ISKCON's
official statement on the recent terrorist acts
Dear Maharajas, Devotees and Matajis,
Please accept our humble
obeisances.
All glory to Srila Prabhupada.
Hare Krishna Society condemns Terrorist Violence and Sectarian Hatred.
The International Society of
Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known as the Hare Krishna movement, a
Vaishnava Hindu faith, condemns the terrorist attacks that took place in
Washington D.C., and New York City, on September 11th. We offer
our sympathy and prayers of support to the victims, their loved ones,
and all those affected by these terrible acts.
Horrendous violence between people has become epidemic in today's world.
Now, sadly, the horror of terrorism has struck deeply in America.
While the search for perpetrators of these heinous crimes is conducted,
it is important to not slide into the frenzy of hatred that feeds such
violence. America is a nation of laws, and it seeks to lead the
world by upholding standards of justice and freedom. Remembering
that the actions of a few are not representative of the beliefs of an
entire group, care need to be taken to avoid stereotyping any religious
or ethnic group.
"We pray to the Lord, who is the Supreme Father and Friend of all
humanity, that the hatred, racism and sectarianism that feeds such
violent attacks against innocent people of all nationalities will
cease".
Anuttama Dasa
ISKCON Governing Body Commisioner and Director of Communications.
Date: September 12, 2001
Contact: Anuttama Dasa
ISKCON Communications
Phone: (301)299-9707
Email: icommunications@hotmail.com
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World
Trade Center
Hari bol dear precious Family. PAMHO. All glories unto Srila Prabhupada.
Of course, we are all affected in one form or another by the terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
First of all, I pray on behalf of the souls of the victims of the
heinous disaster, and their families. May the Supreme Lord take care of
them as He so desires. No one knows the plans of the Supreme.
My cousin actually works at the Pentagon, she is a Major in the Marines,
a very young lady, just a year older than me. Fortunately, she was at a
training base in Virginia. Although she did not want to go there, her
mother had encouraged her a while back...thank God Almighty!
An uncle of mine works a few blocks from the World Trade Center. He saw
the buildings crumble to pieces. He could not speak on the phone for
long, naturally.
Thank Krishna, both are fine. But what if? I have been at the top of the
World Trade Center, 100th some
floor, on the balcony...seeing all parts of New York, Hudson River, the
bridges, cars looking like insignificant ants. But, no more. As Srila
Prabhupada says in Bhagavad-gita (pg. 17, Introduction): "That
destination is called the sanatana sky, the eternal, spiritual sky. In
this material world we find that everything is temporary. It comes into
being, stays for some time, produces some by-products, dwindles and then
vanishes. That is the law of the material world, whether we use as an
example this body, or a piece of fruit or anything."
Certainly, these icons of American prowess and business are no more.
That is the nature of the material world.
However, I feel that there is a spiritual awakening in America. I was
talking to Mother Gandhari tonight, and we both feel that same 2 things:
1) Americans are much more together than before, being kinder, more
caring, taking time to care for others due to these disasters. People in
a materially progressive civilization get away from the simple things in
life, which are the only meaningful ones after all.
2) Spiritual Awakening. Certainly, as the Lord says int the
Bhagavad-gita, that one of the four types of mean who surrender unto Him
are the distressed (Bhagavad-gita 7.15-16). No longer can the American
(or anyone else) count on his President to save him from death, for he
can't. No business institution, as fine as it may be, can save a person
from all-impending death.
The demoniac invent novel ideas for killing others...who could've
imagined in one's wildest dreams...commercial airplanes crashing into
buildings and killiing thousands? Terrified and angry, Americans turn to
God to help within. As I was watching the National Cathedral ceremony
from this morning at Balabhadra Prabhu's and Mother Gandhari's house,
Balabhadra Prabhu commented how that was so nice that so many leaders
(President and former presidents, as well as Dr. Billy Graham, a Rabbi,
a Muslim reverend (Iman)) were together at the Cathedral to chant
prayers.
Americans and people all over the world are observing moments of silence
in prayer to the Supreme, lighting hundreds and thousands of candles,
holding prayer vigils, etc. Yes, the Supreme Lord has to be glorified,
for He is our only protector. Ultimately, no one else can protect us but
the Almighty. I feel that the illusion of material prowess has been at
least temporarily crushed, allowing so many Americans to see that God is
light, He is our only friend, and we are all His children.
Sincerely, hardik
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Anarthas
Based on the Srimad Bhagavatam class by HH Bhakti Purushottam Maharaj
Hare Krishna all
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada !
Hope you are all doing well, after such an inspiring / down to earth /
realistic lecture by HH Bhakti Purushottam Maharaj.
