English

Psalm 150

1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
2 Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
3 Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre.
4 Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

jivera svarupa haya krishnera nitya dasa [CC Madhya 20.108]
The natural function of living entities is to serve the Supreme, All-Attractive Personality of Godhead.
kali kale nama-rupe krishna avatara [CC Adi 17.22]
In the age of Kali, Krishna has descended in the form of His Holy Name.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD! [Psalm 150.6]

O Lord, please make me a humble servant of Your Holy Name.

Filmed at a home program at Ryan and Bea's house, Brisbane, Australia.

Jack, it definitely sounds like you've been "floxed". Here are the resources for fluoroquinones:

• http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/quinolones/
• http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/fq_research/
• http://www.fqresearch.org
• http://home.triad.rr.com/rrippy/storiesindex.html
• http://fqvictims.org/fqvictims/index.htm
• http://www.fluoroquinolones.org/
• http://www.drugvictims.org/advice.html

I also recommend these two sites, for a more general insight into the "sickness industry" and a guide to constructing a counter strategy:

• www.newstarget.com
• http://www.healthranger.org/

Basically you cannot "fight fire with fire" and take another drug to reverse the effects. The best course of action will be to change your dietary and chemical usage patterns to empower your body's physiological response. The body can do all these things automatically, but a lot of our lifestyle today degrades its ability to do it. If anyone can help you more specifically with this, I'd say Mike Adams can.

best wishes and good luck

We mentioned this in a previous podcast:

In an interview with CNBC, a vice president for a prominent London investment firm yesterday urged a move away from the dollar to the "amero," a coming North American currency, he said, that "will have a big impact on everybody's life, in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico."

Steve Previs, a vice president at Jefferies International Ltd., explained the Amero "is the proposed new currency for the North American Community which is being developed right now between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico."

The aim, he said, according to a transcript provided by CNBC to WND, is to make a "borderless community, much like the European Union, with the U.S. dollar, the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso being replaced by the amero."

Previs told the television audience many Canadians are "upset" about the amero. Most Americans outside of Texas largely are unaware of the amero or the plans to integrate North America, Previs observed, claiming many are just "putting their head in the sand" over the plans.

London stock trader urges move to 'amero' - Says many unaware of plan to replace dollar with N. American currency.

This was November 28, 2006. We were discussing it at Atma tonight with some guests, one who was from Canada but hadn't heard of the "Amero".

Here's where they announce that they are merging the three countries, without calling it that (don't you love the way that they just call it something, or don't call it something and think that doing that changes everything - and the way that it actually does for 99% of the population? - "A rose by any other name..." It seems that for the vast majority until they are actually told it by a talking head on the TV, they just can't see it. ):

North American Leaders Unveil Security and Prosperity Partnership

Here are a bunch of Canada-related links from the archives:

• Canadian Action Party calls Union "Treason" - Check out the linked YouTube video.
• Conservative Party linked to pro-U.S. annexation cabal - Activities tantamount to Treason, involving Breach of Parliamentary Oath and conspiracy to overthrow Her Majesty.

Slightly different subject, but related. These people do not have your best interests at heart:

• Maher Arar - a Canadian citizen seized while transiting the US and sent to a Syrian prison to be tortured.

Temple managers may become frustrated in implementing the Bhakti-vriksha Program. This may happen in two ways; first: the high expectations from the Bhakti-vriksha Program don’t manifest. Second (just the opposite): the Bhakti-vriksha program is “too successful” and the temple manager suddenly finds himself competing with a seemingly independent program that is “out of control.” These two problems have their roots in misconceptions or misapplications of the micro- and macro-dynamics of the Bhakti-vriksha Program, both characterized by decentralization and empowerment of the individual. These two concepts may cause nightmares for preachers and managers as they may conjure up visions of rampant speculation, deviation, or Gaudiya Math style fragmentation. However, this doesn’t have to be the case.

