555: Q & A Volume 78

The Nrisimha Avatara’s heart frolics with his own playful pastimes / He fascinates the great sages / He enlightens His devotees from within their hearts / although ferocious, He is very soft and kind to devotees / He is here and there and everywhere / Prahlad’s gratitude to his guru / Prahlad identifies Vishnu as the designer behind the universe’s design / the inconceivable brilliance in the design of the elm seed / we are not creators we are manipulators SB 7.9.28-31 A Girl Can Touch The Sky continues its theatrical release following sold-out screenings with Q & A sessions in Birmingham, U.K., and Dublin, Ireland. The NYC screening with Q & A chaired by Shikha Uberoi (India’s former No.1 professional tennis player and social entrepreneur) has been confirmed for Saturday, June 22nd, 6-8 pm as part of the Her Vision International Film Festival at Slate, Manhattan. Tickets can be purchased at https://slate.ticketsauce.com/e/4th-annual-her-vision-international-film-festival/tickets You can see the trailer, reviews and the link to book tickets at www.agirlcantouchthesky.com  

Leo Tolstoy - “Joy can only be real if people look upon their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.” / figuring  out how to use your gift as an offering / material enjoyment is junk food-  service is nourishment / the unique Bhakti idea of serving the servant / the whole point is to be connected / desires for future happiness are like a mirage in the desert / the counterintuitive truth - true happiness is derived though serving other (not through being served) / Lord Vishnu is impartial SB 7.9.24-27

all the great wisdom cultures draw our attention to our helplessness to the force of time / all your money won't another minute buy / the 3 modes of material nature - without our knowledge, external influences are working their way into your mind / basically, we’re all like defiant teenagers / ahem… um, debating Christian and atheist philosophers, the concept of karma kind of solves the whole thing / we’re being crushed by the wheel of time / Prahlad’s perspective as a witness of the destruction of a materialist at the highest level SB 7.9.20-23

While serving in active duty as a sergeant in the US Army in war-torn Iraq, Partha-sarathi Dasa maintained his devotion and encouraged it in the hearts of others.

Why don’t you guys present a higher Vedic standard? / Why don’t you guys present a more tolerant standard? / How can I support someone who doesn't share my beliefs?

reading the world's patterns, recognizing the truths operating through them, coming to terms with those truths / the Taoist law of reverted effort - when humans try to fix things by their actions, the effect will be the exact opposite of that desired / the great paradox of our time: everything is both better and worse than ever before / material pursuit guarantees material problems / are we resisting the internal growth our problems are designed to initiate / happiness is found in the never changing, misery is found in the ever-changing SB 7.9.17-19

"Your future, your hard dangerous path is this: to mature and to find God in yourselves.” Herman Hesse / we’ve gone from letters, to emails, to written text messages, to emojis / we’ve gone from Shakespeare, to movies, to YouTube, to scrolling reels / focus on the higher call – let go of petty annoyances / Michael Jordan’s vices and virtues  / Vishnu’s nature is innately, completely satisfied / frustration through resistance to the flow of giving to Krishna / the comfort in atheism SB 7.9.10-17

selfishness is the core of our bondage / the quality of your heart, while giving, makes a difference / world peace can’t be done? / why Bhakti is translated as devotional service / faith without works is dead / eternal love is a higher aspiration than eternal peace / Prahlad's prayer with a heart softened by love / why our material opulences can’t touch the heart of God SB 7.9.4-9

“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love.” - St. Augustine / in fighting over inessential details we miss the essence / Bhagavatam is sarva-vedānta-sāraṁ - the essence of all the Vedic literature / if the inessential details aren’t bringing us to the essence, we can drop them / the mind unburdened by material concerns can appreciate the mercy of Vishnu / even anger and thievery can bring you closer to God / the paw or the claw SB 7.8.54 - 7.9.3

“We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” – origin unknown / we each perceive the world through a uniquely programed mind /  Religion = regulation for the purpose of checking sin, Yoga = regulation for purpose of clear perception / one must carefully choose and maintain the files downloaded to the mind / the Nagas are concerned with wealth and sex / the yogi will voluntarily give up wealth and sex for truth perception / prayers from different planetary perspectives SB 7.8.47-53