The all-inclusive pages of the Srimad Bhagavatam of the Gaudia Vaisnava.
Srila AC Bhavtivedanta Swami Prabhupada has , under the directions of Srila Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur , and ultimately the direction of Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu who had empowered the six Goswami’s of Vrndavana, presented the Srimad Bhagavatam to the world. It is the natural commentary on the Bramha Sutra, the condensed form of the four Veda . The original Vedas that Veda Vyasa brought into four sections. The Bhagavatam contains the teachings also of the Puranas, the Itihasas, including the Mahabharata.
It is important to note that many substantial practical lessons are contained for a systematic development of spiritual culture for everyone of all occupations or spiritual standing . One may wonder why the Bhagavatam contains mention of material and spiritual circumstances, but Krishna intends to come amongst us and teach us , He appears like one of us at times .The Bhagavatam brings to our attention the descriptions of many varieties of spiritual planes along with the different relationships the living beings enjoy in association with Divinity in His many appearances and expansions , as well as with His many families and friends…

The smiling face of the Bhagavatam , which are just over twenty chapters of the confidential pastimes of Krishna in His Dhira Lalita form, are purposely minimal but are elaborated upon in the Smriti of the Gaudia Vaisnava acaryas , headed by Srila Rupa Goswami and Ragganatha das Goswami.

Every relationship with Divinity is glorious in their own way, and so are the devotees who have preferences for particular relationships or forms of Divinity.

The Bhagavatam is a practical guide for everything and everyone, that’s why it’s been granted and presented to all people by Krishna. It applies to everyday living but also trancendental living , everything is spiritual in its own way . Thus, the Bhagavatam brings the peripherals and the cor together . We can not just present the cor , and neither can we just present the peripherals.

The expert Bhagavat , personification of the Bhagavatam knows the art of both the cor and peripherals .

Thus, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami’s society ISKCON has its footprints all over the world and is systematically bringing the understanding of all things spiritual.

It’s not the technical society as such but individuals within it as well as those who are loosely connected to it , including those from other Gaudia Vaisnavas groups who know what AC Bhavtivedanta Swami is doing , under the order of Srila Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja, and why , and they all bow down before him .

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Correct understanding of the spiritual is way beyond and deeper than “knowledge of  technical languages .

In entering and understanding Radha Krishna Nitya lila pastimes getting the correct Sanskrit word meaning obviously is somewhat essential to fully describe the specific lilas that are described from the writings of the acaryas who are literally spiritually immersed within the lila and relishing all the mellows , perfectly describing them due to their pure love in Bhakti yoga .

For instance, when Krishna approaches Srimati Radharani through his ecstatic glance ,within the township of Vrndavana,  if one mistranslates the Sanskrit and literally has Krishna walking up and approaching Radharani , it would an incorrect translation . In the company of Radharani’s mother in law and others who are not directly involved in knowledge of particular pastimes,  Krishna could and never would  walk directly up to Srimati Radharani . However,  He and She may approach each other by lightning glances that are described by the Rasika acaryas. The ultimate essence and relishing of the mellows of pure devotional lilas , Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaj says , can’t be experienced by any other process than the decending process , or being allowed to enter Krishna lila through the pure chanting of the Names and of rendering services of all kinds   to those Gaudia Vaisnava acaryas who have shown by their prayers and examples their services to Radharani and Krishna . Or through the friends of Krishna,  but that process is of  purely remembering the eternal spiritual lilas that may decend by their own sweet will . It is ,  however, obviously important and may assist  meditations to understand how exactly the acayas have described in their trancendental trances specific  pastimes.

We cannot neglect or minimise these technicalities of language,  but we can also remember,  its not merely by such technicalities that one enters into Krishna lila,  but only through grace and development of pure Bhakti which is bestowed by Bhakti devi and the pure devotees of Krishna,  the causless mercy.

Mercy above justice , as Srila BR Sridhar Swami once said .

