tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182906442024-03-12T17:37:36.717-07:00thought-action-habit-character-destinyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08000092152643803701noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-51448456704556616752009-09-18T01:13:00.000-07:002009-09-18T01:17:08.912-07:00Today's Recommendations For You:Customers who have read this blog might also read <a href="http://acyuta.iskconboston.org">this</a>.ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08000092152643803701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-50901589746696987222008-06-27T15:24:00.001-07:002008-06-27T15:37:00.903-07:00Back to Blog-head?It's been almost a year since my last post. Much has happened since then (details forthcoming). I have thought about updating, from time to time, but never quite got around to it. <br /><br />But things are changing, I'm working from home now (mostly), and I'll be spending considerable chunks of time sitting in front of my laptop. In order to help me fight the temptation to waste my day on <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/contribute/search.mefi?site=mefi&q=krishna">Metafilter</a>, I think it would be a good idea to "dovetail" my internet addictions into something at least relatively Krishna conscious. <br /><br />Credit must go to <a href="http://4krsna.wordpress.com/">this guy</a>, for creating a KC blog that has inspired me enough to give this another shot. Blogging as sadhana?<br /><br />Btw, please forgive another short silence here. I am adjusting to a new apartment, but things will get going again soon.ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08000092152643803701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-2929137621064340342007-07-18T13:37:00.000-07:002007-07-18T13:43:54.398-07:00The Mental Speculator Exchange<blockquote>"As stated in the Brahma-samhita, the mental speculators, even by dint of learned scholarship, cannot even dream of the Absolute Truth by speculating over it for eternity. The Lord reserves the right of not being exposed to such mental speculators. And because they cannot enter into network stem of the lotus stem of the Lord, all material speculators differ in conclusions, and at the end they make a useless compromise by saying, "as many conclusions, as many ways," according to one's own inclination. (yatha-rucam). But <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">the Lord is not like a shopkeeper trying to please all sorts of customers in the mental speculator exchange</span></span>. The Lord is what He is, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, and He demands absolute surrender unto Him only...<br /><br />...The Lord, being the Lord of intelligence in everyone (even in the nondevotee), favors His devotee with proper intelligence so that automatically the pure devotee is enlightened with the factual truth about the Lord and His different energies. The Lord is revealed not by one's speculative power or by one's verbal jugglery over the Absolute Truth. Rather, <span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">He reveals Himself to a devotee when He is fully satisfied by the devotee's service attitude</span></span>. Sukadeva Gosvami is not a mental speculator or compromiser of the theory of "as many ways, as many conclusions." Rather, he prays to the Lord only, invoking His transcendental pleasure. That is the way of knowing the Lord."<br /><br /><a href="http://vedabase.net/sb/2/4/21/en2">SB 2.4.21 purport</a><br /></blockquote>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-81566179802299823792007-07-14T14:26:00.000-07:002007-07-14T14:28:01.179-07:00The Over-Long Title of My Next Self-Help BookIt's not because I don't have the things I want.<br /><br />It's because I want the things I don't have.Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-62294755573590587172007-07-04T11:31:00.000-07:002007-07-04T11:41:03.648-07:00Who Says Spiritual Life Is One Of Inactivity?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyWcfMkTI5wOUVyIXC9Nhte3W24gNkZF2QoeUgU8yEN7zcSoCwASxOC9iyCFppdFTK_JXHXdSG0d_uIojRzT04l-CLAzapsSKg5BOiSLZjMYYmjoEcB5_5AKxLEchCaG4Y2i0/s1600-h/Krishna_Arjuna.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyWcfMkTI5wOUVyIXC9Nhte3W24gNkZF2QoeUgU8yEN7zcSoCwASxOC9iyCFppdFTK_JXHXdSG0d_uIojRzT04l-CLAzapsSKg5BOiSLZjMYYmjoEcB5_5AKxLEchCaG4Y2i0/s400/Krishna_Arjuna.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5083413512736626962" border="0" /></a><br /><blockquote>"The whole <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedic adventure</span> is to draw one's attention entirely unto the lotus feet of Lord Krishna without any diversion, as instructed in the Bhagavad-Gita (<a href="http://vedabase.net/bg/15/15/en2">15.15</a>)."<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><br />-SB 2.4.1 purport</div></blockquote>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-86280727121496447702007-06-26T11:32:00.000-07:002007-06-26T11:56:32.554-07:00Crying For KrishnaAbout a month later, I'm finally sitting down to write about my experience in Germany. What's that? Japa retreat? You're kidding, right? Oh, I haven't forgotten, but I'm not sure if I'll be sitting down for that one any time soon. Anyway...<br /><br />One morning, eating breakfast in the Novotel in Aachen, I noticed a little boy one or two years old. He had just suffered a childhood trauma of some description. I'm unsure of the exact nature of the incident, and at the time I got the general impression that he wasn't quite sure either. By the time he had found his way to his mother's lap - all the while crying 'Mama! Mama!' in steady, insistent sob-tones - he seemed to have forgotten what the original source of his distress had been. Not that this dissuaded him in any way from rather vocally taking shelter of his mother's love.