How to die

Recently, one of my dear friends passed away.  From his obituary:


Dad passed away earlier this month after a short, but brave battle with cancer. There is a great deal I will miss about him - his immense curiosity about the world around him, his wry sense of humor and his great love for people. When we learned that his illness was terminal, we would often sit together in silence. I would attempt, somewhat awkwardly, to tell him how much he meant to me. Dad, not given to excessive sentimentality, would meticulously walk me through all of his paperwork and funeral plans - he insisted that his girls conduct his antim samskaars (funeral rites). As the end came, my mother, sister and I gathered around dad; we held his hands and bid our goodbyes, strangely peaceful in the knowledge that his suffering would cease and that we hadn't left anything unsaid or undone in the end.



As I was searching for things to do at the end of one's life --- practical tips.  I came across this story where the husband leaves the dying wife so she can focus on her duties at the end of life.  Interestingly Bhagavadgita (book followed by Hindus) advises you that "whatever state one remembers at death, that state he will attain without fail.Budhism also says the same. I do not know the recommendations in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. If you know, please advise me.

King Parixit, a famous kind of India, had died listening to Srimad Bhagavatam for the last seven days of this life.

Plan for Modi government

Firstly, I have nothing to do with politics. I am just sharing the thoughts to put a little bit of pressure on the government and to share a perspective.

I hope that the Modi government does not change India's no first use of nuclear weapons policy. China's no first use policy has lots of loop holes. India's and world's interest lies in convincing Pakistan and China also to adopt a strong no-first use of nuclear weapons.

****

The BJP and Modi have been historically claiming to establish a Rama Rajya --- Kingdom of Lord Ram in India. What would be the best way to please Lord Ram? Srimad Bhagavatam 12.3.52 says that diety worship is not prescribed for this age and instead the focus should be on singing the names of the Lord. Thus I would request BJP not to change the status quo at Ayodhaya - the site of the disputed Ram Janmabhumi.  Instead, the focus should be on singing the holy names of the Lord.

One of the hall marks of a Rama Rajya is piety. The higher one is in the social order, they should be more pious. Thus, it is entirely reasonable that every cabinet minister and MP in BJP should be motivated to get up at 4am and meditate on Lord Rama and chant His names for two hours everyday. In addition, they should agree to the four regulative principles laid out by Lord Rama: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication. Mr. Modi should do this meditation for three hours a day as Prime Minister discount.

Our hearts are filled with too much dirt. We need to clean it up. The biggest public service Mr. Modi can do I to motivate everyone to meditate for 30 mins. For that, he needs to be strong in meditation. If Mr. Modi and his ministers and BJP leaders cannot follow the above laid meditation schedule, their claim to establishing a Rama Rajya is just a political gimmick - which it probably is.

****
There these three modes of material nature (sattva, rajas, tamas in sanskrit) goodness (knowledge, thoughtfulness and satisfaction), passion (cravings for pleasure, power and prestige) and ignorance (laziness, intoxication and violence). Transcedence is higher than this mode where people can see with an enlightened vision, their loving relationship with all living beings.

BJP has historically been worried about counting the numbers of Hindus, Christians and Muslims. While the tactics Christians use to convert people to Christianity would be abhorred by Jesus Christ (who preached no intoxication and no meat eating - Thou Shall Not Kill), one should understand that such conversions do not change the modes of a person. A person does not become better and closer to God just because he stamps a new religious affiliation. They will change only when they diligently practice the spiritual disciplines taught by their religion and change their qualities and desires. Unfortunately, superficial religionists, not understanding or practicing the essence of their religion, imagine that they are "saving" others from evil by converting them, while they are yet to save themselves from the evil qualities that have gripped them.

Instead of complaining on the devious tactics resulting in culture-destruction, BJP would do well to understand that the foundational problem is the intellectual lethargy of Indians in understanding their own national legacy. Indians don't protest against attacks on their culture because they don't realize the value of what they are losing.

****
Let everyone understand the value of eating food in the mode of goodness. Let BJP make a lot of sweets and deserts made of milk (doodh peda), offer it to Lord Rama, and distribute to everyone. Everyone would benefit. Even Lord Rama would appreciate it.

I believe this should be the Indian diplomacy to calm Mr. Putin and other world leaders (sb canto 1 chapters 5-6). Sanity and gentleness is the scarciest commodity currently.

****
Education: Modi government should intitute a country wide policy to teach Pranayama in every school. Every class should start with a minute of Pranayama. Every examination should start with a five minute silence/Pranayama. Automatically, the grades will improve.

****
Unfotunately, BJP has used religion for mostly political purposes. BJP would do well to encourage everyone to elevate themselves to Love of God in their own religious path. The problem is that hardly 1% follows the scriptual injunctions of their religion, and are misguided systematically by the mosque, church and temples to interpret scriptures in the mode of ignorance. They are exploiting God actually.

Book review: The American Paradox - Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty

This book is by David G. Myers is among the several books that use telling facts and revealing statistics to examine the reality behind the globally glamorized American dream of the happy life through wealth and sensual enjoyment.
Since 1960,
- the divorce rate has doubled
- the teen suicide has tripled
- the recorded violent crime rate has quadrupled
- the prison population has quintipled
- the percentage of babies born to unmarried parents has sextupled
- Cohabitation (a predictor of future divorce) has increased seven fold.
- depression has soared - to ten times the pre-world war II level.

Has the American dream turned out to be a masked nightmare? What went wrong?

******

My take is that American (and Indians and everyone else) forgot to cater to their mind also in their plans to make life more comfortable to the body. We hardly pay attention to resting and recuperating the most overworked "organ" of the self: the mind.

 If 5% of the society takes up a holistic life style involving eating right foods and 30 minutes of quiet time in a day, we have a much better chance of address problems of the current world. Americans have forgotten compassion.