I think due to the confusion of the whole week, not everyone were sure
of when Maharaj was coming, etc. And there's been such a communication
gap, and as a result many missed the association of Maharaj ! Hopefully
we'll learn and do a better job next time.
Anyway, I was lucky to be present for the Srimad Bhagavatam class on
Saturday morning (such a pleasant surprise). It was such an awesome
lecture and quite an eye opener. I wish I'd recorded it. But I didn't
know Maharaj was coming and didn't have my recorder. I'll try to
paraphrase, based on whatever I remember. If any of you who were in the
class remember more, please add to it.
One of the main points Maharaj discussed was anarthas. (Not sure of the
verse. But the context was the incident between the king Daksha and Lord
Shiva). By the way, he also gave an awesome narration of Lord Caitanya's
pastimes when he first went to see Lord Jagannath before that
Anyway, he classified the cause of anarthas / obstacles in the path of
devotional service into four:
1. Due to our past bad karma, we might not be in a comfortable position
to perform devotional service. We might not have proper facilities of
food, shelter, economy, health, etc.
2. Due to our past good karma, we might be in a very comfortable
position to serve the Lord, but due to the comfort, we forget the Lord
and hence it is an impediment to devotional service.
3. When we are a devotee, a lot of people respect us. They treat us
well. Praise us, etc. This if not carefully watched will develop ego
within us and it'll be detrimental to our path.
4. Vaisnava aparadh.
Maharaj explained Vaisnava aparadh in detail and described it as the
most subtle form of sense gratification. He was explaining it to be a
more intense sense gratification than sex desire. He gave an example.
You wake up early for mangala arotik
chant your rounds
attend
the deity greetings and by the time you come to the Bhagavatam class
you're kind of tired. And sometimes you slowly dose off
Krishna katha
is going on
but you dose off. But anyway, the class is over and
still you're kind of sleepy. All of a sudden someone says - Prabhu, did
you hear this
This devotee did that
And immediately all your
senses are so active
so full of life
so eager
so full of
concentration and so filled with energy to listen to it and immerse
yourself in it
Vaisnava aparadh is the most subtle form of sense
gratification.
He then explained the stages of anartha vrittih. The stages of getting
rid of the anarthas, as we follow the process of devotional service -
adau sraddha, sadhu sanga, bhajana kriya, anartha nvrittih, etc. leading
all the way to our ultimate goal - prema (I haven't read the Nectar of
Devotion, but you can find this quoted in the purport of 4.10 in the
Bhagavad Gita).
He said there are 5 stages (don't remember them exactly). But the 4th
stage is purna nvrittih (100% free of anarthas). So that's kind of
strange right
We're already 100% free of anarthas, but we're only in
the 4th stage of anartha nvrittih ? This is because even if you're 100%
free of anarthas, you're still prone to the anarthas coming back again.
So when do we attain the 5th stage - the stage we are totally free of
anarthas and also from the interference of anarthas ? A devotee comes
into this 5th stage only after he sees the Lord face to face!!! So this
means, even if a devotee has reached the stage of prema - "the
highest perfectional stage of life", it doesn't matter. Anarthas
can still come in. One is prone to the influence of anarthas until one
sees the Lord face to face !!! And usually after the 4th stage the
anarthas subtley come in as Vaisnava Aparadh. And if not attentively
taken care of, they destroy the whole devotional creeper.
It also reminds me of another lecture of HH Radhanath Maharaj where he
was explaining Vaisnava aparadh. Gossiping was one of the topics he
touched upon. He explained how Prabhupada used to say that Maya cannot
destroy our movement by any external force. The only way our movement
can be destroyed is by Vaisnava aparadh, the way devotees treat each
other and devotees outside our movement.
Anyway, one important point he stressed was gossip and he was explaining
that we should totally abstain from any form of gossip. And then with a
smile he said
The only thing we should gossip about is Krishna
We should read the Krishna Book and gossip on what Sukadeva Goswami
wrote about Krishna
Krishna stole the butter
Krishna went to
Candravali's house
Lord Caitanya left his wife and mother and took
Sannyasa
That is what we should gossip about
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The
purpose of this world
From a lecture by HH Varsana Swami on Haridas Thakur
Setting the scene - This is following the narration of the episode of
Srila Haridas Thakur beaten in 22 market places
"There's many things that could be said about this particular
episode. And some very important theological points to understand.
Haridas did not condemn
did not even consider the activities that
were being launched against him as an offense. Because he could see that
no one can do anything other than what Lord Krishna allows them to do.
And keep in mind Haridas is Brahma, the creator of the universe. He
knows the purpose of this universe. It's not for our enjoyment
It's
not for our suffering
It's for our edification (learning)
The living entities have rebellious nature. They come here with sinful
desires in their hearts. And they engage in material activities rotating
in the wheel of samsara, bound by karma. To try and condemn their
activities is to mis-understand the will of krsna. Because Krishna
sanctions those activities and never cherishes any ill will against any
living entity for the activities they perform. So Haridas prayed,
forgive them for what they did to me, knowing that Krishna was
sanctioning that. But the thing that Haridas did not pray was forgive
them for their ignorance.
