pour water on the leaves, branches, and twigs, there is little benefit. If the Supreme Personality of Godhead is served, all other parts and parcels will be automatically satisfied. Consequently all welfare activities as well as service to society, family, and nation are realized by serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

It is the duty of every human being to understand his constitutional position with God and to act accordingly. If this is possible, then our lives become successful. Sometimes, however, we feel challenging and say, "There is no God," or "I am God," or even, "I don't care for God." But in actuality this challenging spirit will not save us. God is there, and we can see Him at every moment. If we refuse to see God in our life, then He will be present before us as cruel death. If we do not choose to see Him in one feature, we will see Him in another. There are different features of the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He is the original root of the entire cosmic manifestation. In one sense, it is not possible for us to escape Him.

 

This Krsna consciousness movement is not blind religious fanaticism, nor is it a revolt by some recent upstart; rather, it is an authorized, scientific approach to the matter of our eternal necessity in relation with the Absolute Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Enjoyer. Krsna consciousness simply deals with our eternal relationship with Him and the process of discharging our relative duties to Him. Thus, Krsna consciousness enables us to achieve the highest perfection of life attainable in the present human form of existence.

 

We must always remember that this particular form of human life is attained after an evolution of many millions of years in the cycle of transmigration of the spirit soul. In this particular form of life, the economic question is more easily solved than in the lower, animal forms. There are swine, dogs, camels, asses, and so on, whose economic necessities are just as important as ours, but the economic questions of these animals and others are solved under primitive conditions, whereas the human being is given all the facilities for leading a comfortable life by the laws of nature.

 

Why is a man given a better chance to live than swine or other animals? Why is a highly posted government officer given better facilities for a comfortable life than an ordinary clerk? The answer is very simple: the important officer has to discharge duties of a more responsible nature than those of an ordinary clerk. Similarly, the human being has to discharge higher duties than the animals, who are always busy with filling their hungry stomachs. But by the laws of nature, the modern animalistic standard of civilization has only increased the problems of filling the stomach. When we approach some of these polished animals for spiritual life, they say that they only want to work for the satisfaction of their stomachs and that there is no necessity of inquiring about the Godhead. Yet despite their eagerness to work hard, there is always the question of unemployment and so many other impediments incurred by the laws of nature. Despite this, they still denounce the necessity of acknowledging the Godhead.

 

We are given this human form of life not just to work hard like the swine or dog, but to attain the highest perfection of life. If we do not want that perfection, then we will have to work very hard, for we will be forced to by the laws of nature. In the closing days of Kali-yuga (this present age) men will have to work hard like asses for only a scrap of bread. This process has already begun, and every year the necessity for harder work for lesser wages will increase. Yet human beings are not meant to work hard like animals, and if a man fails to discharge his duties as a human being, he is forced to transmigrate to the lower species of life by the laws of nature. The Bhagavad-gita very vividly describes how a spirit soul, by the laws of nature, takes his birth and gets a suitable body and sense organs for enjoying matter in the material world.

 

In the Bhagavad-gita it is also stated that those who attempt but do not complete the path of approaching God--in other words, those who have failed to achieve complete success in Krsna consciousness--are given the chance to appear in the families of the spiritually advanced or in financially well-to-do mercantile families. If the unsuccessful spiritual aspirants are offered such chances of noble parentage, what of those who have actually attained the required success? Therefore an attempt to go back to Godhead, even if half finished, guarantees a good birth in the next life. Both the spiritual and the financially well-to-do families are beneficial for spiritual progress because in both families one can get a good chance to make further progress from the point where he stopped in his previous birth. In spiritual realization the atmosphere generated by a good family is favorable for the cultivation of spiritual knowledge. The Bhagavad-gita reminds such fortunate well-born persons that their good fortune is due to their past devotional activities. Unfortunately, the children of these families do not consult the Bhagavad-gita, being misguided by maya (illusion).

 

Birth in a well-to-do family solves the problem of having to find sufficient food from the beginning of life, and later a comparatively easier and more comfortable way of life can be led. Being so situated, one has a good chance to make progress in spiritual realization, but as ill luck would have it, due to the influence of the present iron age (which is full of machines and mechanical people) the sons of the wealthy are misguided for sense enjoyment, and they forget the good chance they have for spiritual enlightenment. Therefore nature, by her laws, is setting fires in these golden homes. It was the golden city of Lanka, under the regime of the demoniac Ravana, that was burned to ashes. That is the law of nature.

 

The Bhagavad-gita is the preliminary study of the transcendental science of Krsna consciousness, and it is the duty of all responsible heads of state to chalk out their economic and other programs by referring to the Bhagavad-gita. We are not meant to solve economic questions of life by balancing on a tottering platform; rather, we are meant to solve the ultimate problems of life which arise due to the laws of nature. Civilization is static unless there is spiritual movement. The soul moves the body, and the living body moves the world. We are concerned about the body, but we have no knowledge of the spirit that is moving that body. Without the spirit, the body is motionless, or dead.

 

The human body is an excellent vehicle by which we can reach eternal life. It is a rare and very important boat for crossing over the ocean of nescience which is material existence. On this boat there is the service of an expert boatman, the spiritual master. By divine grace, the boat plies the water in a favorable wind. With all these auspicious factors, who would not take the opportunity to cross over the ocean of nescience? If one neglects this good chance, it should be known that he is simply committing suicide.

 

There is certainly a great deal of comfort in the first-class coach of a train, but if the train does not move toward its destination, what is the benefit of an air-conditioned compartment? Contemporary civilization is much too concerned with making the material body comfortable. No one has information of the real destination of life, which is to go back to Godhead. We must not just remain seated in a comfortable compartment; we should see whether or not our vehicle is moving toward its real destination. There is no ultimate benefit in making the material body comfortable at the expense of forgetting the prime necessity of life, which is to regain our lost spiritual identity. The boat of human life is constructed in such a way that it must move toward a spiritual destination. Unfortunately this body is anchored to mundane consciousness by five strong chains, which are: (1) attachment to the material body due to ignorance of spiritual facts, (2) attachment to kinsmen due to bodily relations, (3) attachment to the land of birth and to material possessions such as house, furniture, estates, property, business papers, etc., (4) attachment to material science, which always remains mysterious for want of spiritual light, and (5) attachment to religious forms and holy rituals without knowing the Personality of Godhead or His devotees, who make them holy. These attachments, which anchor the boat of the human body, are explained in detail in the Fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita. There they are compared to a deeply rooted banyan tree which is ever increasing its hold on the earth. It is very difficult to uproot such a strong banyan tree, but the Lord recommends the following process: "The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is. But with determination one must cut down this tree with the weapon of detachment. So doing, one must seek that place from which, having once gone, one never returns, and there surrender to that Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom everything has begun and in whom everything is abiding since time immemorial." (Bg. 15.3-4)