Profile of a person with extreme allergy cured in ayurveda

On Apr 25, 2014 , "Sudhakar Govindavajhala"  wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
>     [I am probably a quack. Please do not consider this as medical advice. Please think of it as an interesting experience I have had
> that I am trying to understand.]
>
>      I had written earlier about my experiences with Ayurveda; I have
> a few other articles written up on this subject that I will post in
> the future. I am trying to find like-minded individuals who would be
> willing to study the subject so that an informed opinion can be made.
> I write below an overview of a patient who did not have a cure for her
> life-threatening  allergy in modern medicine (Allopathy) and had found
> a cure in Ayurveda.  I am trying to document cases as they come to me;
> please help me write these cases with scientific rigour. This post is
> far from being of the highest scientific quality.
>
>
>         There is this African born lady (probably aged thirty-five) who lives
> in America. I met her at the Ayurvedic health resort a few months ago.
> She grew up as a strong non-vegetarian who used to essentially live on
> frozen pizzas.  Over a period of time, she developed  a series of
> allergies. In the initial stage, she develops allergy to food stuffs
> such as corn, then wheat, potato, rice etc. (not sure of the order).
> Finally, she develops allergy to **all** food stuffs.  In the next
> stage, she develops allergy to water too. She could not eat or drink
> anything. She would throw up if she swallowed. All doctors  agreed
> that she has a serious allergy, but were unable to offer a cure.        She
> is forced to take a large number of intravenous drips, practically
> carrying around an IV drip that feeds her.
>
>         After realizing that the medical system is unable to help her, she
> starts seeing nutritionists to see if they help. She really did not
> find any help. An Indian nutritionist had suggested to her that she
> try Ayurveda.  So, this lady  finds this Ayurvedic center in the
> middle of nowhere near rural Coimbatore. After a therapy over a few
> months she starts being able to tolerate some kinds of food material.
> She had been asked to come back after an year or six-months. Besides
> the therapy, the doctors convince her to eat healthy sattvic food.
> After doing multiple trips, this lady is able to eat normal sattvic
> diet --- effectively curing her allergy.  She has since then been
> eating only sattvic food.
>
>         You kindly ponder over it decide. I am not saying it is a panacea, either. Technically, sattvic
> food is defined as
>
> ayuh sattva balarogya
> sukha priti vivardhanah
> rasyah snigdah sthira hrdya
> ahara sattvika priya
>
> "Foods dear to those in the mode of goodness increase the duration of
> life, purify one's existence and give strength, health, happiness and
> satisfaction. Such foods are juicy, fatty, wholesome and pleasing to
> the heart."
>
>
>
> I write a few of my concerns on modern education below:
>
>     If you ask a modern doctor educated in India about Ayurveda, the
> perception is that Ayurveda is hocus-pocus. While this may be due to
> difficulty of finding a genuine Ayurvedic practitioner, it is
> unfortunate that modern doctors do not take  a balanced view.  It is
> unfortunate that modern  education convinces that our ancestors are
> fools, even though they did not have the latest iPhone.  They are
> atleast as intelligent as us damnit, albeit with the limitations of
> time and place.
>
>
>     Everyone is searching for eternal life, unlimited knowledge, and
> unlimited bliss (sat-chit-ananda). With this aim, people do their
> things, including going to office, watching sports, movies, social
> service, national service, service to society, scientific research,
> reading religious scriptures, undergo austerity as philosophers,
> yogis, bhaktas, etc.  But these goals are only attained when one rises
> above all these pretensions (religion, caste, nation, sex, education,
> etc.).  A prerequisite for such happiness is eating sattvic food and
> compassion. Compassion starts with compassion towards what you eat or
> else it is an opportunistic ego boosting technique.  It is due to this
> lack of purity of food that believers of different religions fight
> even though they are praying to the same God in different names and
> forms/formlessness.  Hardly any modern educational institution has
> managed to teach this important principle of life: purity of food.
> They teach students to find happiness in things external to the body
> than in one's Self.  That is why we have a world where almost everyone
> is unhappy --- roots of a quarrelsome world.  Happiness is inside
> one's self yet people search the whole world for happiness!
>
>
> Effectively, all advancement of knowledge in science, philosophy, fine
> arts, nationalism, economic development, religion and great activities
> are wasted as peace is still evasive.
>
> Sincerely,
> --sudhakar
>
>
> Dr. Sudhakar Govindavajhala
> IITM, B.Tech, 2001
> Princeton, Ph.D., 2001-2006

Delhi rape, values in life

On Dec 25, 2012 1:13 PM, "Sudhakar Govindavajhala"  wrote:
>
> Dear Sir,
>
> Thank you for your note.  I have been pondering about the recent Delhi rape in a moving bus, India, and beyond.  I write the note below with utmost humility with a hope to communicate to like minded people, get some solace and learn from your collective experience.
>
> The most fundamental problem is that we as  a society and individuals have forgotten our values.   These days, for most of the people it is all about sense gratification, money and return on investment. What was Gandhi's return on investment?
>
> I have been taking up charitable activities and social activities for the greater common Good. Somehow my anguish do good and to raise money to support for good causes was not shared by people whose help I seek in the form of their physical labor, intellectual labor, time and money.  That is when I have come to realize that the most fundamental problem is the lack of consciousness and sensitivity on the parts of individuals who make up the society.  Unless the consciousness of individuals and hence society at large changes, despite the economic improvements, the society is bound to degenerate into a society of cats and dogs.
>
> I live in New York and there is economic development and no hunger. However, people are still suffering from depression, insecurity, very narrow definition of happiness, etc.   The official statistic is that 6.7% of U.S. adult population have suffered depression (12-month prevalence); 16.5% being the life time prevalence. Modern medicine is unable to present a real cure. The psychotropic drugs have effect for a few days, then they get you addicted, leading to a need for higher potency drugs and a downward spiral.
>
> I have been lucky enough to have been exposed to Yoga and Meditation. My personal experience and that of observing friends who meditate, gives me the conviction that Yoga and meditation present real solutions of the ills identified above. In particular, it changes consciousness and makes people sensitive. It helps you get rid of one's narrow identities. 
>
> I am collaborating with friends to establish a center of excellence on Meditation and Yoga in New Jersey. I distribute books on meditation to family, friends and public, usually requesting people to make a  $10 donation. I reach out to mainstream white, black and brown people in America on the benefits of Yoga and meditation hoping that they will calm down, look inward, and understand that happiness is not in more physical luxuries, but is inwards --- inside the Self.  When you accost them on the road, they are not necessarily receptive.   So we are keeping Yoga and meditation books in every hotel room in America. It was already successful in California.
>
> It is now I discover how much prejudice people (Indians and Americans) have!  My high flying friends --- from IIT, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, cannot contribute 100$  which would buy 25 books for the project. I guess I have not articulated the return on investment. On the other hand, my team is able to raise 100$ from a person who pushes carts in the grocery store (who would make about 70$ per day). The other day when I was keeping a books table in a fair, the person next to me was able to sell more lottery tickets for prizes worth 50$ than I could sell Yoga, Meditation and other self development books for adults and children.
Btw, by yoga I am not referring to th indian gymnastics you see in commercial yoga centers. A prerequisite for yoga is equipoise.
>
>  A good number of times, my friends somehow believe in science and medicine without proof, but do not want even spend 10 minutes on self-development experiments like meditation. My cousin is spending 20% of his salary on depression drugs for his child. Somehow the 25 year child has time for TV, Internet etc., but not 2 minutes to meditate everyday. 
>
> My friends show me (silly) articles against meditation and Yoga in New York Times, but do not want to try it. Such is the nature of our society and civilization. There is a fundamental degeneration in the society where most of the individuals are after money, and other short term gains. They seem to think that money can buy happiness and health and national independence.  It is a question of time before this system blows up into a society of cats and dogs.
>
>  I believe that the fundamental problem lies in the educational system and we individuals.  That is natural because the system is made by people who do not have a sufficient understanding of a holistic way of life.
>
>
> However, on a positive note, I do meet individuals in New Jersey who understand this degeneration and live like Yogis despite their professional activities and family responsibilities.  My Guru gets up 2.30am to meditate! I spend 3 hours a day despite professional and family responsibilities.  There is a need for the Elite to understand that they have been blessed with a comfortable life so they could lead people and themselves to a better way of life.  Once you lead a holistic way of life, you can convince your friends --- the Elite --- of the same. Then, you can convince the public policy stakeholders and such.
>
> Please do not sacrifice the development of the Self for the sake of materialistic gains. Economic gains are meant to support Self-development, not eclipse it.  Please ponder over this.  Thank you for your consideration. Please advise me.
>
>
> Sincerely,
> --sudhakar
>
> Dr. Sudhakar Govindavajhala

Darwin Theory, Synthetic Life

It took me some time to realize that there is no contradiction between Darwin's theory of evolution and "God books".  Let me explain it here.  Darwin's theory can be summarized as 1) life came from molecules in a primordial soup, and 2) life forms evolve from one to another by "survival of the fittest".  Notably, Darwin theory and biologists do not explain the mind, consciousness and "esoteric" phenomenon like soul's reincarnation. On the other hand, Ian Stevenson has done a lot of work providing evidence (not proof) for reincarnation.  Should the reincarnation theory be proved right, Darwin's theory is no where close to explaining it. Neither is Darwin and the biologists any close to explaining consciousness and kids performing outstanding feats:

- a 1.5 and 4  year olds giving an authentic dance performances
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXTGMCKNkUI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lsfwnz2ltk
- 5 year boy displaying good knowledge of planes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk7biSOzr1k


The fundamental postulate of Darwin's theory and modern science that life came from molecules has not been verified. Neither are the scientists any closer to verifying it in my life-time.  Craig Venter is probably the leading biologist today trying to create life in a test tube. But his attempts have been far from being successful. He has managed to take DNA from an existing cell and modified it to get a new DNA with required properties. Then, he plants the new DNA into cytoplasm of an existing cell (after removing its DNA).  This cell, then replicates.  It is important to note that cytoplasm of the existing cell has been reused.   I had read the paper a while ago and unable to find it now to cross check/reference.  If I remember correctly, even the DNA was not completely chemically synthesized.

