Spirituality Tips Guides

Two recent articles posted on Dandavats, “Tory Leader to visit Hindu temple” and “20,000 to celebrate Diwali in a blaze of lights,” highlight the urgent need for a revival of preaching. The United Kingdom, especially London, needs innovative methods in preaching to the masses.

I appreciate the effort of the present leadership, and their intentions are commendable. Many Hindus are taking to Krsna consciousness, and this is great. However, there is a misconception that politicians like Dave Cameron visiting Bhaktivedanta Manor or holding a Diwali festival with 20,000 Hindus attending is good publicity for Krishna consciousness. Such activities support the belief that the Hare Krishnas are part of the Hindu religion. In some countries, it may be beneficial to align with the local Hindus for preaching purposes; this is not so in Britain where there is a large Hindu population and Hinduism is just another minority religion.

Dave Cameron is the leader of the official opposition political party. He is visiting religious minority groups to gain support for his bid to become the next British prime minister. His visit to the Bhaktivedanta Manor on behalf of the Hindu population of the country was arranged by the Hindu Forum of Britain, who refer to the Manor as a major Hindu temple in Watford. Such a high-profile leader visits a Hindu temple as part of his political campaign canvassing the minority religions. How much more loudly does one need to broadcast to the population of Britain that the Hare Krishnas are Hindus?

Something needs to be done separately, to address the lack of preaching amongst other groups, mainly the populations whose ancestors’ heritage is from the British Isles. The activities at the Manor should continue, so as not to cause a disturbance. The situation can be beneficial if the devotees there were encouraged to co-operate with financial and utilititarian support for broader preaching.

London is getting much degraded, in my opinion. Young men in their late teens and early twenties take drugs, join gangs, drink alcohol and commit crimes. Even some ten- and 11-year-olds are drifting into delinquency. Their limited vocabulary seems almost an emblem of their limited potential. With little of no parental guidance in some cases, the children look only to each other. Family values seem to be breaking down. I see little hope for these future leaders of Britain except to give them Krsna consciousness. Amazingly, most of these youngsters have not even heard of the Hare Krishnas. Hare Krishna should be a household name. Even in third-world countries in Africa, Hare Krishna is known by the common people.

No material education is necessary to understand the language of Bhakti. Dynamic preaching is needed. I propose a dynamic resurgence of preaching, as during the days of Srila Prabhupada. To the east, west, north and south of London are many boroughs, districts and towns and villages with thousands of streets and millions of people. All are searching for happiness.

To inspire the younger devotees of this country, I propose that the GBC of the UK invite all stalwart, experienced and enthusiastic homegrown devotees — such as Janananda Prabhu, Mahavisnu Swami, Bhakti Vikas Swami, Prabhavisnu Swami, Partha Sarathi das Goswami and others — to head a resurgence in preaching on a huge scale. Partha Sarathi Maharaj — formerly from England, but little-known there, unfortunately — was instrumental in spreading KC through mass distribution to people using innovative methods, such as his tent campaigns in South Africa. His experience is valuable.

Actually, all the devotees I’ve mentioned are constantly preaching in all parts of the world, and they are great achievers for Srila Prabhupada. They have dedicated their lives to his mission. Charity begins at home, and these senior devotees should be encouraged by the GBC to cooperate in taking Krsna consciousness to every corner of London and to reach out to every little street in every part of the country.

Some planning is required. However, it is counterproductive to get tied down with unnecessary meetings, wasting hours of valuable time speaking of strategies, getting anxious and all fired up, but without action. Just reach out and preach. This will surely please Srila Prabhupada.

Chakra.org is a Vaisnava website designed to encourage the growth of devotion, foster critical thinking, and promote communication among Vaisnavas world-wide. Although differences of opinion will occur, we aim to provide a forum for mutual respect among the multiple strands of our community.

Some acquaintances of mine recently told me about how wonderful it was to go to what is known as the “Israeli folk dance” at the local synagogue where people of all ages get involved with this style of dancing. Since I was always shy and not really a dancer and also because I am not Jewish, I was reluctant to attend. They told me anyone could go.