Micro-dynamics

The Bhakti-vriksha group functions differently from other preaching efforts. This isn’t to say that the Bhakti-vriksha Program is something new; in Krishna consciousness things are not “new and improved,” they are timeless. Bhakti-vriksha is not a new invention or even discovery. It is simply the logical development of what Srila Prabhupada gave us; it’s a matter of going deeper into it, understanding it more profoundly and adjusting our application accordingly. The Bhakti-vriksha vision is found in Sri Caitanya-caritamrita and in the writings of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura; many preachers are already familiar with Bhakti-vriksha concepts and techniques, as they have already applied them in a spontaneous, improvised or intuitive manner. This led to flashes of brilliant success in individual Yatras; the Bhakti-vriksha Program formalizes such techniques and makes success replicable on a grand scale.

We can analyze the Bhakti-vriksha micro-dynamics by examining one aspect of the group meeting, the discussion. Traditionally a session on the scriptures means that one person speaks and the others listen. Power—in this case the right to speak—is centralized in one person. In the Bhakti-vriksha discussion however, this power of speaking is decentralized; it’s given to all the members of the group. The purpose of the discussion is not simply to educate the members by presenting them information, but to empower them to convert information into knowledge. Information is jñana, knowledge is vijñana—information in context. By encouraging the members to speak, to think, and to analyze, the facilitator encourages them to relate the theoretical information with their own experience, and thus to identify themselves with the knowledge. This process forms devotees who are more deeply identified with Krishna consciousness. The information-gathering function is served through home-studies and seminars, and as the members discover that their personal study empowers them to make valuable and valued contributions to the discussions, they gain more enthusiasm for studying Srila Prabhupada’s books outside the meetings.

It is important that the facilitator understand the goal of the discussion, which is not to elicit “correct” answers, to test the members’ knowledge, or to display great erudition and discourage others from “displaying their ignorance.” It is about encouraging the members to apply, in a practical way, their theoretical knowledge. The speculators should be gently nudged around. Correct knowledge of the scriptures should be self-evident. Someone should be able to demonstrate how an explanation or vision based on the scriptures gives a more complete, more useful understanding. This should be done in a gentle way, rather than just coming down on someone, openly or subtly, for speculating.

This dynamic can also be applied in the temple for programs with the public. The lecture to a mixed audience—devotees and guests—can become a little schizophrenic; is it preaching or education? The new people need to be preached to at a very basic level, while the devotees want and need to go deeper. One solution is to have two classes to cater to the two groups; another solution is to use the underlying principles of the Bhakti-vriksha discussion: the lecture becomes theme-based rather than verse-based. The speaker addresses a specific issue relevant to everyone, bringing in the scripture to illustrate and explain the points. This is the format used in Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita. Interaction can be stimulated by asking the opinion of the audience, and then working that into the presentation. Basic philosophical points are thus introduced in a context that simultaneously demonstrates their practical applicability; this helps devotees to deepen their realization of the application and to learn how to preach. The newer members of the audience identify more with the discourse because it includes their input and the content is relevant to them.

My first involvement with Krishna consciousness was in “The Loft” congregational preaching center in New Zealand, with Devamrita Swami, Candrasekhara Swami, Bhaktisiddhanta Swami and Param Satya Devi Dasi giving classes in this way. I also watched them do it in temples and in people’s houses. The guests always feel more enlivened when they can talk freely. We should learn how to let the guests disclose the prevailing thought-patterns in society and then direct the preaching to their needs. In this way everyone benefits.

When we apply this interactive approach we should be careful that devotees in the audience don’t “show off” (as they sometimes do) their superior erudition. Sometimes the devotees contribute formula-answers that sound dogmatic and are packed with jargon. On hearing such pronouncements the new guests get the idea that if they speak they will look like fools, as they can’t talk the slang. They feel scared to participate; they feel intimidated, unwilling to reveal anything and afraid to contradict the prevailing paradigms. In this way the whole attempt at helping them to open up is spoiled.

My experience: doing in a temple anything that breaks the schema always generates resistance. If the preacher is experienced at least the new people immediately hook into the vibe; the old school might find this fresh approach a bit unsettling and might even become contemptuous. However, when it is well done everyone enjoys it.