<br /><br />I thought of how much his steady, repetitive 'Mama! Mama!' sounded like a mantra, and I was immediately reminded of how Srila Prabhupada has instructed us to chant Hare Krishna like a child crying for its mother. I also realized how there was something about this boy's crying that was faintly comforting to me, and I think, to him as well. Though he kept crying, and showed no sign of stopping, I felt that he didn't have a care in the world, but was in some way taking pleasure in both the crying, and in his mother's eager reciprocation - satiated by her desire to alleviate his distress.<br /><br />The boy's apparent detachment may seem odd, but it seemed rather palpable to me at the time, and it reminded me of the nature of our own material strife. If we can follow this example, and take pleasure in crying out the Lord's Holy Name in the same way, the Lord will eagerly reciprocate. Any distress we may have had will then disappear without a trace. Nonetheless, we will continue chanting with the same urgency, feeling the bliss of mutual reciprocation with the Lord of our heart.<br /><br />Our material distress is completely inconsequential, after all. Just as the pleasures of the body - and the world it inhabits - are illusory, so too are the distresses. The greatest thing the devotee has to fear in this material world is that he may at any time fall into illusion and forget Krishna. But if we are sitting at the Lord's lotus feet, crying out His Holy Names with relish, then what chance does maya have to enter our consciousness?Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-67781587533820228522007-06-19T17:07:00.000-07:002007-06-26T11:30:58.869-07:00It's Kali-Yuga, Baby!The last few days have been a little disheartening. If there was any doubt, Kali-Yuga is rapidly advancing: cheating and hypocrisy rule the hearts of men, and we are all casualties, Mother Bhumi included.<br /><br />It seems that a few people still think that rocknroll can save the world. I read an article in Rolling Stone about the <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/al_gore_announc.php">24-hour worldwide Live-Aid style "benefit concert"</a> that Gore is hoping will save us all from global warming. To be fair, Gore and co. say that they are making every effort to minimize the impact that organizing and executing such a colossal event will have on the environment, but I think it's fairly obvious that the cost will greatly outweigh the benefit.<br /><br />On Sunday we had two very special guests at the East Hartford temple: B.B. Govinda Swami and Indradyumna Maharaja. The kirtans were deep and beautiful and full of spiritual potency, as were the words of these two venerable sadhus. I wish I could say that the entire evening was a festival of blissed out chanting, dancing, and feasting on the Holy Names, but there was some serious business involved as well. As I'm sure you are all aware by now our brothers and sisters in Kazakhstan have not been faring well of late. Less than a week ago <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=3727">another twelve devotee homes were unlawfully destroyed</a> by local government officials. The rest of the community, including the farmhouses that are giving shelter to some 30 cows, and of course the temple and Deities, may be destroyed at any time. In spite of worldwide outcries from human rights advocates, ambassadors, and politicians including Great Britain's own Tony Blair, the Kazakh government appears to have no intention of changing their present course. B.B. Govinda Swami and others made impassioned pleas for support, and we obliged in whatever ways we could, but I have to say that the whole thing left me feeling pretty close to hopeless.<br /><br />And a few more cheerful and uplifting stories have passed my way in the last day or so as well...<br /><br />There's <a href="http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/travel-leisure/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we.shtml">this one</a> about an area of the Pacific Ocean twice the size of Texas that's filled with plastic waste of various descriptions - a sort of floating garbage heap. Then there's <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=3750">this one</a> about some rather shocking behavior in Sri Vrindavana Dhama.<br /><br />And last but not least, it turns out that the Dalai Lama is not quite the beacon of peace and compassion that everyone seems to think. <a href="http://www.iskcon.net.au/kurma/2007/06/18#a3461">Read this open letter on Kurma Dasa's blog</a>, and don't miss <a href="http://www.iskcon.net.au/kurma/2007/06/18#a3457">the accompanying article linked at the bottom of the entry</a>. Apparently, even "His Holiness" is a "meat-eating Buddhist". I would do my part to spread this information around, but I'm afraid that most people would take it as "permission" rather than the dissapointing evidence of hypocrisy that it is.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">punar avartino 'rjuna</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">mam upetya tu kaunteya</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">punar janma na vidyate</span><br /></div><br />From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again. (<a href="http://vedabase.net/bg/8/16/en2">BG 8.16</a>)<br /></blockquote>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-25597153804896537202007-06-05T16:09:00.001-07:002007-06-05T16:20:59.859-07:00More Vacation Pics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbup-2ZeiDjCwzq6-JRLohsF1RdwlP5DKBliGrZCjS9PQoX48LNZCNiLuFbKUaNlbdcGESXcBEnAqiXyIX4GbNsyPvQtDtYXJQpmbbwhMFaGoMmiSXd6_WhqnZdSA9j1yhSCT/s1600-h/GauraNitaiKoln.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbup-2ZeiDjCwzq6-JRLohsF1RdwlP5DKBliGrZCjS9PQoX48LNZCNiLuFbKUaNlbdcGESXcBEnAqiXyIX4GbNsyPvQtDtYXJQpmbbwhMFaGoMmiSXd6_WhqnZdSA9j1yhSCT/s400/GauraNitaiKoln.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5072721493292846002" border="0" /></a><br />This one's legit.