So I finally decided to take a peek one Sunday evening (after the local ISKCON temple program, ironically) to see what it was all about, just as a casual observer. While both locations were religious or spiritual institutions, each had their own unique atmosphere that were gulfs apart in terms of intent and ideology. I’m glad I went because while driving back home I had these incredible realizations that I would like to share with devotees.

I entered the synagogue and to my surprise there were as many as 100 or more men and women of varying ages all participating in a folk dance that for the most part was very lyrical. The choreography and music was very refreshing and something I had never seen before. There were people from many walks of life and faiths. I thought to myself, how interesting. Interesting that this many people can come together and enjoy the social function of just dancing. My mind of course went to Krsna.

I sat down and spent an hour or so just watching the different people dance and suddenly I thought of the “rasa dance” wherein Lord Krsna expands Himself into millions of duplicate forms and dances with millions of gopis and of course, His eternal beloved consort, Srimati Radharani. Everything began to make sense. This is what people need. Dance is the eternal function of the soul in every culture throughout the entire planet since the beginning of time. But this type of dancing was material, temporary, perhaps an ancient memory of the REAL, eternal dance, transcendental in nature.

Israeli dance to me is a strange blend of Greek, traditional Israeli and even Russian dance steps that have a very elegant quality to it. Sometimes it’s fast and modern, sometimes slow and classical. Whereas in modern dance, such as disco, country-western et al the main focus is sense gratification and sex desire, that is, men and women coming together to meet and mate, Israeli dance is somewhat different in that the dancers sometimes form circles and clap and have very unique dance steps. It’s not overtly lusty.

I wondered what Srila Prabhupada would make of all this and we all know that he would look at this from a pure Krsna conscious point of view. Fortunately, I could also. Of course, there were no deities. While the concept of bringing men and women together for such a social event may seem pleasing, it is primarily self-centered, in other words, it excluded the center of attraction, Lord Sri Krsna as the supreme enjoyer.

I then wondered what ISKCON would have been like if Srila Prabhupada introduced this kind of temple worship where, rather than having men and women segregated as opposed to dancing together, would the movement have been more popular? Maybe it would because it would not have seemed like a “strict” religious movement. That is, popular in terms of a place where one can congregate without feeling alienated by institutional constraints.

I then said to myself, no, this was not in keeping with the Vedic conclusions and Krsna consciousness in general and besides, men and women in the temple were eventually meeting and marrying anyway, dancing together or not. This would have gone against the original nature of the temple environment Srila Prabhupada established in keeping with the dictates for practicing pure Krsna consciousness.

Krsna always had to be in the center, else, ISKCON would have degenerated into just another fad, another mundane religion. In fact, what makes Krsna consciousness so unique is that, to my knowledge it is the only spiritual movement that incorporates sankirtana, congregational dancing into their temple worship, whereas other religions tend to concentrate on singing hymns and listening to sermons. If there is dancing and food, it is usually a separate social function for fund-raising etc.

Still, I enjoyed watching everyone dance and drove home feeling a sense of sadness for these souls caught up, as I sometimes am, in the modes of passion when their eternal rasa is to dance eternally with Krsna in Goloka, Vrndavana in the spiritual sky, their only real home. I also sensed that these dancers were very lonely.

Krsna consciousness is not easy. But just as we became Krsna conscious, we must, as Srila Prabhupada often said, “Hope against hope,” pray that one day they will also come to grips with the conclusions of the Vedas and join the progressive march back to Godhead to dance forever in their eternal rasa with Lord Sri Krsna.

Chakra.org is a Vaisnava website designed to encourage the growth of devotion, foster critical thinking, and promote communication among Vaisnavas world-wide. Although differences of opinion will occur, we aim to provide a forum for mutual respect among the multiple strands of our community.

When Krishna was there in Vrindavan as a child he killed many demons. Then he went to Mathura and killed many demons. When he was in Dwaraka he killed many demons and then in the Kurukshetra war many demons were killed by the Pandavas. Now Krishna thought that it was the time for him to disappear but if he would just disappear then his family members could not live without him and they may even destroy the Earth. Thus he thought of sending of sending his family members before he goes as HIS FAMILY MEMBERS COULD NOT LIVE without him and they may even destroy the earth. Thus he thought of sending them before he goes.