The following quote from Craig Venter in the Wall Street Journal article is very telling:
'Kornberg did not create life in a test tube, nor did we create life from scratch. We transformed existing life into new life. We also did not design and build a new chromosome from nothing. Rather, using only digitized information, we synthesized a modified version of the naturally occurring Mycoplasma mycoides genome. The result is not an "artificial" life form. It is a very real, self-replicating cell that most microbiologists would be unable to readily distinguish from the naturally occurring counterpart without the aid of DNA sequencing.'


Thus, Craig Venter's research does not in anyway invalidate the theistic perspective that creating life in a test tube in impossible. The living entities are supposed to be distinct from the chemical elements.  Bhagavadgita 7.5 explains it: "Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature."

The venerable Srimad Bhagavatam explains this as: "When the cosmic creation is manifested, the living entities are directly supplied from the Lord; they are never products of material nature. Thus, no scientific advancement of material science can ever produce a living being. That is the whole mystery of the material creation. The living entities are foreign to matter, and thus they cannot be happy unless they are situated in the same spiritual life as the Lord. The mistaken living being, out of forgetfulness of this original condition of life, unnecessarily wastes time trying to become happy in the material world. The whole Vedic process is to remind one of this essential feature of life. The Lord offers the conditioned soul a material body for his so-called enjoyment, but if one does not come to his senses and enter into spiritual consciousness, the Lord again puts him in the unmanifested condition as it existed in the beginning of the creation."

Note that the above theistic statements still allow a monkey body to transform to a man body.

Modern psychology has a lot to desire

I have deep problems with basic premises of modern psychology that I outline below.The Oxford English Dictionary defines psychology as "the science of the nature, functions, and phenomena of the human mind (formerly also of the soul)".

I was introduced to modern psychology at an age of 19 at IIT. Modern psychology discuses the conscious and the subconscious.  It postulates that all conscious thoughts are driven by the subconscious and that
the subconscious is mainly motivated by sexual desires and oral gratification (used very broadly) due to feeding on one's mom as an infant.  Thus, the fundamental premises of Freud and psychology are that all our wants are desires for sexual and oral gratification.  This is a very primitive view of the mind. We are not just animals, but we are thinking beings. Honestly, it is knowledge that gives me highest satisfaction compared to the baser elements that form the basis of modern psychology. I suspect it is the same with you; that is the reason you are reading this note.

More importantly, the utility of the modern psychology is muted. The biggest enemies of the mind that prevent it from higher pursuits of knowledge and intellect are lust, anger, delusory emotional attachment, hubris and envy  (kama, krodha, lobha, moha, madha and matsarya in Sanskrit).  Modern psychology has neither the understanding of these nor the ability to tame these enemies of the mind.   Modern psychology does not in any way give you tools to concentrate better in your studies, endeavors, live a more holistic life, develop universal compassion etc.   Indian sages enmasse have understood that the solution to all these problems is Hindustani and Carnatic music (and Mozart and Beethoven). My simple and unsophisticated grandmothers understood this; modern psychologists do not even have the humility to accept this!   Please note that this failure to help individuals at an individual level  translates into a 15% depression rate in USA (source: US National Institute of Health)


Modern psychology has no rational explanation for gifted kids doing intellectual miracles:
- Small boys able to grasp or create PhD math at age 15.
- a 1.5 and 4  year olds giving an authentic dance performances
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXTGMCKNkUI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lsfwnz2ltk
- 5 year boy displaying good knowledge of planes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk7biSOzr1k


While there have been limited successes in treating certain psychological disorders, the theories are dissatisfying. The major accomplishment of modern psychology is to convince the elite that life is all about sexual and oral gratification and thus encourage behavior where the enjoyment is very much transient, to the overall detriment of intelligence in the individuals that results due to unrestricted sexual and oral gratification. Intelligence is not the same as making money and a living.  In India, my parents would not allow us to watch movies or television during examination!  Our parents were concerned that our intellectual faculties were stunted.

Is this all despair?  No.   Indian sages have done a wonderful job of studying the mind. They went on to explore states of super-consciousness that are not even understood or acknowledged by modern psychology or medicine. One example state of super-consciousness is the ability to control our heart beat rate.  I have heard of anecdotes of  45. I have heard of zero and back to normal.   Have any of you watched Asthavadhana or Sathadavana?  These are interrupted questionings by eight and hundred people respectively. (A month ago, my mother witnessed Ashtavadhana by 11 year olds.  Which kid in our IIT community can do this?).    In summary, there is bigger reality than what our environment at IIT/Princeton have taught us.  Pursue it!

The nature of the mind has been explained very well in Indian classics, especially Srimad Bhagavatam. Please read and enjoy them.  Hopefully it will make you and your environment more happy.

The Selling of Attention Deficit Disorder

Recently, I had to take a ten year old nephew to doctor for his regular medical checkup with his pediatrician.  The doctor asked us for symptoms of ADHD in the kid and somehow the doctor suggested that we could send the kid to a neuro-doctor (neurologist?) for further evaluation. When I asked the doctor as to what the future course of evaluation would be, he said that we may medicate with appropriate psychotropic drug depending on the evaluation. I found this very weird as the kid is quite normal for his age.  And I have seen kids of his age meditate and this kid is favorably inclined to yoga and mantra meditation. Why would the doctor not want to try alternative therapies prior to medicating? It is sickening that doctors are obsessed with over-medicating. I came across this article in NY Times where even an expert on ADHD is appalled.

“The numbers make it look like an epidemic. Well, it’s not. It’s preposterous,” Dr. Conners, a psychologist and professor emeritus at Duke University, said in a subsequent interview. “This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.”

Lack of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness.

As each day progresses, the world is getting a to be more difficult place to live in. More environmental damage, sectarianism, threats of a nuclear war and terrorism rise.  United Nations, Governments, Non-governmental organizations have failed to make a significant impact. That is partly because they have not diagnosed the problem correctly.    In Srimad Bhagavatam, King Parikshit does a great job at analyzing the underlying problem and provides a solution. Even an atheist has something to learn from the book, what to speak of believers of different faiths?


http://vedabase.net/sb/1/17/24/

In the age of Satya [truthfulness] your four legs were established by the four principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. But it appears that three of your legs are broken due to rampant irreligion in the form of pride, lust for women, and intoxication.