<br /><br />I just returned from a few days auf Deutschland. My pop is working in Berlin this summer, so the family all met up for some time together. We spent about a year living in a little town called Julich when I was eight years old, so part of the trip was revisiting old turf, and the rest was castles and cathedrals and the like. Somehow I managed to drag everyone to <a href="http://main.gauradesh.com/">ISKCON Koln</a> (Their Lordships, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai above) and for an afternoon jaunt to <a href="http://www.radhadesh.com">Radhadesh</a>. I even managed to make it to the Sunday feast in Koln. <br /><br />I should know better than to promise future posts at this point, but I did have one nice experience that I'm planning to share. Right now I think I'm going to have to succumb to the wear and tear of travel fatigue, though. Bis morgen?Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-6330945727017886682007-05-26T17:29:00.000-07:002007-05-26T18:49:21.597-07:00Japa Retreat (Part I)I'm still working on a post (or two) summing up my experiences and realizations at the japa retreat. In the mean time I thought I'd share some of the things I quickly jotted down* right after the weekend so that I wouldn't try to remember them two months later and find that they had long since left me. <br /><ul><li>I am not my mind. My mind wants fireworks, but while that may distract me for a time, it's not satisfying to the heart/the self/the soul. My heart is satisfied by things that are much deeper, and far more subtle, not simply flashy and impressive.<br /></li><li>To love someone means to pay attention to them (and) if we pay attention to someone, we will come to love them. In the same way, developing love for the Holy Name only requires our enthusiastic attention. </li><li>Sankirtan means: everyone goes back to Godhead together. (Ravindra Savrupa Dasa)</li><li>My chanting is a personal time to associate with the Lord/the Holy Name (which are not different). When chanting I should be giving the Holy Name my full attention. This applies to application (how well I am concentrating) as well as attitude (how have I arranged the environment? how eager am I to get on to something else?). </li><li>My chanting is not a courtesy to my spiritual master (completing my rounds merely in order to fulfill a vow). My chanting is an offering to my spiritual master. As such I should chant as well/as attentively as I possibly can desiring to please guru and Krishna, but I should be detached from the results. I should expect nothing in return for my chanting, but should simply be satisfied with the chanting itself.</li><li>Japa is a purificatory process by which we express our love for Krishna. Kirtan is an expression of love between devotees. One requires the other: the heart must be purified in order to express love for the devotees. (Varsana Swami)</li><li>nirvisesa sunyvadi pascatya desa tarine... Srila Prabhupada saved us from impersonalism and voidism by giving us the Divine Love of the Holy Names: you can try to love the void, but it won't love you back. </li><li>Chanting is going on all the time...</li></ul><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">*I copied this almost exactly as it appears in my notebook, with only a minimal amount of editing. It's abit awkward here and there. Also, many of these reflections are the direct result of things I heard in classes from the many exalted Vaishnavas who participated. I have noted those places where I have quoted someone directly. </span>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-9980901860677925302007-05-26T17:26:00.000-07:002007-05-26T17:28:19.906-07:00Vacation Pics: Badarikashrama<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZ9aFDaO_QKRoCTWlJ1d-jr3QgkvP9Qva0NuvvpcGpr5MxsgzhLhDPgRJuvRwlJEv7-qfOwdbCbp1X-XPWMh5Xa7VFdNewUrXaksjhC5LhWTvQM6mg_y0FcKBve2vHBNcGUyJ/s1600-h/PICT0093.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZ9aFDaO_QKRoCTWlJ1d-jr3QgkvP9Qva0NuvvpcGpr5MxsgzhLhDPgRJuvRwlJEv7-qfOwdbCbp1X-XPWMh5Xa7VFdNewUrXaksjhC5LhWTvQM6mg_y0FcKBve2vHBNcGUyJ/s400/PICT0093.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5069030634003045378" border="0" /></a>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-25407967214642314632007-05-02T12:01:00.000-07:002007-05-02T12:25:32.932-07:00The Anti-God Delusion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiY1fU3TOdb-yhU2syBJoHp0fQUXJzOvkchWSOz_WhZrH8ZxCiWM1giWHvNuyjOMlekkicen2wPl2316h9Y5n9hgnOqR2AmfnEWfZEubnbGgXIbMhfGnoIGMKic8bgANKTAMa2/s1600-h/nrsimha.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiY1fU3TOdb-yhU2syBJoHp0fQUXJzOvkchWSOz_WhZrH8ZxCiWM1giWHvNuyjOMlekkicen2wPl2316h9Y5n9hgnOqR2AmfnEWfZEubnbGgXIbMhfGnoIGMKic8bgANKTAMa2/s320/nrsimha.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5060046501943393858" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><blockquote></blockquote></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Those who engage in the culture of nescient activities shall enter into the darkest region of ignorance. Worse still are those engaged in the culture of so-called knowledge.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">As far as vidya is concerned, the first mantra has explained very clearly that the Supreme Lord is the proprietor of everything and that forgetfulness of this fact is ignorance. The more a man forgets this fact of life, the more he is in darkness. In view of this, a godless civilization directed toward the so-called advancement of education is more dangerous than a civilization in which the masses of people are less "educated." [Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 9 & Purport]</span></blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"></blockquote>Working in retail means that at least four days a week I dutifully connect spirit souls with their material desires. I earn, what I hope is a mostly, honest living at one of the two major chain bookstores in the US. I am often reminded that the Srimad-Bhagavatam describes that “words which do not describe the glories of the Lord… [are] like a place of pilgrimage unto crows” [SB 1.5.10]. This is undoubtedly true whether those words are spoken aloud or found on the printed page. In that case, I regularly visit a place of pilgrimage. In fact, I often see a small flock of jet-black fowl perched just above the front door when I go into work in the morning.