Maya can not stand directly in front of the Lord , the Lord does not like to see His parts and parcels bewildered. At the same time He appreciates the sentiments of Durga Devi to bring the bewildered living beings to their senses and who think they may become separate enjoyers and create their own kingdoms . The reality, however, is Krishna is inherently and fundermentaly the supreme enjoyer, and the living beings who want bliss and knowledge cannot find it outside of the company of God . The supreme Goddess of Fortune knows this well and in Her form as Durga Devi rectifies this artificial enjoying illusion and brings the living beings back to a place that they have long sought a place of no anxiety. Vaikuntha .
AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was asked by a reporter, ” What’s its like being a pure devotee?” he said, ” There will be no more anxiety.” http://www.thevedicspectator.com
The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.
The qualified and authentic Brahminical intelligentsia have properly understood matter and consciousness and accept and can see logically and scientifically that the inconceivable energies of our universal affairs appear to work in set orderly ways , and naturally they conclude that what Krishna clearly says in Bhagavad Gita can be seen to happen , intelligence is at work .
The Brahminical thinkers also accept that such intelligence behind the universal order in rational ways obviously wishes to communicate with all living beings , His expansions, and to that end puts in place different measures or systems for it to be achieved , communications in many ways are ongoing . How communication takes place exactly is described in the Vedas .
Inspiration and revelation , is one such method , which in turn can take the form of written words , and it should obviously be accepted as a possibility , as much as anyone on any given topic , who has genuinely understood or have found new original insights into it will be able to communicate to others .
Michael Behe from the intelligent design movement has nicely coined the phrase “irreducible complexity.”
I think the above verse from Sri Isopanisad concurs with his thinking, and Behe being an intelligent and spiritual person seems to have been inspired by Divinity Himself to come up with that phrase.
The Vedas fully elaborate on how subjective evolution takes place , meaning a mental state is responded to by a universal machine , which in turn offers specific tailored material bodies, minds, and intellects to suit and that are entrapped in cyclic births and deaths , according to their free will .
The idea of mechanistically driven chance affairs , without any outside agencies help being the specific cause of anything , which is the Darwinian veiw , is deemed illogical and objectively unscientific. In other words, it remains clearly subjective speculation, and as time goes on and more and more obvious design and order in everything is detected , it becomes more and more obsurd.
There are many mysterious ways that the machines of the body are manufactured. Here is one such example.
“In biological organisms, amino acids appear almost exclusively in the left-handed form (L-amino acids) and sugars in the right-handed form (R-sugars). Since the enzymes catalyze reactions, they enforce homochirality on a great variety of other chemicals, including hormones, toxins, fragrances, and food flavors.”
Enforce implies an enforcer , an engineer who is making distinctive plans , and it, of course, baffling why chirality functions in these ways .
sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham
TRANSLATION
I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.
Divinely has three aspects to Him , the Vedas tell us . 1. His impersonal effulgence that the atoms , elements compounds, and every aspect of electromagnetic energies and light frequency are devolved from , the whole material world is built on this superior energy to matter .
2, He is also situated in everyone’s heart, providing remembrance and forgetfulness , He also reminds and directs everyone’s activities . Inspiration of all sorts originates from His supreme majesty, in one sense everything we have, at least in the material world , are borrowed plumes . 3. Above and beyond those two aspects, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He exchanges love in an unlimited variety of ways with unlimited living beings. These affairs take place within His own abode with all His associates, and we are all invited to participate. Any artist worth their salt will convey something of Divinity and increase our inquisitive natures of life . Art is meant to inspire us to further understand life’s sometimes hidden purposes . We can say the obvious cause of all causes ,because scientifically, everything must have a cause . So , the origins should be thought about and learned about . Something never comes out of nothing after all , that’s an absurdity . http://www.thevedicspectator.com
It is said by Srila Jiva Goswami in his Tattva Sandarbha that the Vedas were afraid of being misrepresented , thus Veda Vyasa the Incarnation of the Supreme Lord has established the Puranas and itihasa , which are non different than the Vedas. Indeed, they are considered the fifth Veda . The essence of the Vedas is easily understood through the Puranas and itihasa . It takes great scholastic intuition to understand the applications of the Vedas , and the tendency for misrepresentation can be present in such scholastic musing. It’s also important to note that when the Puranas and itihasa are properly understood, they can be considered Vaisnava Smriti.