We have to give up the atmavan manyate jagat mentality (thinking that others must be the same as oneself), a barrier to effective communication. An expert doctor diagnoses his patient before prescribing the medicine. The principle is progressive: accept the favorable and reject the unfavorable. One man’s food is another man’s poison. Or, as Srila Prabhupada put it more succinctly, “Do the needful.” As His Holiness Sacinandana Maharaja described in an article, Srila Prabhupada considered keeping the seats in a recently purchased church, so that guests would feel comfortable.

On 5th June 1976, during a morning walk in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada delineated a plan to host even those people who are unable to immediately follow everything:

Ramesvara: We’ve been planning for some time to prepare one flyer advertising our Vrindavana guesthouse . . . So the question is, these students and professors, they cannot control their senses from smoking and so on. So do we want to allow them to stay in our guesthouse, because it is certain that they will smoke in their room.

Srila Prabhupada: That is very difficult thing . . . Make one room, smoking room, that’s all right. Just like that kind of restriction is there in the airplane, smoking, not, non. So you keep a room separately, a smoking room.

Tamala Krishna: One time when I was staying in the Krishna-Balarama Mandira, I saw a man smoking a bidi in his room. If that happens—in the bedroom—should the managers go and say this is not permitted?

Srila Prabhupada: Yes.

Tamala Krishna: They should. They should go down to the smoking room.

Srila Prabhupada: “Kindly go to the smoking room.”

This shows how dynamic a preacher Srila Prabhupada was; he analyzed the situation and tried different methods to reach the people, rather than following a prefabricated one-two-three plan.

Focus on the Individual

The personal approach, sensitive to the needs of the individual, is the practical manifestation of the Krishna conscious philosophy. Speaking to people in their own language will be more effective than demanding that they learn our language. Srila Prabhupada decoded the Sanskrit literatures into English so that we could have access to them; now we need to present it in the language of the present-day society so that everyone can appreciate and have access to Srila Prabhu-pada’s books.

A good example of the personalized style of preaching is His Holiness Bhakti-tirtha Swami. Maharaja can give a class that captivates both first-timers and seasoned, senior devotees. Another good example is His Holiness Devamrita Swami. Maharaja can give an interactive presentation that absorbs the audience and keeps people on the edge of their seats, waiting for what will happen next, and also laughing along with everyone else at themselves when Maharaja, in a good humored mood, disarms their speculation. Of course it takes maturity to preach in this way, but the Bhakti-vriksha Program can produce devotees whose nature is to appreciate the philosophy and such style of presentation.

Another aspect of the micro-dynamics is that it’s very personal. In the standard ISKCON scenario a guest may come to the temple, sit down, listen to a lecture, take some prasadam, and then leave, without ever having any personal contact with anyone. The Sunday Program doesn’t have to be impersonal, but unfortunately it can be and often is. The lecture, for instance, can be “impersonal.” It is one-way communication and often the speaker doesn’t take into account the needs of the audience. After a Sunday feast I accosted a new guest who was leaving and whom I had observed sitting by himself. I invited him for some more pizza and we sat down to talk. After a few minutes he revealed his mind: “I didn’t understand anything of the lecture, and no one treated me nicely.” The Bhakti-vriksha does not allow this to happen when the micro-dynamics are correct. The group leader is responsible for contact-ing each member of the group during the week and maintaining a personal relationship. At first it may seem a little artificial, but after a while it becomes natural for both the leader and the members. Relations are the real “glue” of the Krishna conscious society—not living in the same location, wearing the same clothes, having the same hairstyle, or knowing the secret handshake, “Haribol Prabhu.” For devotees who grow up in a personal environment like that of Bhakti-vriksha it is natural to go up to new people at the Sunday feast and make friends with them.

“Books are the basis” is a principle of our movement. The Bhakti-vriksha’s decentralization and empowerment of the individual mean that every member is a preacher. This means that every member can be a book distributor. First of all, the Bhakti-vriksha member grows up in a devotional culture where the basis of devotional life is the study and discussion of the books of Srila Prabhupada, along with japa and kirtan. For such a person, presentation and dissemination of these books is a natural part of devotional life. The Bhakti-vriksha home-study program should be structured in such a way that all members gradually accumulate a collection of Srila Prabhupada’s books in their home and systematically study them. The personal nature of the relationships makes the financial arrangements for paying the full Srimad-Bhagavatam and Caitanya-caritamrita easier. The old mentality was to sell to as many people as possible. We have to add the new mentality: to sell as much as possible to the same person—quality and quantity. In this way book distribution becomes more personal and cultivation becomes an integral part of the equation.