<br /><br />We carry books, magazines, CDs, DVDs and so forth, covering all varieties of material “knowledge” – and, I should point out, a small selection of transcendental literature of varying potencies; for instance, we carry a version of Srila Prabhupada’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Bhagavad-Gita As It Is</span>, originally printed by Macmillan, and reprinted by the BBT. Because this is largely a “mainstream” sort of place, we spare no expense – be it monetary or karmic – in carrying whatever may happen to be the latest trend.<br /><br />I somehow weathered the ballyhooed release of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Secret</span> in its many formats – thanks Oprah! While that little publication probably deserves a post of its own, it’s nothing in comparison to the disturbing trend of anti-religious tomes that have been coming through over the least several months. The first one I remember seeing was Richard Dawkins’ <span style="font-style: italic;">The God Delusion</span>. If you are unfamiliar with Dawkins and his ilk, suffice it so say that he is one of a growing number of evangelical atheists that have gained popularity as of late. I think Srila Prabhupada would have readily identified Dawkins as one of the “tiny Hiranyakasipus of today” .<br /><br />So it was with little surprise, but much irritation, that I happened upon <a href="http://www.amazon.com/God-Not-Great-Religion-Everything/dp/0446579807/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-6365071-1932057?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178129962&sr=8-1">this little manifesto</a> the other day. Though supposedly writing for the intelligent class, Christopher Hitchens’ title -– <span style="font-style: italic;">God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything</span> – leaves nothing to subtlety nor imagination. A quick glance at the inside cover reveals whatever could not already be assumed: Hitchens considers it his responsibility to push on the crusade – and let’s not let that word fly by without belaboring its painful irony – to completely eradicate the world of the thing that he feels is causing all of its pain and suffering: religion, and by obvious extension, God. Materialists like Dawkins and Hitchens never hesitate to send up their battle cry of logic and reason, but any intelligent examination will reveal that their proposals are neither logical, nor reasonable.<br /><br />Let’s be honest. There has been, is, and unfortunately will be much suffering perpetrated in the name of religion, and in the name of God. I will address this sad fact shortly, but let me first emphatically state that the atheistic plan for their total eradication will do nothing to solve the real problems of material life: birth, disease, old age, and death. It is for this reason that Hitchens’ proposal is entirely unreasonable. It is, in effect, a declaration of war on material nature, a campaign which has been throughout human history, an utter failure. The death rate in the material world has always been one hundred percent, and no amount of advancement in the fields of science, technology or so-called rational thought will change that fact.<br /><br />I can hear their deluded objections rising up right now, declaring with some amount of fevered confidence that if only we devote the time and resources to these problems, that science will one day discover the solution for these plagues on humanity, bringing about an ageless, deathless utopia, free from all illness and strife. Srila Prabhupada said, “trust no future, however wonderful”, and also warned us about accepting what amounts to a massive post-dated check from the falsely confident. We have no reason to believe that material science has any hope of effectively addressing the problems of birth, disease, old age, and death, and we should not be swayed by empty promises. Every illness apparently “cured” is replaced by some newer, more virulent scourge, what to speak of the specter of inevitable death.<br /><br />Besides, this dogmatic faith in the scientific infallibility of the universe is totally illogical. Fanatics like Hitchens and Dawkins profess their faith for evincible scientific fact, completely eschewing all things spiritual and supposedly unverifiable. However convincing their approach may be in theory, they are laughably inept at applying it in practice. Motivated by their so-called compassion for the suffering of humanity – at the hands of evil religion, no less – they hope to bring about a utopian age free of all pain and inconvenience. However, if the world is merely a complicated interaction of physical laws, scientific interactions, and chemical reactions, then what use is there for compassion? If millions of people die every day, why should we care? When each life amounts to a few dollars of soon to be useless chemicals, why should anyone get upset? By their own standards the pursuit of happiness is only so much phantasmagoria, an illusion created by the temporary presence of electrical impulses in the brain, or the increase of certain chemical compounds. Why should any standards of moral decency exist in a civilization supposedly created by human intellect? As Hitchens suggests, God, and the faiths that revere Him, is simply a concoction of the human mind, a concoction that he feels is responsible for all of the world’s ills.