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The Vedas bring us evidence of practical , observable, and objective knowledge and the processes of its decending procedures and systematic distribution . It’s all  in Divinities care and His responsibilities,  He says ” I am the Vedas ” Cyclic cycles of the universal affairs mean knowledge of all kinds has to be consistently and repeatedly reintroduced sometimes being presented in different formats accordingly. Essentials of practical knowledge of every kind ,as well as  spiritual knowledge, are essential for mankind.  In current times , as was the case in the past, many practical and fitting “technologies ” both in matter and the ethereal are given to mankind . Different ages bring differences in priorities , some more materialistic others more spiritually oriented . We can observe  practically that a particular person receives specific insight into a specific fields of knowledge. They create something wonderful or solve a problem ,  whatever is needed for humanity , even great musical symphonies is brought forward.  Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, ” I am the ability on man,” we term it a gifted person.
Suddenly it has been experienced , in the scientific field , by scholars , a  particular problem is solved by a particular person who had been racking their brains , unexpectedly, the solutions come suddenly , appearing  in their minds ,  perhaps whilst in the bath , and when they were least expecting it . Beethoven used to say that music would begin to flow into his  head . Divinity has the responsibility to guide mankind directly or through his agents , so certain great personalities are always amongst us to bring what’s needed  ,  all of them specialising in various fields of knowledge,  wisdom, or the arts and ultimately in theological sciences. Previously executed pious activities or sacrifices qualify one to  gain insights and ” channel ” wisdoms

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There can be said to be comparisons between the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Jesus on numerous different levels .  One of the most important  points is that both teachings bring clarity in terms of who can access the mercy of God . Those who follow smarta Brahminical classes or Zionism are badly mistaken in their perversions and interpretations of theological texts . Humble, truthful persons can access the self-evident truth of the equality of all beings as well they know that God does not define people by caste , colour , creed or religion,  only the unthinking and ignorant would say He does .

The unintelligent Zionist and the  smarta Brahminical classes seek to tell God who he can extend his mercy and love to , and these so very  proud fellows think its them and exclusively them . Srila AC Bhavtivedanta Swami Prabhupada , the founder of ISKCON,  said to one disciple who wanted to discard a person from ISKCON, ” You do not know the extent of the mercy of Lord Nityananda prabhu “.

Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu points out the true meaning and purposes of the Vedas , “by the Vedas I am to be known ” says Krishna,  similarly Jesus told his critics who thought they understood the old testament that “what you look for in the scriptures I present to you ,I am what you study ” He said he is creating people of Israel. Israel is a term used as a “holy consciousness, ” and  not a” tract of land.” In Gaudiya Vaisnavism’s teachings, Vrndavana is a state of mind , similarly “Israel ” consciousness is  signifying pure God consciousness,  the first symptoms are self-evident truth of the equality of all beings as spiritual beings,  who can access Divinity.

Of course, both Vrndavana and Israel are also holy lands , that’s  because Divinity brought the spiritual realms to such lands , but to understand the holy land, one requires holy consciousness.

The smarta Brahminical classes and the Zionist fall short and identify with a body, not a soul , as such, they are to be ignored.

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Staring out , looking in .

You cannot change your sex , some say , you are what you are …

This calculation is based on scientific materialism and not dualism.
If we understand the transmigration of consciousness from one body to another , indeed one may be stationed inside a body of a particular sex for reasons of karmic synchronicities, but nevertheless the predominant inside subtle body could be still  strongly associating with a previous body that was of the opposite sex than one finds oneself in , in a new life .
So , those who understand dualism can understand this could be a possibility in some cases , but this should not  be an excuse for sentimentalist to take their uncontrolled whimsical minds anywhere that might please them , which is fashionable in a  world of libertines.”If it feels good, do it ” they say , that is not human culture.
Taking the matter even  further your dog who sits with you daily in your house , or your pet parrot or the fish in your tropical fish tank could all be in the same boat , staring out at the world with an inner body , the subtle body , with continued feelings from their last incarnated visit…Look out!  your enemies from your previous visits of bodily life can end up where you don’t want them to be , within your family….says the Vedas .

Richard Feynman said religion is a culture of faith
And science is a culture of doubt.

Not really , religion means first suspicion, then doubt , then little faith due to experience, then an increasing attraction for something sublime, which is made possible with a scientific and theological and philosophical education along with the use of objective sciences that assist and reconfirm logic and rationale. This will be happening in every way conceivable .  Faith carries one a long way , thus, Divinity, who has always been on veiw in one way or another, becomes known  for sure and realised .The illusory energies of bodily consciousness subside, and Suddha Satva energies replace them . Knowledge in pure goodness that’s realised knowledge.