The deluding energy, or material nature, can act upon the living beings proportionately in terms of the living beings' falling prey to the deluding attraction of maya. Moths are captivated by the glaring brightness of light, and thus they become prey to the fire. Similarly, the deluding energy is always captivating the conditioned souls to become prey to the fire of delusion, and the Vedic scriptures warn the conditioned souls not to become prey to delusion but to get rid of it. The Vedas warn us to go not to the darkness of ignorance but to the progressive path of light. The Lord Himself also warns that the deluding power of material energy is too powerful to overcome, but one who completely surrenders unto the Lord can easily do so. But to surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord is also not very easy. Such surrender is possible by persons of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. These four principles of advanced civilization were remarkable features in the age of Satya. In that age, every human being was practically a qualified brahmana of the highest order, and in the social orders of life they were all paramahamsas, or the topmost in the renounced order. By cultural standing, the human beings were not at all subjected to the deluding energy. Such strong men of character were competent enough to get away from the clutches of maya. But gradually, as the basic principles of brahminical culture, namely austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness, became curtailed by proportionate development of pride, attachment for women and intoxication, the path of salvation or the path of transcendental bliss retreated far, far away from human society. With the progression of the age of Kali, people are becoming very proud, and attached to women and intoxication. By the influence of the age of Kali, even a pauper is proud of his penny, the women are always dressed in an overly attractive fashion to victimize the minds of men, and the man is addicted to drinking wine, smoking, drinking tea and chewing tobacco, etc. All these habits, or so-called advancement of civilization, are the root causes of all irreligiosities, and therefore it is not possible to check corruption, bribery and nepotism. Man cannot check all these evils simply by statutory acts and police vigilance, but he can cure the disease of the mind by the proper medicine, namely advocating the principles of brahminical culture or the principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. Modern civilization and economic development are creating a new situation of poverty and scarcity with the result of blackmailing the consumer's commodities. If the leaders and the rich men of the society spend fifty percent of their accumulated wealth mercifully for the misled mass of people and educate them in God consciousness, the knowledge of Bhagavatam, certainly the age of Kali will be defeated in its attempt to entrap the conditioned souls. We must always remember that false pride, or too high an estimation of one's own values of life, undue attachment to women or association with them, and intoxication will divert human civilization from the path of peace, however much the people clamor for peace in the world. The preaching of the Bhagavatam principles will automatically render all men austere, clean both inside and outside, merciful to the suffering, and truthful in daily behavior. That is the way of correcting the flaws of human society, which are very prominently exhibited at the present moment.

Scriptual injuctions on meat eating in Hinduism and Islam

I got this from a book Islam and the Vedas written by Rasamandala Das:

The Vedic literatures allow animal slaughtering for those who are too much attached to meat eating. Among the thirty three million gods that the Vedas describe, flesh can be offered only to Kali Ma. She, however, does not partake of the remnants, but distributes them to her associates who have demoniac forms. Other gods totally refuse any meat offering. The Koran shares a similar idea. "It is not the flesh and blood that reaches Allah, it is your sanctities that reaches Him [Koran 22:37]". The Vedic literatures, however, do not sanction the mass slaughter of animals as seen in modern slaughterhouses. There are many rules and regulations stipulated in the process of sacrificing animals. Once a month on the night of the full mon, a goat may be sacrificied. Prior to slaughter, he is required to say a prayer allowing the animal kill him in the next birth. The slaughtered animal cannot be sold to others. one is not allowed to buy meat from a butcher. At present, most animals are killed in slaughterhouses. Such killing is most sinful because it is done as a business, without taking into consideration religious rites given in scripture.

The mystic, knowing that God resides within all bodies wherein there is life, never indulges in meat eating. he is a friend to all. The following Koranic verse states that within the living body of animals is the soul: "Jesus created from clay the form of a bird and by His permission, he breathes into it, and it became a flying bird [Kiran 5:110]".

Islam also recommends sacrifice under certain rules and regulations. The person who holds the animal and the person who slaughters it, have to observe the ritual of praying five times a day. They have to perform their ablutions, feed water to the animal and turn the head of the animal in the directon of Mecca. The person who slaughters the animal must look into the eye of the anmal; recite a prayer in Arabic known as Kalema before cutting it's neck. While cutting, he has to continually look into the eyes of the animal until its soul departs and repeat the Kalema all the while. After cutting the neck, he has to keep looking into the animal's eyes and watch his years until it dies. Clearly, the purpose behind all these rules is to change the heart of the man who is slaughtering the animal, hoping that one day; he will develop compassion for the animal and stop this killing business.

From the above description, one has to realize that animal sacrifice is a risky business. Although the Vedic literatures allow meat eating under certain rules and regulations, they do not recommend it. For one who is a serious believer, meat eating hinders one's spiritual advancement. Meat eating is contradictory to the idea of realizing God within all living beings.

For the true benefit of everyone, vegetables, grains, fruits and milk are the proper foods for human beings. Eating is an essential activity for the human being for the maintenance of the body. To be healthy, it is not necessary, or even beneficial, to eat non-vegetarian food. As early as 1961, the Journal of American Medical Association stated that ninety to ninety-seven percent of heart disease, the cause of more than one half of the deaths in the United States, could be prevented by a vegetarian diet. In his notes on the Causation of Cancer, Rollo Russell writes: "I have found of twenty-five nations eating flesh largely, nineteen had a high cancer rate and only one had a low rate , and that of thirty-five nations eating little or no flesh, not one had a high rate."

Many animal are herbivores, they don't eat meat. Human beings have the superior intelligence to understand that all the varieties of foodstuffs that are available to him are the most merciful arrangement of God. One who takes his food, without first acknowledging that it is God who supplies all our necessities of life, eats only sin. As blood and flesh do not reach Allah [Koran 22:37], all scriptures of the world recommend that vegetarian foodstuffs should be offered to God.  "If one offers Me with love devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it [BG 9:26]".  Offering vegetarian foodstuff to God is a process that nourishes the soul, promoting compassion and dedication to God in the heart of the living being.  An example supporting vegetarianism is also presented in the Koran. For instance, the Lord gave the Children of Israel sanctified vegetarian foodstuff, but they asked for non-sanctified good mixed with onion and garlic. And they are were covered with humiliation and subject to miseries.  "One day they aid, 'O Moses, we cannot endure one kind of food; ask your Lord to give us what the earth grows, of its herbs, cucumbers, garlic, lentils and onions." Moses said: 'would you like to exchange what is good with what is bad? Go then to the city and you shall have what you ask. They were covered with humiliation and misery, earning the wrath of God, for they disbelieved the word of God [Koran 2:61]".

Eating sanctified vegetarian food that is prepared for the pleasure for the Lord is a very simple method for reviving one's relationship with God. That is the sum and substance of the Vedas, The ultimate purpose of the Vedas is to know Him only. One may argue that the Vedic activities are based on sacrificial ceremonies. That is true. But all such sacrifices are meant for realizing the truth about about the Supreme Lord. The Lord says "All that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me [BG 9.27]". One who first offers his prepared vegetables, fruits, grains and milk to God is released from all sins. "The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice, Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin [BG 3:13]"  Beyond the concerns of health, the offering of vegetarian foodstuffs to God has a higher spiritual dimension that can help one develop his natural relationship for God. One who reawakens his eternal relationship with God becomes a true mystic, a friend to all living beings.

Meat makes our planet thirsty

Most of us want to help the environment, help reduce water scarcity etc. It turns out that for meat-eaters, the simplest way to do this is to convert one (extra) day into a no-meat day. I hope this article convinces a few people to try becoming vegetarian for one more day in a week. I will write in the future about how humans are biologically NOT made for meat-eating and compromise their physical, mental and spiritual health via meat-eating.