<br /><br />However, Hitchens’ solution is the worst kind of utopian misdirection. In presenting the one solution he feels will be the panacea for the world’s problems, he is simply covering up the real source of suffering. It is not God, nor religion, that is causing this suffering, it is the lust, anger, greed, and envy so deeply entrenched in our hearts that are the source of suffering. It is that lust, anger, greed, and envy that will make any so-called believer exploit others for his own selfish gain. And by offering his brilliant solution, Hitchens and his ilk are merely absolving themselves from any real responsibility in the matter. By placing the blame on God, they are only attempting to avoid the daunting task of ridding themselves of that same lust, anger, greed, and envy: a seemingly superhuman task that begins with humility. Obviously, this is a quality that Hitchens sorely lacks.<br /><br />Sure, I don’t know Hitchens personally. He may be a great guy, right? A real saint, I’m sure. Perhaps. But it doesn’t take much investigation to see the evidence of arrogance and conceit; look no further than the cover of his book (Dawkins, too). Both Hitchens and Dawkins have resorted to what J.D. Salinger referred to as “the worst kind of name-dropping”, riding on the reputation of the possessor of all fame, in the hopes of gaining a little more fame and publicity (and money) for themselves. Hitchens and Dawkins profess their desire to completely remove God from the picture, but they don’t hesitate to use his reputation to get a little attention for themselves.<br /><br />These are the brilliant leaders of modern society. Deluded by the material energy, desperate only to increase the gratification of their senses, they pour all of their energy into refining the animalistic activities of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, completely oblivious to their inevitable failure. Hitchens and Dawkins, and the other fundamentalist materialists like them, are certainly the “tiny Hiranyakasipus of today”, and they can look forward to accepting the same fate as their bigger demon cousins of yore. They too will eventually meet Krishna in the form of cruel death.<br /><blockquote>Real sense enjoyment is possible only when the disease of materialism is removed. In our pure spiritual form, free from all material contamination, real enjoyment of the senses is possible. A patient must regain his health before he can truly enjoy sense pleasure again. Thus the aim of human life should not be to enjoy perverted sense enjoyment but to cure the material disease. Aggravation of the material disease is no sign of knowledge, but a sign of avidya, ignorance. For good health, a person should not increase his fever from 105 degrees to 107 degrees but should reduce his temperature to the normal 98.6. That should be the aim of human life. The modern trend of material civilization is to increase the temperature of the feverish material condition, which has reached the point of 107 degrees in the form of atomic energy. Meanwhile, the foolish politicians are crying that at any moment the world may go to hell. That is the result of the advancement of material knowledge and the neglect of the most important part of life, the culture of spiritual knowledge. Sri Isopanishad herein warns that we must not follow this dangerous path leading to death. On the contrary, we must develop the culture of spiritual knowledge so that we may become completely free from the cruel hands of death. [Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 11, Purport]</blockquote>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-28976110680195788722007-05-01T17:55:00.000-07:002007-05-01T18:03:11.479-07:00Excuses, excuses...It's not that I was lying, really. I just tend to overestimate the imminent presence of "free-time" in my day-to-day life.<br /><br />Earlier today someone said : no rest for the wicked. <br /><br />It certainly seems that way sometimes, doesn't it. I'd like to think that Krishna is keeping me out of trouble. He's certainly keeping me engaged. And how can I complain? Krishna is very merciful. Besides, when I sit for a couple hours a day and ask again and again and again to be engaged in the Lord's service - however insincere and inattentive those requests might be - I shouldn't be very surpsised when service actually comes. <br /><br />The short version? My reflections on the japa retreat are forthcoming, as well as a little something else I've been working on. At least, I really hope so...Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1175792973294119742007-04-05T09:59:00.000-07:002007-04-05T10:09:33.306-07:00Still HereSome of you have still been dropping by from time to time, even though its been several months since my last post. I'm hoping to be a bit more active in the near future, starting with some reflections and realizations from the <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=3048">Japa Retreat</a> I just attended in upstate NY. It was a watershed event in my spiritual life, and I would be remiss not to try and share what I gleaned there by the mercy of Guru, Krishna, and the Vaishnavas. I know my thoughts will be mostly insignificant, and perhaps of more interest to me than anyone else, but I'm feeling the need to share them nonetheless. I hope you find them of some use.Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1175783051349929642007-04-05T07:22:00.000-07:002007-04-05T07:24:11.356-07:00...bahir nrsimho hrdaye nrsimho...<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0xpNQ-loDio"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0xpNQ-loDio" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1160437527465672012006-10-09T16:24:00.000-07:002006-10-09T16:45:27.503-07:00Simple For The SimpleJust recently I remembered an amusing - but deep - interaction I had with my Guru Maharaja. I presented him with one of my recurring anxieties in Krishna consciousness, and received an unexpectedly laconic reply.<br /><br />My concern then - as it is now - was that if I were ever able to surrender to guru and Krishna, it would be out of a sense of duty, or perhaps even fear. In what I thought was my most sincere and imploring tone I said "Maharaja, I don't want to surrender to Krishna because of obligation or guilt. I want to surrender out of love and devotion."<br /><br />I suppose I was hoping for him to say something more practical, because I was surprised by my Gurudeva's profoundly brief solution: Ok. You can do that.