These are a few points about the micro-dynamics of a healthy Bhakti-vriksha Program: it’s dynamic, personal, and very much based on the study and distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books. In this sense it’s a return to the past, to the essential, more than being anything “new.” Adoption of the essential aspects of the Bhakti-vriksha micro-dynamics in the temple programs will be more beneficial than trying to replicate the existing temple programs in someone’s house and calling it “Bhakti-vriksha.”

Macro-dynamics

This brings us to the second part of the article, the macro-dynamics of the Bhakti-vriksha Program. The word Bhakti-vriksha can refer to a Bhakti-vriksha group or to the overall Bhakti-vriksha Program. Problems with the interaction between the temple and the Bhakti-vriksha Program occur at the macro level.

One of the first things that the Bhakti-vriksha Manual tells us is that for Bhakti-vriksha to function properly it needs someone to run it. This means that the temple should make some devotees available and make sure that they have access to the resources they need. Who wants only half a hen won’t get any egg. The Bhakti-vriksha Program promises great results, and this requires great sacrifice. If the Bhakti-vriksha manager is also the head-pujari and the cook or is always collecting to maintain the establishment, then the Bhakti-vriksha Program is not really being given a fair chance to show its stuff. Temple managers who have not captured the vision of the Bhakti-vriksha system will be hesitant to commit resources to it. For this reason it is imperative that the first stage of implementation should be the deep examination of the Bhakti-vriksha approach, to understand what it is in essence.

On the other hand, what becomes apparent in a successful Bhakti-vriksha implementation is that the temple is not absolutely necessary. Decentralization and empowerment of the individual challenge the traditional role of the temple. Gone are the days of the myth: “you can’t become Krishna conscious without living in the temple.” However, this does not mean that the temple is not useful or that it should be done away with. It just means that its role needs to be redefined. In the new, deregulated marketplace of the holy name the temple has lost its monopoly and needs to reengineer (rediscover itself) to remain competitive (relevant). This can be scary for the temple manager and he may find himself approaching his regional authorities to complain that the Bhakti-vriksha Program is “out of control.”

In his book The Cellular Church Larry Stockstill explains that there are two different things: the cellular Church and the Church with cell groups. The Bhakti-vriksha model is that of the cellular Church, however, many temple managers have in mind the Church with cell groups. They view Bhakti-vriksha within the context of the temple—as another of its many programs—rather than viewing the temple in the context of the community built on Bhakti-vriksha principles.

Church with cell groups

Cellular Church

In Sri Caitanya-caritamrita Lord Caitanya says that He Himself is the Bhakti-vriksha, the tree of devotion. In His pastimes as Matsya and Varaha He grew unlimitedly from a small size. When a temple manager permits the planting of the seed of the Bhakti-vriksha in his temple, he often doesn’t realize that the tree that will grow will be too big for his temple to contain. Decen-tralization and empowerment of the individual have an exponen-tial effect on growth. The result is that the total Bhakti-vriksha Program will grow to the point that the congregation won’t be able to physically fit in the existing ISKCON facility. This should be the goal of every Bhakti-vriksha Program Director. The recommendation in the Bhakti-vriksha Manual is that all members of the Bhakti-vriksha Program should meet once a week for the Sunday feast. As the congregation expands, more Sunday feasts can be held in different locations, for the local groups, by hiring facilities such as school halls. The entire Bhakti-vriksha community of a city can meet for large festivals by renting a sports stadium.