Original Slashdot link

Root article in New York Times

Scholarly article on water footprint of farm animal products

"Mames McWilliams writes in the NYT that with California experiencing one of its worst droughts on record, attention has naturally focused on the water required to grow popular foods such as walnuts, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, almonds and grapes. 'Who knew, for example, that it took 5.4 gallons to produce a head of broccoli, or 3.3 gallons to grow a single tomato? This information about the water footprint of food products — that is, the amount of water required to produce them — is important to understand, especially for a state that dedicates about 80 percent of its water to agriculture.' But for those truly interested in lowering their water footprint, those numbers pale next to the water required to fatten livestock. Beef turns out to have an overall water footprint of roughly four million gallons per ton produced(PDF). By contrast, the water footprint for "sugar crops" like sugar beets is about 52,000 gallons per ton; for vegetables it's 85,000 gallons per ton; and for starchy roots it's about 102,200 gallons per ton.

There's also one single plant that's leading California's water consumption and it's one that's not generally cultivated for humans: alfalfa. Grown on over a million acres in California, alfalfa sucks up more water than any other crop in the state. And it has one primary destination: cattle. 'If Californians were eating all the beef they produced, one might write off alfalfa's water footprint as the cost of nurturing local food systems. But that's not what's happening.Californians are sending their alfalfa, and thus their water, to Asia.' Alfalfa growers are now exporting some 100 billion gallons of water a year from this drought-ridden region to the other side of the world in the form of alfalfa. 

Beef eaters are already paying more. Water-starved ranches are devoid of natural grasses that cattle need to fatten up so ranchers have been buying supplemental feed at escalating prices or thinning their herds to stretch their feed dollars. But McWilliams says that in the case of agriculture and drought, there's a clear and accessible actions most citizens can take: Changing one's diet to replace 50 percent of animal products with edible plants like legumes, nuts and tubers results in a 30 percent reduction in an individual's food-related water footprint.Going vegetarian reduces that water footprint by almost 60 percent. 'It's seductive to think that we can continue along our carnivorous route, even in this era of climate instability. The environmental impact of cattle in California, however, reminds us how mistaken this idea is coming to seem.'"

Adam, Eve and the Forbidden Apple

When I was a child, my mother told me that Adam, and Eve ate the forbidden Apple and thus fell down from the Kingdom of God to the earth. But, I never understood it.  Srimad Bhagavatam 2.9.1 explains it:

The answer is that the Lord clearly wishes that every living entity be in his pure consciousness as a part and parcel of the Lord and thus be engaged in the loving service of the Lord as he is constitutionally made; but because the living entity is partially independent also, he may not be willing to serve the Lord, but may try to become as independent as the Lord is. All the nondevotee living entities are desirous of becoming equally as powerful as the Lord, although they are not fit to become so. The living entities are illusioned by the will of the Lord because they wanted to become like Him. Like a person who thinks of becoming a king without possessing the necessary qualification, when the living entity desires to become the Lord Himself, he is put in a condition of dreaming that he is a king. Therefore the first sinful will of the living entity is to become the Lord, and the consequent will of the Lord is that the living entity forget his factual life and thus dream of the land of utopia where he may become one like the Lord. The child cries to have the moon from the mother, and the mother gives the child a mirror to satisfy the crying and disturbing child with the reflection of the moon. Similarly, the crying child of the Lord is given over to the reflection, the material world, to lord it over as karmī and to give this up in frustration to become one with the Lord. Both these stages are dreaming illusions only. There is no necessity of tracing out the history of when the living entity desired this. But the fact is that as soon as he desired it, he was put under the control of ātma-māyā by the direction of the Lord. Therefore the living entity in his material condition is dreaming falsely that this is "mine" and this is "I." The dream is that the conditioned soul thinks of his material body as "I" or falsely thinks that he is the Lord and that everything in connection with that material body is "mine." Thus only in dream does the misconception of "I" and "mine" persist life after life. This continues life after life, as long as the living entity is not purely conscious of his identity as the subordinate part and parcel of the Lord.

In his pure consciousness, however, there is no such misconceived dream, and in that pure conscious state the living entity does not forget that he is never the Lord, but that he is eternally the servitor of the Lord in transcendental love.

Yoga is the best form of environmentalism

HH Radhanath Swami speaks on Yoga and Ecology. Transcript below:


It brings to mind a story that took place some years ago. I was sitting in the New Delhi airport at the gate waiting for my flight, minding my own business. I had just given many lectures and sometimes being at an airport you get to rest a little bit as you don't have to talk to people so much. But, just then somebody approached me and said that mister for the federal government of India for environment and forestry was sitting nearby and she wanted to speak to me.




I said I will be happy to speak to her. So, she sat in a nice little plastic seat beside me
and after some very gracious and cordial interactions, the voice raised and she said what are you Yogis and Swamis doing for the environment. The rivers are polluted, the air is polluted, the earth is polluted, the oceans are polluted, its poisoning with toxins the whole human civilization. Animals are becoming extinct due to the way we are exploiting mother nature. And you are sitting in your ashrams and in your  holy place chanting you mantras, meditation and doing yoga asanas. What are you doing for the environment?



I was thinking, I really don't need this.  But I had to say something. I shared my thoughts. If there is a disease in the blood of a person's body, it may have the symptoms of boils. It is important to treat the boils ...  but at the same time, we should address treating the root cause of the problem. Otherwise, you keep curing one boil after another boil after another, but to keep growing again and again and again unless we address the disease in the blood.

What is the root cause of the pollution within in the world? It is pollution in the ecology of the human  heart. People's hearts are polluted by toxic greed and egotism. Greed intoxicates.  The more it gets, the more it needs. It hardens the heart. Justifies cruelty. Induces envy. It divides families. Provokes wars. And greed blinds us about our real self-interest. Unless we address that problem, everything we do is cosmetic. Whatever change we make in the outward world only has sustainability to the degree that these changes are paralleled within our hearts.

Yoga is the science of cleansing the heart and tasting the  joy of living in harmony with God, with other living beings, with nature. I said to this minister that I can assure you that even if you clean every river and every ocean and every grain of ground in the whole sky, if it's not paralleled with the cleaning the values in the human heart, all this pollution will all come back again and again and again. When she heard this, she was very happy and said yes, we should work together.

Perfection in retirement

Over a period of time, I find solace in the teachings of the sages of India as they really answer the hankerings of the heart and provide a solution to our worldly problems.  India is indeed the cream of human civilization!

On May 4, I had met a true representative of Indian culture in New Jersey and wanted to share it with you.  Mr. Vaasudev is a 72 year old gentleman and is visiting NJ for ten days from Vrindavan. I am guessing he will visit other parts of America also. He used to run a business in the Rajasthan state of India but gave it up to his son. He is a half-renunciant (vaanaprastha).  He talked about the Indian culture of the Indus Valley Civilization. He talked about how to deal with the most difficult time of life: one's death. He talked about summary of Indian philosophy: the mind, body and soul/self being three different entities..    This simple man seemed to have good answers to most of worlds problems: meditate, vegetarian food, no gambling, illicit sex, no intoxication.


He was talking of Srimad Bhagavatam. The stories were nectarean.  "pibata bhagavatam rasamalayam" --- "drink bhagavatam --- the temple of nectar".


Usually I get a kick in supporting universal love and compassion in India and abroad. So I and my friends tend to give small monetary donations to saintly persons when we meet them. Such people come, and do a whirlwind tour of various families where they talk and about hundred people gather.  Today, the host offered him a new cloth to wear: a dhothi. This person refused money and dhothi saying that as a policy he does not take anything from anyone as he is doing this for your love and love of Indian sages. He said he was just happy with good home food cooked with love and the love he gets from us. He said he was just happy that our American born kids seem to have essential Indian values: faith in the sages of India and elders; especially when people in India seem to have lost them.