After some days Vasudev (Krishna’s father) invited many great rishis - like Angira Narada etc. Had come to perform the yagya. After the yagya when the rishis the rishis were sent away for resting. When they were resting (according to Krishna’s plan), Krishna’s children came there and thought of making fun of them. They dressed Jamvati’s son Samba as a pregnant lady and went to the rishis and asked, “This lady is a baby and she wants to know whether it is a girl or a boy but she is very shy. Can you please tell us who is it?”

The rishis understood that they were making fun of him and thus got angry and cursed them, “a iron club will come out and it will be the cause of destruction of your Yadu clan.”

The children understood there folly and thus asked for forgiveness and they quickly removed samba’sari and really an iron club came out. They were now very afraid and took the club to Ugrasen. Ugrasen himself broke the club into powder and at last a small piece was remaining and they thought it could do no harm and thus through it and all the powder into the sea water.

The powder was brought on the shore by the waves and the small piece was eaten by a fish.

After few days a fisherman caught the fish that had eaten the small piece. When he cut the fish he found the iron piece, he thought it was of no use to him and thus gave it to his friend, the hunter. He made a nice arrow of the iron piece and kept it with him.

The powder which came on the shore grew into many bamboo trees.

Yadu people’s disappearing:

The yadu people got to know about this and thus thought of doing a big yagya for their farewell. Thus they went on the shore of Prabhat Skhetra and performed a big yagya. After the yagya the rishis were fed and were given donations. Then after doing all these things they asked permission to eat. They were given permission and they started to drink the divine wine. After that they started to get angry on each other (according to Krishna’s plan) and the bamboo trees which were grown on the shore were used as their weapons and in some time all of them were killed.

After their disappearance:

Only Uddhava, Vrajranabh (Krishna’s grandson) and the queens were alive. Then after their disappearance of yadu people Krishna was resting under a banyan tree and was thinking how to disappear and Uddhava and Maitreya rishi came there. There Krishna said the Uddhava Gita (Bhagvad Gita) at the request of Uddhava. After that Krishna instructed Uddhava to go to Himalayas and preach to the rishis there. Thus Uddhava went.

Krishna’s disappearance:

The hunter who had made a arrow out of the small piece was once hunting and Krishna was resting under a banyan tree. The hunter from a far distance saw the base of Krishna’s foot which he thought to be a dear. Thus he took the arrow made out of the small iron piece and shot the lord. Afterwards when he came near he was surprised to see the lord himself. He was very grieved and asked for forgiveness. The lord said, “You were Vali in your previous birth and I was lord Rama and I had killed you secretly and you wanted to take revenge. Thus in this birth I am fulfilling your desire and this was all my plan only.” thus saying this lord Krishna went away to his eternal abode, Goloka.

We are not enough pure thus we may think that Krishna died but the truth is that Krishna can never die but for his earthly Lilas he takes birth and dies too like normal people.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant at http://www.KrishnaShop.info/, Hare Krishna gifts and books. Here you will find the timeless teachings of India’s ancient Vedic texts presented by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the world’s most distinguished teacher of Vedic philosophy and thought.

The law of attraction has been around for centuries, however, only recently has it come into the eye oif the world through the book and DVD ‘The Secret’. Once known only ny successful business men and women of our time, and times before us, the law of attraction has become a wide-spread phenomenon, allowing just about anyone to benefit from the vast powers of the universe.

The secret law of attraction works by you believing in something so strongly that it manifests itself into reality. If this sounds like something from the X-Files, just hear me out.

The teachings of the law tell us that no matter what, the universe is with us and for us, waiting to be used to our advantage. To truly harness the power using the law, we cannot focus on what we don’t have or what we need, instead, we need to believe that we will have more in the future. We will have more happiness, more money, more love, and more children. What ever your true desire is in life, you must focus on believing it will come true.

If you focus hard enough, and truly believe according to the law, you will see a change, and you will experience the true joy of the law of attraction working in your life.