What would the role of the temple be if it loses its monopoly as the physical structure for meetings? What would the special role of the temple be if every home becomes a temple and every Bhakti-vriksha mem-ber a book distributor? Temple managers may feel uneasy as the Bhakti-vriksha Program advan-ces and these questions become more pressing. Ksatriyas control through manipulation of power—permitting or denying access to it. Decentralization of power threatens a management structure based on underlying ksatriya mentality and principles. Brahmanas influence others through knowledge and illumination rather than through the exercise of executive power. The potential exists for any Bhakti-vriksha node to outdo the temple, so the temple has to ensure its excellence in being the ideal Bhakti-vriksha node. The temple has the advantage that it can be hundred percent dedicated to preaching and educa-tion. The temple residents should include devoted brah-manas who have mastered the Bhakti-vriksha educational syllabus and can give seminars on a variety of topics, from “Communication” to “Conflict Resolution in the Bhagavad-gita.” There must be brahmanas who develop the home-study programs that allow the Bhakti-vriksha members to imbibe the scriptures. There must be experts in cooking, Vaisnava music, Deity worship, sankirtana, and all the other devotional activities. In other words, the temple should transform into the backbone of the brahminical culture that regulates the otherwise largely decentralized Vedic varnas-rama society. The temple must become the training and educational facility that ensures the propagation of Vaisnava and ISKCON culture in the Bhakti-vriksha community. Without this a massive expansion will lead inevitably to dilution and ISKCON runs the risk of becoming the new Hinduism.

The "Demigods" model of the temple

While all the members of the congregation might eventually not be able to fit in the temple at once, the Bhakti-vriksha groups can rotate to offer services in the temple, while the residing temple staff would provide the needed continuity. Using the same system that Krishna Himself established in the universe, the temple staff become the “demigods” of the temple resources, managing them and instructing the congregation in their correct use. A team of Bhakti-vriksha group members, for instance, may work in the kitchen under the direction of the temple cook, who teaches them kitchen etiquette and how to cook, and ensures that nothing gets broken and everything goes back where it belongs.

The leaders of the Bhakti-vriksha groups could meet in the brahminical atmosphere of the temple—an ambient purified by high-standard Deity worship—to discuss realizations and strategies, to pray for the spiritual strength to realize the desires of the acaryas, and to draw strength from each other’s association.
Gone are the days of accepting as a “brahmacari” anyone who needs a place to stay. In the Sri Sri Radha-Gopinatha Temple in Mumbai, India, His Holiness Radhanatha Swami only accepts candidates who have been following the four regulative principles and chanting sixteen rounds for a year and a half. Where will you find candidates like that? Up goes the poster in the lobby: “Join the Temple, Be All You Can Be.” Seasoned Bhakti-vriksha members who want to have a go at temple life can join the temple staff and dedicate full-time to powering Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement. They enter already trained and ready for action.

A huge congregation plus a temple that adds value to the devotional community equal financial support from grateful congregational members. In this scenario the congregation recognizes the temple as a vital resource in the Bhakti-vriksha community. The congregation doesn’t belong to the temple, any more than the varnasrama society belongs to the brahmanas; both exist in a symbiotic relationship. In this way all the devotees can work together to realize the vision of Srila Prabhupada and the previous acaryas for a Krishna conscious world. It takes vision to see a tree in a seed, and knowledge to plant it right. It will take time and energy to water and cultivate it, but the results will be worth it—a tree that can offer its cooling shade to the whole world. Don’t be afraid of the future, Bhakti-vriksha. Participate in the pastime.

• Devotees are made one at a time - An article summarising the first few years of our preaching in Brisbane, Australia. Written for ISKCON's Congregational Development Journal in 2008.
• Loft Preaching - An article about the Loft Preaching paradigm. Written while in Australia, 2006. Published on Dandavats.com, Namahatta.org, and an upcoming edition of the Congregational Preaching Journal magazine.
• What's Really Going On? - An environmental scan done at the end of 2006, analyzing the present situation from a scriptural perspective. Written in Australia, 2006. Published on Dandavats.com.
• Integrating Temple and Bhaktivriksha - A Temple Manager's Perspective - An article on the integration of the classic ISKCON temple structure with a small groups based congregational structure. Written in Peru, 2003. Published in the Congregational Preaching Journal in 2003.
• Network-centric Preaching - A collection of articles and emails written in 2004 about harnessing the power of networks to spread Krishna Consciousness.
• Everyone wants to be on a winning team - An article about teams - small groups with a purpose.