The most important scripture is the Srimad Bhagavatam because it contains the Vedas , the Bramha sutra, as well as the Puranas and Mahabharata.
It is spoken by Sukadeva Goswami, who was the Guru of all the great sages , even Narada and Vyasdeva heard from Sukadeva, who had to abilities to make something sweet and sublime to be even sweeter . Before appearing to the sages, Sukadeva wandered the earth, ignoring everyone because he was fully self-satisfied with his own attainments in trancendence
But importantly it takes the reader ultimately into trancendence because it is directly Glorifying Lord Krishna and His activities and those of His direct associates , thus attracting the minds of conditioned consciousness of all kinds , goodness, passion or ignorance to trancendence.
In recent times Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu has reestablished the Vedas and the Puranas and itihasa , as well as the Smriti of Gaudia Vaisnava sampradaya acaryas . He has empowered the Goswami’s of Vrndavana to further write Smriti literature and further expand the Srimad Bhagavatam particularly those activities of the residents of Vrndavana headed in Parakiya Rasa by Srimati Radharani , before Mahāprabhu this Tattva was unknown and as well other relationships Krishna has with the residents of Vraja and Dwarka.
The ultimate mysteries of Pranaya, the oneness of love, and the Tad tad bhava iccha atmika of Radharani’s manjaris , descriptions are given by Srila Ragganatha das Goswami and the plays of Rupa Goswami demonstrate the difference between Vrndavana and Dwarka devotees.
Different strokes for different folks . The Vedas is clear..
But they may not always lead to the same destination.
The path of Karma yoga, jnana yoga , niskarma yoga , astanga yoga, and ultimately Bhakti yoga , which incorporates all of them . They are progressive paths that can lead to an ultimate path of pure devotion and love of God Or one can by the special benediction of Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately take to the topmost path even without prior qualifications. AC Bhaktivedanta Swami says this of the path of jnana yoga…
Indian reporter: We all have at certain moments of devotion some sort of feelings when we feel we are very much near the God. But that concrete reality, to attain that, the only way is jñāna, upāsanā? Prabhupāda: Yes, this is jñāna. But the jñāna must be received through the right source. Jñāna is not speculation. The modern rascals, they create jñāna by speculation. That is not jñāna. That is ajñāna. The same example = If you don’t receive jñāna from your mother, there is no jñāna of father. If you millions of years go on speculating who is your father, he’ll never be revealed. That is not jñāna. That is ajñāna. So these rascals, they are creating jñāna. That is not jñāna. Jñāna means you should receive jñāna through the right source. Anyway, they are also mahātmās because they are trying for transcendental realisation. So, their method is jñāna-yajñena. Jñāna-yajñena means they are trying to understand the Supreme Absolute Truth by philosophical speculation, jñāna-yoga. Just in the fourth chapter we have learned it that there are four kinds of persons who begin devotional service. Catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ, sukṛtino ‘rjuna [Bg 7.16]. [O best among the Bhāratas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me—the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.] There are four kinds of persons who have got some background of pious life. They only—not others. Those who are miscreants they cannot approach God. http://www.thevedicspectator.com
In the Christian calendar today, it’s the day we remember the sacrifice of Jesus, he was the boldest of preachers, and the established priests of the time did not like being questioned or challenged by him .
This problem of establishment becoming overly established but without the requisite qualities has been a problem for many religious groups.
The Jewish order at the time did the most heinous of deeds by effectively sending him to a crucifixion , the crooked and attached so called priestly order gave false declarations and accusations to the Roman governor , who under pressure from the preists gave the crucifixion order .
Jesus set the example of how the true Christian uses his body mind and soul and dedicates it solely to God’s services and also to always speak and act in truth and to help enlighten everyone .
Although the Christian interpretation by some is that he died for our sins , in reality he died because he was betrayed , but , ultimately God works in mysterious ways , by being betrayed the preists were trying to silence truth , but it had the opposite effect , his mission spread all over the world.
