Although Srila Prabhupada often quotes Parasara Muni’s definition of God, it’s worth repeating. God is complete in the following qualities: “Six kinds of opulences, namely wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation, are all originally the different attributes pertaining to the Absolute Personality of Godhead.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.19.33) And we also read in Gita: “The word Bhagavan is explained thus by Parasara Muni: one who is full in six opulences, who has full strength, full fame, wealth, knowledge, beauty and renunciation, is Bhagavan, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (BGAII 10.1/purport).

Reliable statistics show that 3000 people per day die in auto accidents and most of the victims are outside the US and Canada, indicating the seemingly irrevocable dependence upon fossil fuels. Wars like the recent Iraqi one, according to some, are fought over oil. It seems strange to a transcendentalist that the most valued thing in the material world is not gold, but a sticky black and thick gummy liquid.

It?s a symptom of the age that people buy water (at least in southern California) more than any other supermarket product. They also buy compressed air in electronic, computer and photo stores/shops.

Strictly speaking, “incarnation” means “in the flesh.” The Christians say, “veiled in flesh the Godhead see,” when speaking of Christ. Sadly, there’s no proper single-word English translation for “avatar.” So we say avatar refers to “one who descends.” It’s our great fortune that Srila Prabhupada left us so many books. These words are incarnations – that is plenary (full) parts ? of God, incarnations in English, avataras in Sanskrit. The message of this thought: read Srila Prabhupada’s books and associate directly with Krsna!

If you thought “metaphysical” meant BEYOND or ABOVE physics or physical conceptions, think again. First, dictionary definitions say “metaphysical” is “the branch of philosophy that treats of first principles,” and that it “includes ontology and cosmology, and is intimately connected with epistemology.” Second, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura writes that “The pastimes of Krsna are not metaphysical…Krsna’s pastimes are full of variegatedness…In the realm of variegatedness, only the eternal pastimes of Krsna are manifest.” (Sajjana Tosani 6/7)

Intimacy should be saved for devotees. One is not to be intimate with others. Reference: “Asat-sanga tyaga,——ei vaisnava-acara, ‘stri-sangi’——eka asadhu, ‘krsnabhakta’ ara,” or, a Vaisnava should always avoid the association of ordinary people. Common people are very much materially attached, especially to women. Vaisnavas should also avoid the company of those who are not devotees of Lord Krsna. (Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 22.87).

In “Sri Bhaktivinoda Vani Baibhava,” page 13, translated by Bhumipati dasa, the question is asked, “What is the harm if one does not worship Sri Visnupriya?” The answer: “If one gives up the worship of Visnupriya, one cannot claim to be a devotee of the Lord.”

Once a leader in the San Franciso Haight-Asbhury of the sixties said to me, “Hey! We’re living in Kah-leefornia.” He thought it was great. But there’s some truth to his feeling. Although the iron age of quarrel is a miserable age in which to live, the Srimad Bhagavatam extols this yuga as being highly conducive to spiritual advancement. HH Hridayananda and company write, “It is stated here (11.5.36) that among the four ages—Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali—Kali-yuga is actually the best because in this age the Lord mercifully distributes the highest perfection of consciousness, namely Krsna consciousness, very freely.” The verse reads, “Those who are actually advanced in knowledge are able to appreciate the essential value of this age of Kali. Such enlightened persons worship Kali-yuga because in this fallen age all perfection of life can easily be achieved by the performance of sankirtana.”

According to Srila Prabhupada, Srila Jiva Gosvami, when referring to the disappearance pastimes of the Yadu dynasty at Prabhasa, “comments on these incidents as magical performances.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.4.3/Purport).

In Vedic times, barter was common and wealth was measured in terms of land and cows. But Srila Prabhupada thought a gold standard was a good idea for contemporary exchange. Unfortunately, the gold standard was degraded to a silver standard and then to a paper standard. One who has vast piles of paper money is considered ‘wealthy.’ In more recent times, however, even such paper wealth has been abandoned for electronic storage and transfers. Trillions of dollars are now exchanged daily worldwide through electronic systems. Major wealth is now only an electronic impulse on a computer disk, invisible to the naked eye.