May 2006, Brisbane Australia

Sita-pati das:

This is Vrajadhama, and Bhakticandrika devi dasi from Peru. I’ve known Vrajadhama for now, let’s see, 17 years I think - something like that. No, 15 years. 15 years, and we’ve been through a lot together. We came to this Hare Krishna movement, this Vaisnava tradition together, and then we went and we spent some time in Peru, spent three years there, and while we were there Vraj met Bhakticandrika. It was obviously fate’s divine arrangement for them to connect in that way, because being such a small guy, Vraj probably wouldn’t be able to find someone his size anywhere else.

(laughter)

Yeah, so it was perfect. Everything worked out perfectly.

So today we are observing the engagement, their engagement ceremony. Now, according to the “classical”, in quotes, Vedic tradition there is no engagement ceremony, because there is actually no engagement. People are either married or not married. You see, the ancient Vedic culture is very strict about the mixing of the sexes. In Yoga one of the preliminary practices is brahmacarya, which means basically “celibacy” - and it means conserving the energies, and so they have a very strict way of social interaction where they don’t have that. Today we don’t really have that culture so much in our society, but we try to follow the Vedic tradition, the Vedic way of life, because it promotes elevation of consciousness. Now, there is no engagement ceremony in that ancient tradition, so we are basically making one up ourselves.

Because you see the Vedic tradition - it’s not a stereotypical culture that belongs to a particular time and place. It’s actually a living thing. Just like within our bodies there is the living energy, and when the living energy is gone from the body, the body just falls to the ground. It’s inert - it’s lost its life. But while that living energy is there, the body changes. Once I was a small boy, like our young friend here, now I’m a young man, and I’ll go through different changes. The body has changed so much, but I’m still the same person - still me - experiencing that. So there’s something within me that’s vital, that’s living, and the outer thing changes. So it is with the Vedic tradition. The outer appearance of the tradition changes, but the inner thing remains the same always.

And the inner thing, the inner substance of the Vedic tradition, it is the platform of absolute transcendental reality - that’s the spiritual platform. You know, the part of us that doesn’t change during our life, that’s our spiritual aspect, our spiritual identity. The physical part of us - that goes through changes. So the idea of the Vedic culture is to help people to connect to that identity, to that aspect of our identity. And that thing never changes - that absolute platform, which is known as Brahman in Sanskrit, that doesn’t change. That is eternal and unchanging - immutable. But society does change, so therefore the Vedic tradition changes along with that. You know, it tracks along with that, to keep connecting the people with the absolute platform. So as time goes on the Vedic tradition changes, so now we are introducing the idea of the engagement ceremony.

So why do we have this engagement ceremony? Why are they doing this? What are they doing?

They’re making a public commitment. They’re not just making a public commitment to each other, they’re making a public commitment to all of us. Because life is not just about “me”, and life is not just about “you”. Life is about all of us, and we all, because we’re all interrelated, we all have a duty to each other, and especially in family life. Family is the basis of human society.Community, human community needs continuity, it needs stability.

So when you enter into this kind of relationship, it’s not just about “what do I want to get out of this? What do I want?” It’s actually about “what can I do for others?” It’s not even about “what can I do for this other person?” It’s about “what can we do together? What can we together do for everyone else?” Now if we begin to live from that platform, instead of thinking “What can everyone do for me? What can I do for myself?” If we begin to live from the platform of “What can I do for others?” then the whole relationship becomes different. Instead of “What can I get out of this other person?” it becomes “what can we together do for others?”, and that makes for such a difference in the relationship.

So the commitment is not simply the two of them to each other, but it’s a commitment to all of us. It’s a commitment to contributing to stability and continuity. Community needs stability, and it needs continuity. We need to create a stable community, a stable society, so that people can have a stable situation in which they can pursue spiritual realization. You know when you’re so disturbed and there are so many disturbances, and you don’t know what’s happening from one day to the next, and your future is so uncertain - it’s very difficult to concentrate on anything higher than just getting through the day. But if we can have a stable situation underlying us for our practice, then we can apply ourselves to that practice, and we can make advancement, we can make progress.