Because sinful activities are the result of ignorance. Just impeding
someone's sinful activities will not change the ignorance and malice in
the heart. The heart can be changed only with an appeal to the living
entity's higher judgement. Because when the Lord created the living
entities, he took a great risk. He gave them free will. Which means
along with the option to love the Lord, they also have the option to
rebel against the Lord, which creates so much suffering. But without
that option there will be no question of love, which has to be free. So
for those who do not have love, their heart is filled with envy. Envy is
not a positive quality, but just the lack of love, - which is meant to
fill the heart, when there is a lack of love, that void is filled with
envy and results in sinful activities.
But those sinful activities are not the problem. They are just
symptomatic of the problem. There is only one problem in all the world,
and that's the lack of Krishna Consciousness. So we should not oppose
the activities of the people, we should oppose the ignorance of the
people that leads them to perform such activities.
Therefore Lord Caitanya's movement is a preaching movement and the
essence and basis of the preaching is Sri Harinam Sankirtan, which goes
straight to the heart. And purifies the soul and awakens the dormant
love which displaces all envy, malice and the hatred in the living
entity which is reflection of their envy towards Krishna. That alone
will bring peace and harmony and happiness in this world.
Therefore Haridas, who is the most munificient welfare worker in this
world being the creator of the world, knew the purpose of the world, and
he himself set the example how others should act by trying to help
themselves and others free of this world and go back to our real world
which is our real eternal home
back home, back to Godhead.
Haridas Thakur is teaching us tolerance, which he says is impossible for
one who does not love God. As much as intolerance is impossible for one
who does love God. We never tolerate the tendency towards untruth. We
never tolerate the ignorance that causes envy. But the activities of
envious persons is just a result and those activities are ordained by
God, nothing can happen without the sanction of the Lord.
So to oppose those activities is to oppose the benevolent plan by which
the Lord tries to reclaim the living entities and free us from the
envious nature. Therefore Lord Brahma's movement, Haridas Thakur's
teaching is that we simply engage ourselves in Harinam Sankirtan and
preaching the message of Godhead, centered around the holy name of the
Lord.
So, he was to prove by his teaching and by his conduct that he is not
subject to any worldly suffering. That Haridas Thakur was displaying
those pastimes of being so severly beaten, to induce people in the
absolute truth of what was being taught. Since he had himself attained
all immunity to suffering, he is the proper one to teach us how to
attain all immunity to suffering. This is proved by Sri Vrndavan Das
Thakur as he proclaims that I have no doubt that Haridas Thakur did not
feel any pain, because even when I remember Haridas Thakur I become
transcendent to all suffering, anxiety and pain of this world. So he is
the one for us to properly approach to attain that level of freedom.
If a person in envious and if you stop one activity, if there is no
change of heart, it is going to transform into another activity of envy.
So the Vaisnava doctrine is to go straight to the heart by preaching the
holy name."
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Radhe
Radhe
from Sri Caitanya Caritamrita
Krsnera vicara eka achaye antare purananda purna
rasa rupa kahe more
Once Lord Krsna considered within His heart: " Everyone says that I
am complete bliss, full of rasas.
ama ha-ite anandita haya tribhuvana amake ananda
dibe, aiche kon jana
All the world derives pleasure from Me. Is there anyone who can give Me
pleasure?
ama haite yara haya sata sata gunas sei jana
ahladite pare mora mana
One who has a hundred times more qualities than Me could give pleasure
to My mind.
ama haite guni bada jagate asambhava ekali Radhate
taha kari anubhava
One more qualified than ME is impossible to find in the world. But in
Radha alone I feel the presence of one who can give me pleasure.
mora rupe apyayita haya tribhuvana Radhara darsane
mora judaya nayana
Although my beauty defeats the beauty of ten million Cupids, although it
is unequaled and unsurpassed and although it gives pleasure to the three
worlds, seeing Radharani gives pleasure to My eyes.
mora vamsi gite akarsaye tribhuvana Radhara vacane
hare amara sravana
The vibration of My transcendental flute attracts the three worlds, but
My ears are enchanted by the sweet words of Radharani."
yadyapi amara sparsa kotindu sitala Radhikara
sparse ama kare susitala
And although My touch is cooler than ten million moons, I am refreshed
by the touch of Radharani."
ei mata jagatera sukhe ami hetu Radhikara rupa
guna amara jivatu
Thus although I am the source for the happiness of the entire world, the
beauty and qualities of Radhika are My life and soul.
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