True Christians do not expect Jesus to pay for their sinful life , rather, they stop sinning and intuitively understand the reality of the words ” died for our sins ” to mean he dedicated his life to show us how to stop sinning and how to live a God centred life as the commandments and Jesus made clear .
Far from the Darwinion contrivance of soup , microbes, and their further random mutations resulting in Einstein , we have no objective evidence of that . Mutational math doesn’t work , a random effect on information never adds anything positive but rather degrades it . If you left your writing on your computer half finished, any two year old playing with the computer keys would not by chance finish your essay even in billions of years.
Bottom line and objective science indicate your body is engineered, and the Vedas say it’s naturally selected because of karmic synchronicities , i.e., your previous interactions within matter are logged and an automated system brings you the next destination, not by chance but by design. The conscious observer effect remains a puzzle in Quantum physics , but it parallels a responsive universe model that the Vedas describe.
Chapter 9: Bhagavad Gita. The Most Confidential Knowledge
maya—by Me; adhyaksena—by superintendence; prakrtih—material nature; suyate—manifest; sa—with; caracaram—moving and nonmoving; hetuna—for this reason; anena—this; kaunteya—O son of Kunti; jagat—the cosmic manifestation; viparivartate—is working.
TRANSLATION
This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.
There is an unseen but seen engineer at work , Wherever you see obvious smoke, you know there is or has been fire . Wherever you see coded information, you know there is a code maker .
Scientific studies must always be carried out using logic and not with any attachments to preconceived ideas , along with a Darwinion fixation seen to be ever increasingly illogical.
The scientific community, for reasons best left to them to explain , originally assumed that all parts of the universe are subject to the same physical laws, including time . They proposed the same chance evolutionary laws meant life could evolve in similar ways in other planets of the universe in pretty much identical ways.
Recently, scientists have begun to think differently. Certainly the Vedas have a lot to say on universal affairs and perhaps the Harvard Prof Lisa Randall is more closely aligned to the Vedas with her “Branes” as in membrane theory , which features different laws and also planes not visible to certain types of senses, ethereal planes of existence and finer qualities of existence is the Vedic science.
After all we cannot hear the high pitch dog whistle or the low sounds of the Blue whale , senses differ , and the Vedas corroborate that , and take that thinking much further . A multidimensional universe where laws and time operate according to design and which are facilitating certain conscious brings who are highly elevated in many ways with lifestyles to suit. We should remember the inexplicable varieties of life on the physical plane , and also remember the inexplicable varieties of minds and intellects , and we should never limit consciousness or the planes of existence it can reside in .
Their latest speculations are as follows of the physicists.
“While the idea of universal, unchanging physical laws is a cornerstone of modern physics, there is growing evidence and theoretical speculation suggesting that the same laws might not apply everywhere in the universe, and that some fundamental constants, like the fine-structure constant, might vary. However, it’s crucial to distinguish between the fundamental laws of physics and the way they manifest or appear in different regions of the universe. “
Dr Richard Thompson, PHd, has written on Vedic cosmology , and the 3rd and 5th Canto of the Bhagavatam reveal the varigatedness multidimensional universe where time and physics operates entirely differently.
Difference between material and spiritual pleasure : What is spiritual pleasure?
The Vedas have a lot to say on this topic , material pleasure is pleasure utalising bodily sences and the mental pleasures of contemplations , i.e. acceptance or rejection within the mind of future sensual experiences. The intellectual pleasure is also of many forms, including a philosophical speculative process that also brings a degree of pleasure , the craving for knowledge, and the pride of being right about everything . Intelligence can also be creative in many ways and can express ideas or philosophy . It’s always rewarding to get other people to have deeper and new insights. A sense of control or understanding can be broadly described as material pleasure. Such expressions within the material world have a beginning, a middle, and an end , although deeper learning and impressions are carried to our next life, the Vedas indicate.
