1301: Q & A Volume 221

Where Does All the Darkness in the world come from? / How to deal with the struggle of re-integrating after returning from a spiritual pilgrimage? / Who were the 6 Goswami’s of Vrindavan and what was their role?

the burdens of hate and resentment / “Some of the worst things in my life never even happened” - Mark Twain / the attractiveness of the unburdened / Bhagavatam juxtaposes the burdened and the unburdened / Brahma expresses wonder / brahma gives credit for creation to Vishnu / Shiva gives credit for destruction to Vishnu / Indra’s prayer and lamentation of mixed devotion / Vishnu dissipates the gloom in our hearts / austerity can bring about creative power and lucid thought / The forefathers were burdened with concerned about sacrifice / The siddha yogis were concerned about their mystic abilities being restored / The Vidyādharas were concerned about the knowledge they attain through meditation SB 7.8.40-46

“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.” - Miles Davis / Krishna gets lost in his own play / first we follow the rules until we can play spontaneously / Lila is both playful and didactic / our divine love is warped by the element of selfishness / understanding the false representations of the original rasas reflected in the material world / boiling away the ego and programing in the mind to get to the self / we’re practicing to fall in love out of this world / they had better airplanes in the past / the joyful scene of the fall of the tyrant / sages, yogis, singers, dancers, zombies, snake people, bird people - Vishnu’s Dharshan make the Met Gala seem pale in comparison SB 7.8.32-39

Lila refers to Krishna's play, in the dramatic sense, as well as in the sense of child's play or ease / Rasa refers to the particular loving mood relished in the exchange of love with Krishna / it's not that Krishna's lila is modeled after the drama of this world, rather it's the other way around / the sages borrowed construct from the Sanskrit dramatist to explain Krishna's lilas / it's all happening to heighten the experience of love / Hiranyakasipu's horrific threat / Nrisimhadeva's rasa of anger / Nrisimhadeva's heightens the love and satisfies Pralad, Brahma, and the Devas / without the darkness of this world we would never develop the determination to let it all go SB 7.8.24-30

“Every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe.” - Albert Einstein / both the believer and the skeptic are investing faith / Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help.” - May Sarton / climbing the hill at Tirupati / “Is your God in this pillar?” / all varieties of Avatars spring from Krishna / Sri Nrsimhadeva appears to taste the ferocious anger of pure love / demons get the claw, devotees get the paw / when your ego collapses. SB 7.8.11-24

“The clue to the meaning of ultimate reality is found in personality.” Dr. Martin Luther King / our understanding of our shared connection to God dissolves our divisive mentalities / denial of the Personality behind the Universe removes the element of gratitude from our thinking / Ishvara in the yoga sutras is a “special person” / the Supreme Person energizes our senses, bodies and minds / “Except for the uncontrolled and misguided mind, there is no enemy within this world.” - Sri Prahlad / the real enemies are within SB 7.8.7-10

How do I find a Krishna a conscious way to prepare my family pet and the environment for his death? / I know we place significant importance on actually saying the mantra out loud, but is my method a legitimate way to chant? / How can one meet a guru if they live far from a temple? If you have a question, e-mail us at [email protected]

Is self-replication the measure of life? / is there a sufficient level of intelligence for matter to become conscious? / is there an “emergent property” that creates consciousness? / is Brian Cox really “damn sure” that consciousness is physical (our could it be that it is just very subtle)? / “Because He is subtle, He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know.” - Bhagavad-gita 13.16 / “the living entity, even though situated in varieties of bodies, is aloof from them due to his subtle nature… therefore it is impossible to see with the material eyes … no one in science can ascertain this.” - Bhaktivedanta Swami / what is the compulsion of empiricists to deny the existence of the soul? / Prahlad converts his school / Prahlad triggers his father / just as different grades of fire all derive heat and light from the sun, we all drive our power from the same source SB 7.8.1-7

seeing life’s problems as tests, and rising to meet them / even-mindedness when all are losing their heads / all the great saints had to respond to persecution / the impostors of Triumph and Disaster / pretentiousness as the next level of the test / always responding with positive energy / passing through the world, uncorrupted / no one is barred from Bhakti / neither charity, austerity, sacrifice, cleanliness, etc. can move Krishna - he’s waiting for pure love / the mature vision - beyond religious symbols and externals - recognizing God in everyone SB 7.7.48-55

“Beware of over-concern for money, or position, or glory. Someday you will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will know how poor you are.” - Rudyard Kipling / the emptiness that drives us to seek fulfillment through externals / the treasure in the heart of the sadhu / affection for others running through affection for Krishna / prema is the wealth that makes everything else appear pale / the steady engagement in releasing, accepting and stepping up one notch / the ocean of eternal happiness / “This is misery, but it gives me a laugh…. All that is left of this family life is a list of names.” - Bhaktivedanta Swami / “I gradually take away all the wealth of those upon whom I am merciful.” - Krishna / with Krishna, there’s beauty in destitution SB 7.7.45-47