<br /><br />Shortly after this came to mind, I recalled a similar interaction I had with Jayadvaita Swami. His answer to the same dilemma: Yes. Those are the two options.Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1158156527692141482006-09-13T07:01:00.000-07:002006-09-13T07:08:47.710-07:00Pascatya Desa Tarana Mahotsava<blockquote>"Markine Bhagavat Dharma"<br /><br />My dear Lord Krsna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.<br /> <br />But I guess You have some business here, otherwise why would You bring me to this terrible place?<br /> <br />Most of the population here is covered by the material modes of ignorance and passion. Absorbed in material life they think themselves very happy and satisfied, and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva [Krishna]. I do not know how they will be able to understand it.<br /> <br />But I know that Your causeless mercy can make everything possible, because You are the most expert mystic.<br /> <br />How will they understand the mellows of devotional service? O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy so that I will be able to convince them about Your message.<br /> <br />All living entities have come under the control of the illusory energy by Your will, and therefore, if You like, by Your will they can also be released from the clutches of illusion.<br /> <br />I wish that You may deliver them. Therefore if You so desire their deliverance, then only will they be able to understand Your message…<br /> <br />How will I make them understand this message of Krishna consciousness? I am very unfortunate, unqualified, and the most fallen. Therefore I am seeking Your benediction so that I can convince them, for I am powerless to do so on my own.<br /><br />Somehow or other, O Lord, You have brought me here to speak about You. Now, my Lord, it is up to You to make me a success or failure, as You like.<br /> <br />O spiritual master of all the worlds! I can simply repeat Your message. So if You like You can make my power of speaking suitable for their understanding.<br /> <br />Only by Your causeless mercy will my words become pure. I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates their hearts, they will certainly feel gladdened and thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life.<br /> <br />O Lord, I am just like a puppet in Your hands. So if You have brought me here to dance, then make me dance, make me dance, O Lord, make me dance as You like.<br /> <br />I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krishna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now, if You like, You can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.<br /> <br />Signed—the most unfortunate, insignificant beggar,<br /> <br />A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami,<br />On board the ship Jaladuta, Commonwealth Pier,<br />Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.<br />Dated 18th September 1965.</blockquote>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1153181532931550292006-07-17T17:06:00.000-07:002006-07-17T18:44:40.650-07:00Caste ConsciousnessIn the midst of preparations for yesterday's Sunday feast I wondered aloud: has anyone heard about Radhanatha and Indradyumna Swami's trip to Puri Ratha-Yatra? Just today Bhaktin Jenn - whose enthusiastic willingness to serve the Vaishnavas I greatly admire - sent <a href="http://www.devaswami.com/?q=node/136">this link</a> my way. Devamrita Swami gives all the gruesome details of the recent Ratha festival in Jagannatha Puri.Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1151497295703485392006-06-28T05:17:00.000-07:002006-06-28T05:21:35.720-07:00Param Vijayate Sri Krishna Sankirtanam!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3013/2794/1600/P6033062.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3013/2794/320/P6033062.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sivaramaswami.com/?p=78">More from Sivarama Swami</a> on chanting the holy name.<br /></div>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1151418092286680952006-06-27T07:08:00.000-07:002006-06-27T07:22:26.186-07:00Practical Japa TipsHere's another excerpt from Sacinandana Swami's <span style="font-style: italic;">Nectarean Ocean of the Holy Name</span>. On pages 165 and 166 he outlines eight steps for improving one's chanting. I found them to be quite helpful and thought I would reproduce them here.<br /><blockquote>1. Preparation: make a resolution the day before – “Next morning , I will chant with<br /> full concentration!” Go to be early.<br />2. Start very early the next morning. Chant at a place free of distraction, either in<br /> the association of devotees or at a location which offers you maximum solitude.<br /> If the mind starts to flicker, calm it down with prayer, or try some breathing<br /> exercises. [The most effective practice for those unacquainted with pranayama is<br /> to inhale and exhale deeply. Srila Sanatana Goswami recommends in<br /> Hari-bhakti-vilasa that before chanting gayatri-mantra one should perform some<br /> <a href="http://divyayoga.com/freePranayamTraning.htm">pranayama exercises</a>.]<br />3. While chanting:<br /> a. Chant your rounds fluently without interruption (control your speed in the <br /> beginning).<br /> b. Take care of a clear, distinct pronunciation of the holy names.<br /> c. Keep a straight, upright posture. (It is better to sit upright while chanting; this<br /> posture is in the mode of goodness. To lie down would be in ignorance, and to<br /> walk in passion.)<br />4. Concentrate the mind on the sound vibration.<br />5. Control the mind:<br /> a. Draw it back when it drifts away.<br /> b. “Relieve” it from the past by not delving on what happened the day before, or<br /> the week before, or the year before!<br /> c. Abandon the planning of your daily schedule. (In case the shopping list or<br /> service schedule repeatedly turns up in the mind, one can shortly interrupt<br /> chanting and write down the points; then the mind will be calm again.)