Subjective sciences that are solely based on interpretations and speculations of an objectively seen phenomenon should be doubted for sure , better go with objectives .
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More on this later .

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That’s the Vedic prescription.

BHAGAVAD GITA 8.6

yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya
sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ

Translation

Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kuntī, that state he will attain without fail.

Moving on …..onwards and upwards

Listening to radio 3 in the UK a very successful violin player had come to the stage where retirement loomed , she was in anxiety after so many years of travelling and performing, how would she cope with her new life ?.She spoke of how new opportunities dawned , new directions , new interests , new and rewarding projects came up automatically as if sent by destiny.
So, in everyone’s lives , especially if we connect with good positive energies connected to mode of goodness duties and a service for the betterment of ourselves or others , inspired actions will be following us .
Death is also like that. New opportunities new progressions , if we stay within the framework of duty and philosophically driven cultures, there is no loss at death but everything to gain .
That’s the Vedic way.
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Calculations of non interventions or replenishment is the thinking of the atheistic Darwinian who are convinced of scientific materialism…

They say ..
“High entropy, driven by the second law of thermodynamics, leads to a “heat death” (or Big Freeze), where the universe reaches maximum disorder and becomes cold, dark, and empty. As energy spreads evenly, no further work can be done. Accelerated expansion ensures this, dispersing all matter and energy, leaving only a cold, thin haze of photons and decaying matter. “

But within the cell there is high entropy but also an ordered low entropy, order and tidiness is seen in the microbial world and through out the universe, nothing is in disorder , if there appears disorder its under the control of the order .
The multidimensional universe alongside dark matter and dark energies are a complete unknown to those who advocate the heat death hypothesis, like the Darwinian hypothesis is guessing and making conclusions that go against the objective grain , likewise heatdeath.

Although everything in the universe is created , maintained, and destroyed, including the universe one should refer to the Vedas about how the collapse of the universe takes place and how everything is brought back inside Karanadaksyi Visnu before again being let loose .
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The Srimad Bhagavatam opening verse can be seen to be objectively true. The sciences of Krishna consciousness apply right across the board. Everything is  about the absolute, and it’s all  interrelated,  nothing lies outside the absolute truth. The founder Acarya of ISKCON Srila AC Bhavtivedanta Swami Prabhupada in his writings emphasised though sciences,  through social sciences,  through political science,  through economics,  through the arts Krishna consciousness is to be understood.

This Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.1. opening verse can be seen an an overview of the majesty and opulences of Krishna.

O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the absolute truth and the primaeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance, and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him, even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the absolute truth.

If God exists He must leave traits in his works , Sir Francis Crick said he finds profound awe in the genome that he and other discovered and he interpretated it as being a literal “fingerprint” of God .That’s an intelligent logical conclusion,  ie .information in our experience comes from a consciousness. Sir Fred Hoyle also concluded that ” someone has monkeyed with the universe, as scientific studies progress the further and deeper they look the more obvious design is found in everything examined , perfect math symmetry and supreme engineering. The big bang proves a start a creation , everything has a cause , Sir Richard Feynman has an amusing video on you tube discussing causes , everything is caused by something and the never ending question of why can be asked. One should come to the original why .Granny slipped on the ice and was taken to hospital at the beginning of the “why” questions in Richard Feynman’s amusing but informative film

Everyone and everything is being maintained somehow arrangements are in place for food and shelter and psychological needs as well as bodily demands including sex , no species is falling short . Within the hearts of all being knowledge is inspired , from the weaver birds nest building to the workings of quantum physics , or the composition of pieces of art , music of drama.

The illusory energy is so strong that a foolish man thinks himself clever and the master of all he surveys,  only to find out later he was completely wrong , its a fact looking at a sunset , the clouds appear as land , we cannot rely on imperfect senses or the limitations of intellectual ability to see things as they are .The psychological modes of nature throw us in all directions,  but Divinity remains always the consistent factor and maintainer of everything and everyone.  Krishna is easily understood in His universal form, and He can be further understood by yogic proccesses,  yoga means to link.  Through karma yoga ,niskarma karma yoga,  astanga yoga,  jnana yoga, and pure Bhakti yoga, Krishna is understood and realised in full .