I and my boys paid respects to his feet outdoors as he was leaving. Two Christian missionaries near by were amused and engaged me in a discussion.  The missionaries and I had a healthy discussion about these Indian values, Jesus preaching non-violence in the commandments, reincarnation etc. I gave them a 60 page book summarizing these.

The typical old people in my circle either retire to a comfortable life or do some charity in helping people find a job, education etc. My circle does not understand that it is dharma (righteous living) which is the most important principle in life. Without dharma, society just disintegrates as it is happening around the world.

I felt like this old man Mr. Vaasudev was teaching perfection of life: being an ambassador of Indian values without any monetary expectation. I pray that I grow up to be like him rather than just gratifying myself.


The topic of death was chosen because it is the only certainity in life and some of the people were elderly. My friend hosted this person at his home in honour of his father's 84th birthday today.


Mr. Vaasudev did ask for Guru-Dakshina (remuneration) for his efforts: give up meat-eating, intoxication, and increase the period of meditation.  He was able to get a about twenty people to either commit to starting meditation or increase their time per day.

Reincarnation: Four year old girl demonstrates knowledge of a place she ha

I came across this mail from Godbrothers PrabhaVishnu.  This mail talks of reincarnation. The person who wrote the story is a person of high spiritual values. I believe that he wrote it truthfully to the best of abilities. He is required to do mantra meditation for 2 hours and do austerities (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling, no intoxication) to be a part of my society and its mailing list.  So quite legitimate story. I do not know how to find more trustworthy people.

Ramananda Raya is a white-bodied person living in Europe. He comments: "This reminds of our Godsister Ratnavali in London and the many reincarnation stories which small kids are teaching to the faithless. Thank you very much for posting your grandpa eccstacies!"

Got the note below on  30 November 2013:
>> A few nights ago we experienced one of the worst thunderstorms in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a real humdinger, and shook the residents quite badly, as hailstones bigger than marbles but lesser than golf balls, pelted down from the skies. News reports showed the devastation that was caused in many areas as the hail tore through the tiles and dislodged and flattened ceilings in many homes, inundating several areas with floods.
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>> We didn’t experience much damage but rain did seep into some parts of the house.
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>> My grand-daughter Isha, who is 4 years old, rose very early the next morning and accompanied me to assess the damage in the yard. Thousands of leaves and small branches were littered everywhere, and just two roses, a brilliant red and an absolutely beautiful pink, survived the onslaught. They were for our morning offerings to Sri Sri Radha Krishna.
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>> I got an assistant to help me check the roof and gutters, and was amazed to find hailstones as high as 20cms frozen in some gutters. They were rock solid so we tried some different means to dislodge them before the next rain. Isha, of course, was really excited and collected a packet full to show to her sisters when they returned from school.
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>> And then began her questions.
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>> Isha: “Aja, (grandfather), is Lord Indra very angry with us?”
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>> Aja :  “No, he’s just angry with some naughty people.”
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>> Isha:  “But I’m not naughty; not very naughty.”
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>> Isha:   “Did he send the same kind of rain on Govardhan Hill?
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>> Aja :   “No Isha. That was a terrible rain. He was angry with little Krishna, and wanted to harm him.
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>>               He also wanted to harm the people who lived in Vrndavana.”
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>> Isha:   “But WHY Aja? They are so nice people.”
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>> This was followed by a long explanation, and discussion of the Lord’s pastime of lifting Govardhan Hill.
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>> Isha loves dancing and showing various poses, and as I was talking she was acting bits here and there.
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>> And then she struck the pose of the Lord holding up Govardhan Hill, very beautifully I must say, and asked me a question.
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>> Isha:    “Aja, Krishna was holding Govardhan Hill for so many days, then how did He play His flute?
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>> He plays His flute every day. I don’t know how He did that.”
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>> Well neither did I! I was stuck there. Try explaining to a 4 yr old that Krishna can do anything, and she will dramatize and show you that He just can’t play the flute with one hand. Perhaps you can help me with this.
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>> And then, out of the blue, she said; “You know Aja, my house was very near Govardhan Hill!”
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>> “My real house, before I came to this mummy and daddy.”
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>> Well, we went on in this discussion, and she was quite adamant.
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>> I then recalled our recent visit to India with Isha’s family, and one of the highlights was celebrating Isha’s 4th birthday in Vrindavana. It was a glorious occasion but time restricts me to get into that.
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>> What I do recall, and very vividly, is our visit to Govardhan Hill. After taking prasädam with devotees at the Iskcon Palace, we set out to the Parikrama Path, and I was totally amazed by Isha.
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>> She just began to scream with great joy, and immediately began to roll in the soft sand, going on and on. She followed this with ‘dandavat parikrama’ (she had not seen this before) for a while, and then went on rolling in the sand, begging her family to join her. This was the exuberance with which she spent the entire afternoon on parikrama.
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>> I then recalled our entry into Vrndavana very late in the evening 2 days before. We checked into MVT, showered and went to bed. Bone weary, none of us could rise early enough. I heard a tap on my room door and my son Rinel came to ask if Isha was with me. When I answered in the negative they became very nervous and worried.
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>> The clothes that were set out for her to use in the morning were not in their room. Isha had dressed herself and was nowhere to be seen. While they ran around checking the three floors at MVT I scrambled into some clothing and rushed out of the building. The guards informed me that a little girl did walk out, but with so much confidence, they did not stop her.
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>> I rushed to the temple yard in great fear. The fog was unusually thick and this exacerbated my feeling of fear. A little girl, crossing the road junction, going through into Iskcon temple yard, in such dark fog, was really frightening. Of course, I lay everything at Sri Krishna’s feet, and with pounding heart, and the most intense angina, I somehow struggled along. As I passed Tulasi Devi’s home I uttered a prayer to her to please benedict her devotees, and as I took the bend and approached the side door of the temple, I caught sight of Isha. She was happily sitting on the floor and putting on her shoes.
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>> She greeted me very happily and I had no heart to scold her. She told me she had left her shoes in the shoe-room, giving it to the devotee there, and had gone for darshan.
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>> Aja   : “Why did you do that?”
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>> Isha:   “It’s my birthday Aja. I had to come and pray first.”
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>> Aja :   “To whom did you pray?”
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>> Isha:   “I went and bowed down to Srila Prabhupada. Then I went for darshan to Nitäi  Gaurahari, and Krishna-Balaram and then to Radha and Krishna (she didn’t know the name Radha Syamasundara). Then I came to the shoe room and the prabhu knew my shoes and gave them to me.”
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>> I hugged her and off we went back to MVT and her over excited parents.
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>> What a remarkable incident. Isha knew her way around, without any fear.
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>> This soul who we know as Isha was definitely in his company but could not finish her journey, so she had taken birth in a family of devotees to continue her devotional service.

There must be a change of heart

The highest prayer is the prayer to become a selfless instrument in God’s hands. As Saint Francis prayed, “Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.” He prayed not to receive, but to give; to be freed of all selfishness and to be filled with selflessness. He prayed to be the servant. He prayed to see that every living being is his master in the sense, “Let me be the humble servant to uplift, to help and to care for all my brothers and sisters in this world.”

If you have boils on your body due to a blood disease, by putting some compress on the boils, you will get some temporary relief. But as long as the disease is in your blood, eventually there will be another boil and another and another. We have so many meetings—congressional meetings, United Nations meetings and altruistic meetings. They are trying to solve the problems of this world. Sometimes they can create some relief. But because there is still greed, pride, lust, envy, anger and illusion within the hearts of men, there is no question of peace. The disease remains.