<br />6. Try to attain the state of mind recommended in the third verse of Sri Siksastaka<br /> (humility, tolerance, pridelessness, respect for all living beings). This attempt<br /> will succeed if you bear in mind that as the soul you are an insignificant minute<br /> part of the Lord.<br />7. Meditate on the meaning of the holy names while chanting, as it is revealed by <br /> Srila Prabhupada and the previous acaryas.<br />8. Chant with a feeling of longing for Krishna.</blockquote>Here are a few more japa outposts on the web...<br /><br />A <a href="http://www.sivaramaswami.com/?p=77">recent podcast by Sivarama Swami</a> deals with Sankirtan. Maharaja focuses on chanting japa.<br /><br />Umapati Swami just posted some <a href="http://www.umapati.net/node/9">japa tips</a>.<br /><br />Here's <a href="http://www.gopala.org/index.php/2006/05/11/japa">a link to a link to a podcast</a> by Bhurijana Prabhu called "japa therapy", courtesy of <a href="http://www.gopala.org/index.php">Bala Gopal's Mrdanga</a> and <a href="http://www.iskcon.net.au/">ISKCON Melbourne</a>.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">p.s. I'm hoping to add some links to newly discovered blogs in the near future, but with a new full-time job and "summer school" in full swing, it may take some time. </span></span>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1147892557835959162006-05-17T11:49:00.000-07:002006-05-17T12:02:37.850-07:00KC LinksI would like to keep updating the listo'links (at right), but there is so much shtuff out there that it's hard to keep up. I'm sure I'll keep adding notweorthy blogs from time to time, but resources and other links are just too numerous to include all of them. <br /><br /><a href="http://del.icio.us">Del.icio.us</a> is a fantastic solution. The geek in me loves this site, and the hyper-organized freak craves the utility. A couple days ago <a href="http://del.icio.us/acyutadasa">I started a page</a> there to track Krishna conscious websites, articles, video, audio, etc. Take a look, and <a href="mailto:%20acyutadasa@yahoo.com">let me know</a> if there's something I'm missing.<br /><br />I would be seriously remiss if I didn't mention that most of this good stuff comes my way through the websearch-shakti of Bhaktin Jenn. Thanks!Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1147191923590481092006-05-09T09:03:00.000-07:002006-05-09T09:29:36.870-07:00If I Were Sincere...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3013/2794/1600/72288832_f5748e17b2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3013/2794/320/72288832_f5748e17b2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Once again, I'm making my way through <a href="www.saranagati.net/">Sacinandana Swami</a>'s book, <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://krishnaculture.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv+Screen=PROD&Store_Code=KC&Product_Code=NOHN&Category_Code=BSOTHER">The Nectarean Ocean of the Holy Name</a>. In his discussion of the eighth offense ("To consider the chanting of Hare Krishna to be one of the asupicious ritualistic activities...") <a href="http://www.pbase.com/audarye1/sacinandana_swami">Sacinandana Maharaja</a> includes the following quote from <a href="http://www.philosophy.ru/library/asiatica/indica/authors/bhaktivinoda/hc/hceng.html">Harinama-Cintamani</a>. It is a prayer that Haridasa Thakur offers to Lord Caitanya.<br /><blockquote>My dear Lord, my thoughts and my intellect are thoroughly mundane: therefore I simply mouth the names of the Lord. I am too unfortunate to experience the transcendental touchstone qualities of the holy name. O Lord, I beg you to please appear as the holy name and dance on my tongue. I fall at Your lotus feet and pray. If You like, You can keep me in this material world and deprive me of the spiritual sky; whatever You desire, You are free to fulfill. But please let me taste the divine nectar of Krishna's holy name. You have incarnated amongst the jivas to distribute the holy name, so kindly also consider me, an insignificant jiva. I am a fallen soul and you are the savior of the fallen. Let this be our relationship. O savior, on the strength of this relationship, I am begging from You the nectar of the holy name.</blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">*The fantastic picture above is from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/92804554@N00/">Madhva Muni's flickr account</a>. There are many beautiful pictures there. </span><br /><br /><blockquote></blockquote>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1146845680812114712006-05-05T09:13:00.000-07:002006-05-05T09:15:18.376-07:00#24 Kavi - A Devotee Is A Poet<blockquote>"One may serve his country, people and society, the varnasrama-dharma system, the sick, the poor, the rich, the women, the demigods, and so on. All this service comes under the heading of sense gratification, or enjoyment in the material world. It is most unfortunate that people are more or less attracted by such material activity and that the leaders of these activities are accepted as mahajanas, great ideal leaders. Actually they are only misleaders, but an ordinary man can not understand how he is being misled."</blockquote> [Cc. Madhya 17.186 - purport]Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1146243045168906212006-04-28T09:12:00.000-07:002006-04-28T09:53:25.523-07:00Advaita?<a href="http://www.onethemovie.org/">This movie</a> is showing here in Hartford this weekend. At first it struck me as yet another addition to the recent surge of <a href="http://www.whatthebleep.com/">new-agey impersonalist feel-good propaganda</a> that seems to be popping up everywhere recently. On closer inspection I discovered that it features an interview with a certain "B.T. Swami".