Karma fits into this equation because we reap what we sow. What we send out to the world, thoughts of happiness, or thoughts of hatred can come back to us. Karma is basically a manifestation of our anger, greed, unhappiness, or misery. If we create these things,they come back to us.

The law of attraction owes a lot to the Hindu concept of karma and dharma. Karma implies a cause and effect. Each of us is different and hence, contributes differently to our lives. But we ourselves reap the results of our conducts. Good conduct breeds good results. Dharma is relevant to the law of attraction as dharma means purpose in life. Each of us has a purpose in life. The law of attraction speaks to identifying the aim of ones life through self discovery. Hinduism supposes this end to be universal welfare, an extension of the law of attraction.

Ancient Hindu doctrines preached the idea that a persons place in the world is dependent upon his thought and practices. Ancient Hindu philosophies suppose that a persons course of life is determined by his conducts in the previous birth. This implies that if someone had contributed significantly to universal goodness in his past life, they are likely to follow the same path in his next life.

Positive thinking, which is an oft quoted phrase in the law of attraction, also finds its place in Hinduism. One, who is optimist in his attitude towards life, strives for a positive end, whereby he will find happiness. This happiness, according to Hinduism, does not mean wealth or power, but a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of completeness.

Both Hinduism and the law of attraction posit the concept of spiritual unity. Spiritual unity points to mental integrity. The mind should be absolutely clear of its mission and this should correspond in the actions. The mind, according to both Hinduism and the law of attraction, should be able to withstand all external disturbances and remain focused on what it wants to achieve. The means or the ways to attain the end may change in the course of action, but not the end.

Hinduism defines the end as something abstract. It is the success of ones will, fortitude, and perseverance. It does not refer to monetary success, or a gain of power. The success is a state of mind, a sense of fulfillment, a sense of satisfaction. This is what is referred to as abundance, by the law of attraction.

For more information on the Law of Attraction and 100 FREE wealth creation e-books visit Paul Warren’s websites The Wisdom of Wealth.com and mymillionairebuddy.com Also find other articles by Paul Warren at health-information-articles.com

Yoga is currently taking its final exam. Even though this science dates back many thousands of years, it has only recently come to the West. This is where Yoga is being empirically tested.

The Western mind demands results and evidence, if none are produced, the system does not survive. This is a valuable approach and Yoga is currently being put though the rigors of this process. So far Yoga is passing with flying colors. Don’t get me wrong, its not that the East did not expect that, its just that this approach filters out the fraudulent and frivolous methodologies, which might otherwise survive simply because of superstition and fear, and the East is just as happy that this is being done as the West. This scrutinizing process results in separating the stones from the diamonds and the diamond that is Yoga is starting to shine though bright and clear.

Over the last three to four decades a great deal of research has been done by the medical community and they now, more and more, recognize the health benefits of Yoga. Below, I will highlight the top 10 health benefits that Yoga bestows and I hope it will inspire all of you to take up this wonderful practice is some capacity and reap the rich rewards as well.

The health benefits have been divided into 3 categories. The Physical Health Benefits of Yoga, Emotional Health Benefits of Yoga and the Mental Health Benefits of Yoga. A short explanation is given along with each benefit to help you understand better the mechanisms that Yoga employs to bestow it.

Physical Health Benefits of Yoga:

1. Energy: Yoga exercises, breath control training (pranayama) and use of yoga body locks (bandhas) all work to activate and balance your energy pathways, giving you the vitality and power you need to maximize your potential.

2. Strength: By strength here we don’t just mean physical muscular strength, although that will benefit greatly as well due to the steady holding of yoga poses and the exercises that yoga incorporates, but also the strength of your internal physiological systems. Strength of your immune system, nervous system, digestive system, respiratory system, circulatory system, reproductive system, etc.

3. Healing: The power of Yoga to heal ailments and cure diseases is becoming more and more an integral part of mainstream medical practice and treatment methods. This ability of Yoga to heal also promotes longevity.

4. Flexibility: Yoga postures (asanas) are perhaps the best type of exercises you can do to improve flexibility. Flexibility is essential for avoiding injuries as well as for the health of the joints, tendons and muscles.