Yes, we should also try to deal with the symptoms, but that’s not enough. People are throwing waste into the rivers, the lakes, the oceans and the air. It’s very good that we try to arrange some laws by which people don’t dump these things into the oceans, the lakes and the sky. But that is not the solution because eventually they’re going to dump it. What is the waste that they’re dumping in the air, in the waters and on the earth? It is simply an expression of the dirt that is in their own hearts. They have created all these filthy, horrible things because they’re motivated by greed.

Therefore, the only real solution is that there must be a change of heart. If we are not a part of the solution, we are a part of the problem. If our own heart is not being purified, then how will we help enlighten others? Therefore, we have to simultaneously deal with external realities of this world and try to make things better, but we must also know that the real solution is the purification of the heart, the unity of the soul with God. So the ultimate prayer is that we can be an instrument in the hands of God to bring about this unity and bring about this spiritual peace. — Radhanath Swami

This change in the heart is achieved by devotional service unto the Supreme. Discussed more in Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 2 Chapter 3 Pure Devotional Service: The Change in Heart

Understanding Meditation

There are different forms of meditation in every religious tradition and practically in every denomination of each religious tradition. In order for any of them to be effective, what is most important is our sincerity and the willingness to really absorb ourselves in that particular process. Some meditate on a silent mantra, some on a particular form, some on a particular prayer, some on a virtue, some on the breath, some on the different sensations of the body and some on the name of God, which is considered very divine and holy.

All these meditations are meant to purify our heart and bring our mind to its natural condition. Our consciousness is inherently pure, eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. But somehow or other it has been covered by and adulterated by so many misconceptions, so many desires, so many longings, so many anxieties about what we want and what we don’t want “I am a man, I am a woman; I am American, I am South American, I am Indian, I am Pakistani, I am Russian, I am African”— all of these are bodily conceptions. We are so much consumed by these things and it is all mixed into our consciousness. If we filter our mind through meditation or any genuine spiritual practice, it brings our consciousness back to its original state, which is pure.

Another example is a mirror. When you look into a mirror, you see yourself. But what if that mirror has been neglected for hundreds of years? There are layers and layers of debris, dust, dirt and filth. And when you look into that mirror, all you see is the dust and the dirt that is accumulated, and all that you think is “This is me!” But when you clean the mirror, little by little you start seeing the image of yourself. And when the mirror is actually clean, you see who you are. Meditation is for that purpose; prayers are for that purpose; spirituality is for that purpose: to cleanse our heart, to cleanse our life-style so that we can actually directly experience our own essence, which is eternal, full of knowledge and full of love.

— Radhanath Swami

Distinguishing between God's instruction and the mind's instruction

There are three stages of God realization. God has three forms:  brahman (not Lord Brahma), the in-dwelling supersoul in all souls (paramatma) and the complete Bhaghavan.  The first two exist only due to support from the Bhagavan feature.

Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.11

vadanti tat tattva-vidas

tattvaḿ yaj jñānam advayam

brahmeti paramātmeti

bhagavān iti śabdyate

Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.

HH Romapada Swami writes on how to perceive the differences between them:

Q:What is the difference between the dictation of the Parmatma and the mind?  How can one tell if the mind or Parmatma is speaking to us?

In BG 2.22's purport, Srila Prabhupada gives the example of two birds sitting on a tree.  One bird (Jiva-atma) is eating the fruits of the tree while the other bird (Parmatma) is simply watching His friend.  If the Parmatma is just watching, how can the Parmatma dictate the soul?  Can you please help me with this confusion? Please help me understand this by some other citations in the BG.

Ans (prepared primarily with assistance):

In Bhagavad-gita Chapter 6, Krishna talks about the importance of controlling the mind. In particular, with regard to your above questions, verses 5 and 6 of Chapter 6 give us a good understanding of the interaction of the mind with the living entity.

Krishna tells Arjuna:

Verse 5:   One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.

Verse 6:   For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.

The main point is that one must renounce the desire for sense gratification, or else his mind will degrade, not elevate him. Unless one develops a higher taste (spiritual taste, or bhakti), this becomes impossible. Within the purport to Verse 5, Çréla Prabhupäda emphasizes controlling the mind:

“It is stressed herein that the mind must be so trained that it can deliver the conditioned soul from the mire of nescience. In material existence one is subjected to the influence of the mind and the senses. In fact, the pure soul is entangled in the material world because the mind is involved with the false ego, which desires to lord it over material nature. Therefore, the mind should be trained so that it will not be attracted by the glitter of material nature, and in this way the conditioned soul may be saved. One should not degrade oneself by attraction to sense objects. The more one is attracted by sense objects, the more one becomes entangled in material existence. The best way to disentangle oneself is to always engage the mind in Kåñëa consciousness. The word hi is used for emphasizing this point, i.e., that one must do this.”

From this purport we can understand that the mind’s dictations when not under the control of bhakti will gyrate towards sense gratification and will lead one to further entanglement with the material nature. Çréla Prabhupäda then explains in the purport to Verse 6:

“Unless the mind is controlled, the practice of yoga (for show) is simply a waste of time. One who cannot control his mind lives always with the greatest enemy, and thus his life and its mission are spoiled. The constitutional position of the living entity is to carry out the order of the superior. As long as one's mind remains an unconquered enemy, one has to serve the dictations of lust, anger, avarice, illusion, etc. But when the mind is conquered, one voluntarily agrees to abide by the dictation of the Personality of Godhead, who is situated within the heart of everyone as Paramätmä. Real yoga practice entails meeting the Paramätmä within the heart and then following His dictation. For one who takes to Kåñëa consciousness directly, perfect surrender to the dictation of the Lord follows automatically.”

In the book Dharma: The Way of Transcendence, Çréla Prabhupäda writes:

“By serving the guru and inquiring from him, we can come to the point where Kåñëa will enlighten us from within. Kåñëa, the supreme guru, first imparted knowledge into the heart of Brahmä, the original person in the universe (tene brahma hådä ädi-kavaye [SB 1.1.1]). Kåñëa is situated in everyone's heart as the Supersoul, and as you become purified He speaks to you from within. Actually, He is always speaking to us, but in our impure condition we cannot hear Him. In the Bhagavad-gétä (15.15) Kåñëa confirms that He is the source of our knowledge: sarvasya cähaà hådi sanniviñöo mattaù småtir jïänam apohanaà ca. "I am situated within the heart of everyone, and from Me come all remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness." So as Paramätmä, the Supersoul, Kåñëa is always prepared to help every one of us, provided we serve Him and take His instruction. He says in the Bhagavad-gétä (10.10),

teñäà satata-yuktänäà bhajatäà préti-pürvakam                                                                                                  dadämi buddhi-yogaà taà yena mäm upayänti te

"To those who are always engaged in serving Me with great love and devotion, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."

If we want to know the Absolute Truth, we have to follow the proper process, and that process is simply to engage oneself in the loving service of the Lord. That will enable us one day to directly perceive the Absolute Truth. With our present blunt material senses we cannot perceive the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For example, with a blunt knife you cannot cut anything. You must sharpen it first; then it cuts very nicely. Similarly, to understand the Absolute Truth you must sharpen and purify your senses by engaging them in the service of the Lord. Now you cannot see God, or Kåñëa. But if you purify your eyes and your other senses, you will be able to see God, to hear God, to talk with God—everything. That is possible by the process of bhakti.

