The sage, the karmi and the typical rishi
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Fri, 2009/12/25 - 3:38amThe story is about a person who scales to the high Himalayas to visit a bearded holy man in a cave. The climber asks, "How can I become a millionaire?" The sage replies, "If I knew the answer to that, you think I'd be living here?" This parable's ostensible message is that renouncers are all misfits and ne'r-do-wells. They inhabit remote retreats because they can't make it in the 'real world'. In short, they're losers. And buried within is yet another theme: holy people should not possess anything of this world.
MASTERING MAYA?
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Thu, 2009/12/24 - 3:37amThere is book out called Mastering Maya Complete 2. It's the name of a software program used for video animation. Here are three phrases from the book's Foreword: 1.
Irreducible complexity
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Wed, 2009/12/23 - 3:36amPart of "intelligent design theory," a modern counterpoint to Darwinian evolutionary theory, is what some biologists call "irreducible complexity." I'm far from a scientist but I wonder if the 'DNA map' for a monarch butterfly can account for its metamorphosis from crawling caterpillar, to cocoon/chrysalis to a beautiful flying insect.
Caesar's wife
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Tue, 2009/12/22 - 3:36amIn Caitanya Caritamrta Antya 3.12 Srila Prabhupada quotes a Bengali verse, which he translates as "Even if I see that Lord Nityananda has entered a liquor shop, I shall not be diverted from my conclusion that Nityananda Raya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." And, along similar lines, Srila Prabhupada has written in letters that 'Caesar's wife must be above suspicion.' This tells us something about the difference between imitation and following in the footsteps.
The cicada
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Mon, 2009/12/21 - 3:34amAmong the many inexplicable "freaks" of nature (Lord Krishna's inscrutable handiwork) are the tiny crickets and cicadas which make deafening noises, sounds that can keep us awake nights -- just by rubbing together teensy-weensy membranes. These are marvels of creation.
Water
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sun, 2009/12/20 - 3:34amHave you ever been dehydrated? I mean REALLY dehydrated? It happened to me one day climbing Mount Baldy in California alone, in the hot summer. I had no water on me, and it was dry as a bone up there. On the way down, I felt a fatigue and a thirst like I'd never known. I thought to rest, but there was no shade, no vegetation - only dry hard dirt, small rocks and little clumps of brown grass. Not a spec of wind nor a tree in sight. And the sun was like an oven that just kept getting hotter. Each step became torture.
Daily Bread
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sat, 2009/12/19 - 3:33amSrila Prabhupada has often warned about seeing God as an order supplier. Frequently he said that the prayer for us to be given daily bread is an elementary form of worship. The phrase, attributed to Mathew in the New Testament section of the Bible, is part of the well known "Lord's Prayer." It goes precisely like this: "Give us this day our daily bread."
Man's "Best Friend"
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Fri, 2009/12/18 - 3:32amIn an arrival address lecture in New York, Srila Prabhupada said this: "Just like in English language there is the word, "If you love me, love my dog." So the spiritual master is the "dog" of God; therefore if the spiritual master is patted, God is very much pleased." The original quote is attributed to Saint Bernard who was born in 1091 (maybe that's how the dog breed got its name?).
Gain the World, but Lose the Soul
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Thu, 2009/12/17 - 3:32amIn Bhagavad-gita As It Is (2.40), Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport, "Or, as the Christians say, 'What profiteth a man if he gain the whole world, yet suffers the loss of the eternal soul ?" The original quote in one translation of Mathew 16:25-26 is written like this: "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"