by Shyamananda Das | Dec 27, 2014 | WEB EXCLUSIVE
One day after giving a lecture I was sitting on a wooden bench under a Kadamba tree in the forest, watching a butterfly.It looked such a beautiful creation of God. She was drinking nectar from flower to flower and I was chanting my mantra. “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare” very softly and very peacefully. I felt a million miles away from the city of Mumbai. Suddenly through the iron gates three of our students ran after me. I can practically hear their hearts pounding. One of them told me that this student was just riding in a train and there was a bomb blast. He saw some bodies hanging with blood streaming. There were businessmen and laborers. There were women running with little babies screaming and crying. There were also beggars. There was no differentiation. As they were speaking and explaining this to me, I got a phone call. I ran upstairs and answered. He was one of the leaders of Bhaktivedanta Hospital. He said, “You should see the scene here”. It is horrible. Practically every minute, bodies are being brought in by ambulances, by rickshaws, on people’s backs. All our beds are full and practically the entire floor space of the Hospital every inch is covered with whether injured or dead bodies. This was July eleventh 2006. It was announced officially that 209 people died and about 700 were injured. Thousands of people lost loved ones and millions were terrorized. There were seven blasts in seven trains in a matter of eleven minutes. I reflected and remembered the... read more
by Mukundamala | Nov 27, 2014 | WEB EXCLUSIVE
There are at least 300 books available at your online bookseller dealing with anger. Many of themjust contain pop-culture variety of self-help advice on the dangers of uncontrolled anger. Anger is just one letter short of danger as these experts remind us. Lord Krishna, in the very beginning of the Gita encourages Arjuna to control anger and praises someone who has successfully done it as “a sage of steady mind.” It is quite natural to see many people today disbelieving in religion due to so many speculative theories spread by so-called scholars. These so called leaders take to the shelter of some kind of intoxication, and their affective hallucinations are sometimes accepted as spiritual vision. And after some time the dis illusioned followers become very angry at almost every kind of faith because they got cheated. Another important point about anger is that it is a pollutant. Srila Prabhupada says, “Even if there is provocation one should be tolerant; for once one becomes angry his whole body becomes polluted. Anger is a product of the mode of passion and lust, so one who is transcendentally situated should check himself from anger.” And at the same time it is important for a warrior like Arjuna to exhibit anger while fighting, because one cannot fight without becoming angry. In fact in the beginning of the discourse Arjuna refuses to go to war claiming pity for his opposition and is willing to accept the lowly position of a beggar. During the course of the dialogue Krishna explains that running away is never a good solution because once the battle begins the mode... read more
by Shyamananda Das | Nov 27, 2014 | WEB EXCLUSIVE
The German philosopher Hegel spoke very strongly of the principle “Die to live” which is very much in harmony with the essential knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita and the Vedas. Die to live – if you want to live in truth, you will have to die as you are in your present state of consciousness. Material illusory consciousness is one of exploitation, and real consciousness of the soul is a consciousness of service. Death to the ego is a process; it is the most important process that it is the very basis of all spiritual paths. Just like purifying gold. When you put gold in fire, the fire burns away all the gross coverings, and the longer the gold is in fire, the more its original, natural shine manifests. It becomes more and more and more beautiful. Sandalwood is another example – the more you press sandalwood or rub sandalwood, the more its natural, beautiful fragrance is manifested. From one point of view, we can understand that theoretically we are the eternal soul, part of God. We are eternal servants of God. However, in our life and in the process of purification, in the process of making actual progress, there will be many challenges and obstacles that are threatening and fighting against the principle of what we want to achieve. However, if we, with proper integrity and proper spiritual direction, pass through those obstacles, they bring about realization. There is theoretical knowledge and through the process of overcoming so many obstacles on the path, we develop realization. In order to make progress on the spiritual path, in order to properly... read more