Emotional Health Benefits of Yoga:

5. Peace: Yoga meditations and practice methodology promotes a greater awareness and appreciation of the present moment, which calms the mind and allows the peace deep within to surface.

6. Joy: With the maturing of a Yoga practice, the beauty and depth of life become more apparent and the spontaneous joy of existence emerges.

7. Compassion: Yoga values and philosophy, along with the practice of yoga meditations, dissolves one’s ego-centric reality, thus developing other mindedness, thoughtfulness, generosity and compassion.

Mental Health Benefits of Yoga:

8. Brain Development: Yoga breathing exercises and yoga meditations develop parts of the brain that are normally dormant. Once these parts are activated the power of intuition, as well as other latent powers are unleashed. In addition as the brain develops so does your intelligence and clarity of thoughts.

9. Concentration: The requirement of many Yoga meditations to keep the mind focused on a single object or mantra (sound vibrations), helps to dramatically increase your power of concentration and focused attention.

10. Awareness: Yoga can simply be called the Science of Awareness. This is its primary purpose. To refine and increase awareness so that you can penetrate the veil of the ordinary dualistic mind and encounter your Divine Nature within.

Anmol Mehta is a Yoga Teacher & Zen Expert. His extensive site, Free Guided Meditation Practice & Chakra Kundalini Yoga Exercises, offers Free Online Kundalini Yoga Kriyas. You will also find articles & lively discussions on the Free Guided Meditation Practice, Kundalini Yoga Poses & Zen Meditation Blog.

“I don’t think people realize just how gentle, considerate, and intelligent these huge beasts are. They need our protection and our love and in return, they will give their very life, their total dedication in service to us. Can anyone say that about a tractor? Does a tractor soften our hearts or teach us lessons of life? Can a tractor show us the interconnectedness of all living creatures on the deepest spiritual and emotional level? From these great animals we can learn all there is to know about relationships and our own false ego and hang ups that keep us from surrendering fully to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and being in harmony with all that is around us.”

One day I was working in our garage when this pickup truck came flying out the lane from Balabhadra’s and stopped in a cloud of dust.

“Do you know who lives at that farm?” the guy asked me.

“Yes”, I replied, and he said”I just spent the last hour in a tree with my friend. A big bull chased us and we had to climb it to escape. He finally moved away a little and I was able to get down and make a run for the fence, but my friend is still up in the tree!”

I looked at him for a while, then asked, “Were you carrying a 5 gallon plastic bucket?”

His jaw dropped and he looked at me in surprise. “How did you know that?” he asked.

The reason I knew was that I had had similar experiences, and had guessed he had been carrying tools in a bucket. I forget why he was out in Balabhadra’s pasture, but it was some legitimate thing, working on a phone line or something, and he needed small hand tools.

While I was still healthy and doing Farmer’s Markets, and Balabhadra was still getting established, we used to clean out his barn in exchange for keeping the manure. I would back down into the barn and Tulasi and I would load 5 gallon buckets with the black gold. Having it in buckets made unloading and applying to the garden easier.

Vraja would come into the barn and be a real annoyance. He would get in the way. He would poke his horns in the buckets of manure and then toss his head. I tried to keep chasing him away but he was very persistent. I actually scheduled runs to the barn at the times I knew he would be out on the pasture where he couldn’t see us. It wasn’t that he was mean, but the chance he would step on your foot inadvertently or swing his head to chase flies and catch you with one of his long horns was a consideration. Mainly though, was being in the way.

Turns out it wasn’t that he necessarily liked hanging out with us; some curiosity was there, but mostly it was the buckets. Balabhadra fed him grain out of one, so he was conditioned to expect some goodies whenever he saw one and would crowd in so he didn’t miss anything. Hence, seeing someone in the pasture with a bucket, he naturally followed them and his enthusiasm for an expected treat had been misinterpreted as aggression. I still laugh visualizing those guys up a tree with Vraja waiting patiently below.

Chakra.org is a Vaisnava website designed to encourage the growth of devotion, foster critical thinking, and promote communication among Vaisnavas world-wide. Although differences of opinion will occur, we aim to provide a forum for mutual respect among the multiple strands of our community.