So the duty of those who come together in this way is to provide that stability, and making this public commitment in this way to all of us also helps them with their commitment to each other, because they can realize as they go through it that “it’s not just about us, it’s about everyone, and the public commitment that we’ve made.”

It’s called the “Edison method”. Thomas Edison was a famous inventor, and what he would often do is call a press conference, and he would announce a wonderful new product that was coming out. Then after making that announcement in the press conference he would go into his lab and invent it.

So by making a public commitment like this, it helps to achieve your goals, and to be committed to your goals.

There is another aspect to it, as well.

The other day I was reading Madison magazine. I don’t know if anyone here reads Madison magazine? I don’t - generally I don’t read Madison magazine, but this particular Madison magazine - I was waiting - OK, wait a minute, let me tell you how it happened.

I was waiting for the bus down in Adelaide St, and this particular Madison magazine, the cover jumped out at me, and it’s not because it had a picture of Angelina Jolie on the cover. She’s on the cover of practically every magazine this month - or at least the ones that Jennifer Aniston isn’t on. So what it was, actually, that jumped out at me was a headline that said: “Married versus Living Together: Who’s happiest?”

These are the kinds of things that I like to think about, and I was particularly intrigued to know - what did they have to say about that? I didn’t really want to saunter up to the stand and pick up the magazine in case someone coming from the class saw me reading it. So I waited until we were in Stafford, at Woolworths, where I was sure we wouldn’t run into anyone - but actually we did, we ran into Lou. Anyway, the Supersoul goes with us wherever we go - we can’t escape it.

Anyway, I picked up that magazine and I just flicked through the article, and one thing jumped out at it me, and it said: “Statistically it’s proven that people who don’t live together before they get married, have longer marriages.” That’s what it said. And then they gave their interpretation, or a little bit of their commentary on that. They said: “This is because people who don’t live together before they get married, these days especially, they often don’t do so because of cultural or religious reasons, and those same cultural or religious reasons often preclude divorce as an option.”

I think there is some validity in that, but at the same time I think that is a little bit of a disempowering view to take of it. I think a more positive and empowering view of that can be understood from a principle that we find in the science of Yoga, and that is something that Krishna explains about the yogi in the second chapter of Bhagavad-gita, where He says: “sama sukha-dukham dhiram”

In this particular verse He says:

yam hi na vyatayanyete
purusa purusarsabha
samo-dukha-sukham dhiram
so’mrta vaya kalpate

That the yogi, he is “samo-sukha-duhkam dhiram” - he is equanimous. He is the same - sama means “same” - dukha-sukham - dukha means misery and sukha means happiness. He is the same in both misery and happiness. This is this universal principle. This is something that doesn’t change. The rituals might change, the society might change, but let me tell you this - this is something that doesn’t change. This is an eternal principle: If you cannot regulate attachment, you will not be able to regulate aversion - and these two things are the two sides of the same coin. Attachment and Aversion. The two functions of the mind. If you watch what your mind does as you go around - your mind is always saying: “I like that. I don’t like that. I like it. I don’t like it.” Things that you like, the mind says: “Go. Go. Get it. Get it.” The things that you don’t like the mind says: “Get away. Get away. Give it up.”

“Sankalpa Vikalpa” it is called. So the yogi has to learn to control the impulse towards attachment or engagement. Our society today glorifies the uncontrollable whirlwind romance, you know, it’s kind of like: “I was just swept off my feet. I just couldn’t help myself. I just had to get up on the couch and jump up and down. I was madly in love.” That’s kind of celebrated - you know?

But there is another saying: “Easy come, easy go”. If he can’t control his mind on the way in, he’s not going to be able to control his mind on the way out - and wherever there is attachment or attraction there will always be aversion, that will always come. That is the nature of this world. Whenever there is some attraction, some desire, some attachment - there will always come a time where there will be aversion, there will be repulsion. So if we can’t regulate ourselves and control ourselves when the attachment comes, then we certainly won’t be able to control ourselves when the aversion comes. If we can’t control ourselves when kama, or lust, comes, then we won’t be able to control ourselves when krodha, or anger, comes.