So Çréla Prabhupäda’s point is very clear – unless we perform devotional service it is not possible for us to speak to the Paramatma or listen to His instructions in our hearts. In fact when we do not heed Him, then He simply fulfills our desires to enjoy based on our karma. And He simply witnesses our foolishness. Due to the minute free will of the living entities, the Paramätmä does not interfere with their choices until they take up devotional service. Çréla Prabhupäda writes in the purport to BG 2.22 thus:

"Although the two birds are in the same tree, the eating bird is fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other he turns his face to his friend who is the Lord and knows His glories—at once the suffering bird becomes free from all anxieties."

When the living entity becomes slightly devotional the Paramätmä ‘speaks’ to him through the scriptures, through his guru, through the devotees or through certain actions or behaviors of others. By heeding such indicators, the living entity makes progress to performing pure devotional service where the Lord may personally speak to him.

In conclusion, the dictations of the Paramätmä are only understood through devotional practices which includes guru, sadhu, and sastra whereas the dictations of the uncontrolled mind are directed at sense gratifications.

Finally there is a story regarding this which happened a few years ago in San Diego. A devotee was actively involved in Facebook. So somehow or other, he got involved with an under-aged girl on Facebook. After some time, the girl invited him to her place. He accepted the offer and went driving there. While driving there he got lost several times and many times he felt he should just give up and go back to the temple, but in his mind he wanted to meet the girl. Finally after several hours of driving and losing directions he somehow got to the destination. He knocked on the door and was invited inside. Once inside, the police immediately arrested him for under-aged child sex exploitation etc. He went to prison. The devotee later realized and understood that when he wanted to go there, there were so many signs and indications from the Lord that he should not go there but because of lust, his mind was uncontrolled, he did not heed the instructions of the Paramätmä.

In all aspects of life, we really must distinguish the difference between the mind’s dictation and the indications of Paramätmä!

Prana: Yogic life principle in a body

Pranayama is one of the limbs of the Yoga Ladder. Pranayama is something to do with control of Prana. I came across this note explaining Prana; sharing it. I do not know it relates to anything in modern medicine.

HH Romapada Swami writes the following on Prana --- the life principle in a body.

Q: How do we define "prana" or "Life air" - how do you perceive it? It seems to be so close to consciousness. How do we relate it to our eternal soul? We say after the soul leaves the body we no longer are "alive"- how does prana fit in here?

Ans: Präëa is not the soul, but is the life force within the body, moving throughout the body as the ‘air of life’, sustained and supported by the presence of the soul. We perceive the presence of präëa as ‘energy’. Weak präëa is perceived as feeling pervasive weakness of the body, and visa versa.

When the soul leaves the body, so does präëa. Consider Çré Éçopaniñad Mantra 17, where we find the terms: { väyuù—air of life; anilam—total reservoir of air; amåtam—indestructible}

“Let this temporary body be burnt to ashes, and let the air of life be merged with the totality of air. Now, O my Lord, please remember all my sacrifices, and because You are the ultimate beneficiary, please remember all that I have done for You.”

Below are some scriptural references where präëa is spoken about, plus one reference from a BTG article.                                                                                                ___

Consciousness is the sign of the living entity, or the soul. The existence of the soul is manifest in the form of consciousness, called jïäna-çakti. The total consciousness is that of the gigantic viräö-rüpa, and the same consciousness is exhibited in individual persons. The activity of consciousness is performed through the air of life, which is of ten divisions. The airs of life are called präëa, apäna, udäna, vyäna and samäna and are also differently qualified as näga, kürma, kåkara, devadatta and dhanaïjaya. The consciousness of the soul becomes polluted by the material atmosphere, and thus various activities are exhibited in the false ego of bodily identification. [SB 3.6.7]

The movements of the body are first generated from the heart, and all the activities of the body are made possible by the senses, powered by the ten kinds of air within the body. The ten kinds of air are described as follows: The main air passing through the nose in breathing is called präëa. [SB 3.6.9]

The living entities are merged into the air of life, which acts in different ways for circulation. There is präëa, apäna, udäna, vyäna and samäna, and because the life air functions in this fivefold way, it is compared to the five-hooded serpent. [SB 4.29.6]

“…if you eat the wrong foods, such as meat, you deplete your ch'i, your inner bodily energy. Sex and drugs have the same effect, inviting disease and death. Thus, as our conversation went on, it became clear that since the ch'i can be depleted, it is not the atma, the life force proper.

In Vedic terminology, the ch'i correlates more with subtle energies in the body, as described in Ayurvedic texts. Prana, for example, is the life energy that contributes to respiration, oxygenation, and circulation. All motor and sensory functions are linked to prana, whose more subtle aspects, ojas and tejas, seem to correspond to ch'i. [BTG  #43-05, 2009]

What is happiness?

HH Radhanath Swami outlines this in a talk in Hyderebad

During his thirty minute address, Radhanath Swami enthralled the audience with his wisdom. He recounted his struggle to come to India in search of God and candidly shared the lessons he learnt on his journey. He described the superficialities he witnessed in the American society of the 1960’s that compelled him to yearn for an ideal. As a nineteen year old, Radhanath Swami was driven by the motto “If you do not have an ideal you are willing to die for you have nothing meaningful to live for.” A burning desire to find the meaning and purpose to life made him leave the comforts of his American home, along with a dear friend, on a journey to discover the truth.

Radhanath Swami learned a profound lesson on happiness at Kandahar, Afghanistan, where a sixteen year old blind boy sang songs of devotion to God while thumping a one stringed instrument. Although he was poor and wore torn clothes, his face lit up with joy glorifying God. This was a culture shock for young Richard, (now Radhanath Swami) for he was educated in the West that happiness comes from wealth, nice family, and prestige. “But here was a boy who proved to me that happiness does not lie in things but in the state of our consciousness.
Happiness is determined by our wanting to share the love for God in our hearts”, revealed Radhanath Swami in his enlightening talk. Under the tutelage of a Himalayan hermit, Kailash Baba, Richard learnt to live with leopards, snakes, scorpions, wild elephants and lots of mosquitoes. Interestingly Kailash Baba didn’t speak a single word of English and Richard didn’t speak any Hindi. The Baba trained the young American simply by gestures, intonations, movements of eyebrows and by pointing to things around. Radhanath Swami offered a priceless insight, “I learnt that if a teacher really cares about a student and a student really wants to learn, then language is not a barrier. Knowledge is a transformation of the wisdom of the heart.”

Radhanath Swami also narrated graphically his terrifying experience at the leper colony in Rishikesh. About twenty lepers surrounded Richard and begged for money while breathing on him and oozing blood and pus on his body. Minutes later an old leper woman showered Richard with love and blessings. This had Richard wondering about the joy of giving. He found her to be the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Radhanath Swami poured out his heartfelt realization, “What is beauty? Is it a thing of the ever-changing condition of the body or the selfless sacrificial nature of a heart that wants to love and serve? As I left that place and sat on a riverbank, I was thinking how we have a tendency to judge people by things that are superficial and not what is deep within the heart.”

Radhanath Swami then described his travels to Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, Pahsupatinath and eventually Mumbai where in a spiritual festival with an audience of over 20,000, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who was to later be his Guru, had spotted him from the back and had asked of him to come and sit with him on the stage.

Radhanath Swami concluded his talk by explaining how he ended up in Vrindavan and committed to be a bhakti-yogi. He also expressed profuse thanks to the people of India, “‘The Journey Home’ is written to express my sincere gratitude to all my teachers, to my guru and to the great land of India. It is the incredible, all encompassing, deep culture, and the beautiful people of India who gave me more than I can ever repay.”