Spiritual pleasure however is based on a state of deeper consciousness , the direct consciousness of the doul , its an uncovering process , pure knowledge and natural bliss are inherently the constitution of life in real terms. That is a state beyond the sensual , mental, and intellectual platforms. These are described in spiritual categories as the pleasure of Brahman consciousness , the pleasure of Paramātma consciousness, and the pleasure of Bhagavan consciousness .
Each of the above categories need a thorough explanation but in brief , we can say understanding and experience of God’s impersonal spiritual energies , or His localised energies or His personal form the cause of all causes and the energetic source of all spiritual realms and energies.
In the Vedas the living beings are described as pleasure seeking , this is so because they originate from God who is ever expanding in His pleasure and is the master at creating it and enjoying.
God was one , it is said , He became two known as Radha Krishna , and from them both other unlimited expansions are manifest .
Srimati Radharani is the personification of Krishna’s pleasure seeking potency , and this Supreme Goddess of Fortune Radharani is the most expert in all the known and unknown arts . The 64 spiritual excellences are spontaneously exuding from Her and Her associates , unlimited and ever new playfulness and pleasures , enjoyed with spiritual senses in a spiritual forms . Krishna is forever attracted to these spiritually exquisite trancendental exhibitions of pleasures that create direct euphoric emotional experiences. The spiritual senses and emotions are non different to the soul , everything is absolute. Radharani is equally forever attracted to the super excellence of Krishna’s form qualities and pastimes. Consciousness has never had a beginning, a middle or an end , so Krishna consciousness is a realm without atoms elements compounds and ethereal minds and thus pleasure increasingly occurs with no end in site .
“So if we read the Vedic literature, and you get full knowledge, and the essence of Vedic literature is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And the Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, A-B-C-D. This Bhagavad-gītā is the A-B-C-D of knowledge. This is entrance examination, matriculation examination, school-leaving examination. And Śrīmad-Bhāgavata is graduate. When you become graduate in spiritual knowledge, then you can understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And when you have passed your Bachelor degree, when you are postgraduate, that study is Śrī-Caitanya-caritāmṛta.”
In a further conversation he makes the point who the Bhagavatam is for , it’s for those who have given up envy of God..
Prof. Hopkins: I’m not thinking so much of the specific cantos as the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as a whole. Is that, for you, as you see it, more important than Bhagavad-gītā?
Prabhupāda: No, Bhagavad-gītāis the preliminary study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Prof. Hopkins: So you would see the two related to each other.
Prabhupāda: Yes. If one can understand Bhagavad-gītā, then he becomes a bona fide student of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Prof. Hopkins: Oh.
Prabhupāda: Because in the… You have read Bhagavad-gītā?
Prof. Hopkins: Oh, yes. I have.
Prabhupāda: So Bhagavad-gītā,last instruction is, sarva dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66] = “You give up all kinds of occupation and just surrender unto Me.” If one can take it very seriously, understand, then he can enter into the study of Bhāgavatam. The Bhāgavatambegins from the point where Kṛṣṇa left Bhagavad-gītā. So He advised that “You surrender to Me,” and Bhāgavata begins, satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi [SB 1.1.1] = “I am worshiping the Supreme Truth.” And next verse is, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ‘tra [SB 1.1.2] = “All cheating type of religious system is rejected.” So this is rather revolting. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva dharmān parityajya [Bg. 18.66] = “Give up all kinds of religious system, just surrender to Me.” And from that point Bhāgavata begins, “All cheating type of religious system is rejected.”
It is meant for the paramahaṁsa. Paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ. Those who are envious, for them is not Bhāgavata. So any materialistic person, he is envious. So it is not meant for the materialistic person. Those who are spiritually advanced, one who has understood that “I am not this body, I am spirit soul. My direct connection is with God, therefore my only business is to serve God,” one who has come to this conclusion, he is called paramahaṁsa. Haṁsa means swan. A swan, it has got a quality that if you give the swan to drink milk mixed with water, she will drink the milk and reject the water. She has got the capacity. [chuckles] So paramahaṁsa means one who has taken the essence of the existence, Absolute Truth, he is called paramahaṁsa.
In the Caitanya Caritamrita in his conversations with Ramananda Raya Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu takes us through all the paths and brings us to its ultimate conclusion.