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Exchanges of cultures and  surprising results

We could say that inadvertently, the British coming to India contributed to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Sankirtana movement . They introduced Western sciences , different technologies, and educational system’s and taught the citizens of India world cultures . The British were practically all over the world. This new order  needed understanding, and persons like Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja who were highly learned scholars in their own right were exposed to it . Srila Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja made many extremely cultured and learned persons into his leading disciples , including Srila AC Bhavtivedanta Swami Prabhupada . They were all well schooled and  educated in British led educational system’s and colleges. Prabhupada had great respect for his professors, whom he described as kind gentleman. Those of the British who were political leaders  and who were influenced by the East India company were the ruthless ones . Influences of businessmen were deeply imbeded within the colonial consciousness, and they take profit at any cost, literally, including cutting the thumbs of weavers . The British wanted sown cloth imported from the UK from the Lancashire Mills.
With the education and the  communications given to India’s citizens , the western thinking they introduced meant it was very easy for our acaryas to understand something of the  new modern world and then subsequently bring Vedic Culures to the West itself  . They  transposed Vedanta philisophical life into the  Western cultures . In time and  especially in todays world , Vedic sciences are becoming more and more recognised and respected . Both Niels Bohr and Erwin Schrödinger studied aspects of the Vedas dealing with consciousness.
The many possibilities of quantum physics stem from the Vedic responsive universe and brings it to light .This is the  universe the Vedas defines in detail,  dualism,  means consciousness and matter interactions.  Although the British invaded India , that invasion led to a different sort of invasion,  The Vedas is infiltrating every corner of the world with its effects increasingly being appreciated. The mission of Mahaprabhu has only just begun. We have seen nothing yet .

More on this soon.
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Lord Krishna speaks about the glorious yoga system . Yoga means to link with God . To link with God, we need to know the uncoupling process , we can not be coupled with the  illusions of this world if we want to understand pure trancendental knowledge. It’s like embracing a person tightly and screaming, “Let me go.” The commercial yoga groups understand very little of yoga. It’s a monetary show as far as they understand,  good for money good for some fame , that’s not yoga .

Lord Krishna says this in His Bhagavad Gita.

“Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore, no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.”

Lord Krishna has defined a systematic process , from karma yoga to niskama karma yoga, then jnana yoga,  then jnana sunya bhakti , this is the  beginnings of  much more development of the yoga of devotion process which has began to be accompanied by stronger trancendental knowledge.  Trancendental knowledge also comes in various stages of  development , there is  reality no limits to trancendental knowledge. Bhakti is accompanied by and takes help from  karma and jnana in the beginnings of the Bhakti process. In phase of jnana sunya Bhakti ,the  stronger development  phase of trancendental knowledge, the devotees hear directly the Srimad Bhagavatam and by the blessings and grace of all the param para acaryas can study their litratures and meditate on the lila pastimes described by them in their books . This accompanied by a rich jnana sunya bhakti leads to  increasingly deeper meditation, so this is pure Bhakti and it is  leading to purely  enriched Astanga like  yoga , but unique because of being soaked with devotion and remembrances of Krishna lila gained  through the processes of hearing , chanting and remembrances . Srila Ragganatha das Goswami in his meditations and instructions on  Krishna consciousness lead us to the  glories and science of yoga .

The Professor of neuroscience Michael Egnor has made a point that brain neurons fire in different ways according to discipline and habit changes , those addicted to certain behaviours are almost forced to act due to psychological modes of nature . Modes of nature can change, and patterns of life and habits can change .That Krishna is clearly telling us , we have free will , we can strengthen our consciousness and exercise a free wont . Ie .we will not let bad things degrade our consciousnes,  but we will rather elevate our consciousness through better choices and feel the benefit.

Unfortunately, low class leaders and scientific materialism, as well as the Darwinian hypothesis, drive everyone to become like street dogs following their senses anywhere and lifting their legs on anyone. The Vedic way is one of elevated consciousness and progressive social and spiritual mobility for all . When the intelligentsia return so will real education,  the sophisticated animals will be forced back in their baskets .

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