<br /><br />You can <a href="http://www.onethemovie.org/trailer1.html">watch three previews</a> for the film on their website, two of which briefly feature His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami. In the first preview Maharaja is awkwardly injected into a very crafty and unsettling bit of editing. Taken on its own, his soundbite is realtively noncommital - "fear is like a plague, it's like a disease, and it has its way to infiltrate people's minds" - but taken alongside the barrage of soundbites, it is clearly chosen to give the viewer a distinct impression if not message, as is the rest of the trailer. That impression is nothing new, this is standard fare for the new-age set: no one can really definitively know anything about spiritual reality, there is no conclusive truth, religion is bad, individuals are never to blame, God (or should I say god?) is a vague and indescribable warm fuzzy energy - more or less what you would expect from a film called "One". In the second preview, there are two silent images of Maharaja. In one he appears to be preparing for his interview. In the other, he is shown in a still photo with the filmmakers, flashing that classic radiant smile.<br /><br />I don't know what to say about this, especially before seeing the film. Since the screening this weekend is $10 a pop, and since I'll most likley be out-of-town anyway, I think I'll wait for the DVD. At this point I only know two things: seeing Bhakti Tirtha Swami grinning ear-to-ear like that still gives me a little jolt of ananda, and that the whole talking-soft-and-saying-nothing thing dissapoints me to no end, but always makes me grateful for the True wisdom contained in <a href="http://vedabase.org/en/">Srila Prabhupada's books</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">P.S. You might notice a new moniker down there. Much to share about that, but I'd like to get my hands on some pictures first. Effusive post about my recent initiation ceremony coming soon...</span>Acyuta Dasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041258016431513559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1144780851916668772006-04-11T11:12:00.000-07:002006-04-11T11:40:57.936-07:00Devotees Appear In All Shapes, Sizes, and Species<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6045/1571/1600/Gulab.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6045/1571/400/Gulab.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I'm sure most of you have heard by now, but I feel compelled to say that Gulab Kali, Sri Dham Mayapur's famous devotee elephant, left her body recently. She was suffering from a foot infection that she was ultimately unable to recover from. Read about the details in this series of posts on <a href="http://www.prabhupada.org/rama/">Vaishnava Blog Feeds</a>: <a href="http://www.prabhupada.org/rama/?p=1585#more-1585">post 1</a>, <a href="http://www.prabhupada.org/rama/?p=1594#more-1594">post 2</a>, <a href="http://www.prabhupada.org/rama/?p=1592#more-1592">post 3</a>, <a href="http://www.prabhupada.org/rama/?p=1614#more-1614">post 4</a>. There are lots of pictures included, courtesy of Her Grace Vindavan Lila Devi Dasi. <br /><br />Also, check out the <a href="http://www.chakra.org/announcements/persApr09_06.html">sweet reminiscences of His Grace Vipramukhya Dasa</a>, who had a very special relationship with Gulab. There are some nice pictures of the <a href="http://mayapur.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=2279">elephant procession</a> on the Sri Dham Mayapur website as well.<br /><br />The last time I was in Mayapur I brought Gulab a healthy bunch of bananas, thinking it would be a respectable offering. When I held them out to her, she immediately snatched them from my hands with her trunk and popped the entire bunch into her mouth, seeming to swallow it whole. Perhaps if I had thought about it a little longer I would have realized that offering eight or ten bananas to an elephant is a little like giving someone a single grape and expecting them to be satisfied. As soon as she had devoured my meager offering, Gulab swung her trunk behind me sniffing at my backpack in hopes of something more substantial.<br /><br />While reading the updates on Gulab's passing I found myself quite moved. It is remarkable that devotees can show so much compassion for living entities of all shapes and sizes - after all, we are all spirit souls, regardless of the material bodies in which we happen to reside. However, the devotees glorifications and sincere service to Gulab Kali goes well beyond "<a href="http://vedabase.net/bg/5/18/en">panditah sama-darsinah</a>". Gulab was clearly a very special soul. Not only was she a Dhamavasi - a resident of the transcendental abode of Lord Caitanya - she performed direct and intimate service to Sri Sri Radha-Madhava by personally carrying Their Lordships on her back during Sri Dhama Mayapur's weekly elephant procession. <br /><br />Gulab Kali ki jaya!ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08000092152643803701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18290644.post-1144774843948789282006-04-11T09:50:00.000-07:002006-04-11T10:00:43.986-07:00My Belated Rama Navami PostI have been almost unbearably busy as of late - preparing for my upcoming initiation, alongside with work, school, and daily sadhana - so I've missed a few opportunities for topical posts of various sorts. On Rama Navami I remembered something I'd seen a while back, but never closely investigated.<br /><br />The picture below is a NASA satellite photo of Lord Ramacandra's bridge to Lanka! Read the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama%27s_Bridge">informative wikipedia article here</a>, and follow the links. I for one, what with my skeptical conditioned intelligence, find it heartening to see clear evidence that Lord Rama was an "historical personality", as well as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.<br /><br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6045/1571/1600/adamsbridge-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6045/1571/400/adamsbridge-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08000092152643803701noreply@blogger.com0