So I think that persons who, for whatever reason - because of their own realization, their own control, their own understanding, or even by social tradition - if they can control, if they can learn to control on the outset - then when the difficult times come, and the mind starts pushing them to come apart, they will also find it a lot easier to control that. And then if they also have the understanding that “it’s not just about us and what we think and what we feel”, but “we have a duty to all these people around us, to the whole society, to the whole community” then that commitment that they are making now to all of us, that commitment will push them together. It will help to hold them together. So by doing it in this way they get the support of the whole community, behind them, to help them in their endeavour, together, to serve - to serve the community.

So that is something about the concept behind this engagement ceremony that we are doing tonight. As I said there is no formal ritualistic ceremony for this in the ancient Vedic tradition, so we are creating one as we go, because the Vedic culture is always relevant to our situation.

So it is very simple what we have planned for tonight. We have the garlands for them? And there are some flowers for puspanjali? So we have some flowers - and we are going to hand these flowers around. Last night we were hearing something about the demigods showering flowers? It is very auspicious.

So they are going to exchange garlands, and there is also a ring, which is a sign of commitment in the West.

Anything that is done beginning with the syllable OM is said to be permanent and binding, so we will chant the Guru Pranam mantra, then you can exchange the garlands and give the ring, and we’ll all throw the flowers.

Hari!
Om ajnana timirandhasya
jnananjana salakaya
caksur un militam yena
tasmai sri gurave namah

Esa puspanjali!

"A manned moon base within 20 years - Nasa's bold plan"

The space agency Nasa yesterday unveiled plans to build a permanent base on the moon within 20 years that will allow humans to live there. The base will be used as a launching site for missions to Mars, as well as for analysis of the Earth from space.

"We're going for a base on the moon," said Scott Horowitz, Nasa associate administrator for exploration, at a press briefing in which he detailed plans for the first permanent human presence on an extraterrestrial body, 50 years after Apollo astronauts walked on the moon.

These guys are obviously reading my blog. About three weeks ago I laid down the gauntlet to NASA:

One would expect to see a similar increase in our technological capability in that area, such as low cost moon missions with a high presence on the moon - a moon based observatory, some type of exploratory mining, a moon base from which to launch interplanetary missions.

And three weeks later they release a press statement promising just that. Coincidence? I think not. Let us see, let us see. A postdated cheque is no good until it clears...

In other news that proves that I know what time it is, Rolf Harris has had to publicly apologize for the "Abo" lyric in his 1967 hit song "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" after it was featured in the Red Hill Conversations Podcast last month.

Rolf Harris - back in the limelight after featuring on an episode of the Red Hill Conversations Podcast.

Folks, we're not just reporting the news here, we're making it up as we go along.

I'm not just making this stuff up:

Socialisation is actually the process of developing the skills required to function effectively in adult society. It does not happen by osmosis from other children. It happens as they imitate the mature people around them. We simply can't stop our children from imitating us - it is natural.

While being with other children is a chance to practise their social skills, all too often their behaviour degenerates to the level of the child with the lowest skills. Sadly this even happens in more formal situations, such as organised sport or music, community groups, etc.

So what effect does sheltering children "from the real world" have? (There are quote marks around "real world" to highlight the fact that school is not the real world - it is school children who are locked away from the real world five days a week.) Most of the research is American - but it ties in with what we observe in the home educating community in New Zealand.

The findings of most research are that home educated children tend to have a higher than average level of social development. This manifests itself in areas like increased independence (less susceptibility to peer pressure), self-control and initiative, as well as more effective communication skills.

Of course most home educated children benefit from not being forced into artificial social environments. They can develop socially, as well as academically, at their own pace.

from home.school.nz

I take Prahlad to circus classes on Saturday mornings, and I do notice the difference between him and the other kids there. Children learn to be responsible well-integrated adults by being with responsible well-integrated adults.

According to the Wikipedia entry on Home Schooling:

Home education, also called homeschooling or home school, is the process by which children are educated at home rather than in an institution such as a public or private school. Prior to the introduction of compulsory school attendance laws in the 19th century, most education worldwide occurred within the family or community, with only a small proportion of the population attending schools or employing tutors.