dṛṣṭaiḥ svabhāva-janitair vapuṣaś ca doṣair
na prākṛtatvam iha bhakta janasya paśyet
gaṅgāmbhasāṁ na khalu budbuda-phena-paṅkair
brahma-dravatvam apagacchati nīra-dharmaiḥ
Being situated in his original Kṛṣṇa conscious position, a pure devotee does not identify with the body. Such a devotee should not be seen from a materialistic point of view. Indeed, one should overlook a devotee's having a body born in a low family, a body with a bad complexion, a deformed body, or a diseased or infirm...
Tuesday.
"This is the best," I said. I was walking on the beach; it was quarter to eight in the morning, low tide, cool breeze—the low angle of sunrays lit the earth and sky into such rich, deep, otherworldly golden tones that I felt I had ascended to a higher realm. I half-expected to see luminous beings walking without touching the ground or riding unicorns and dolphins.
The beauty struck me with such force that I said, out loud, "this is the best." But it's not really the best. It's...
Some years ago in the old temple room at Gita-nagari, I was chanting japa in the back of the room, where hung individual portraits of the previous gurus in our line. One is Jagannatha dasa babaji, who’s credited with rediscovering the place of Lord Caitanya’s appearance in Mayapura, West Bengal. On a pilgrimage to that holy place, I had heard a few details of his life. He’d lived to be over a hundred years old, and his eyelids had drooped down over his eyes, rendering him virtually blind....
My wife and I once spent winter in Jagannath Puri, a beach town on the east Indian coast, home to the famous Jagannath temple, aka Sri Mandir. Not even Wikipedia knows exactly how long Jagannath has been worshiped in Puri, but the most recent temple there was built in the eleventh century. There's some history there. It's our favorite place of pilgrimage. It's also a booming, Jagannath-conscious tourist trap.
People come from all over India for the Sea Beach air, conch shell souvenirs, t-...
Dallas Morning News,
Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.
Texas Monthly has a profile in its current issue of West Texan Christian Wiman, who has edited Poetrymagazine for the last decade in Chicago. The story describes his journey...
I was chanting japa around the fountain at the Alachua temple with Mahatma Prabhu. He told me a few things about chanting:
"This mantra is dangerous. It will make you want to renounce the world." And,
"We hold back from surrendering because we're afraid of pain, like the dentist is going to hit a nerve or something. And so we don't surrender in our chanting."
Then he asked me, "What's worse—meat eating, or namaparadha (offenses to the name of God)?"
I said, "Well, my knee-jerk reaction is that...
As ancient warriors would saturate their arrows with mantras so that they would produce extraordinary and supernaturally lethal effects when released, we have to saturate ourselves with mantras every morning or our activities will not have such a great effect.
Sivarama Swami is absolutely right when he says chanting while sitting is best. Chanting while walking requires navigation, and that takes energy and focus away from the Holy Names.
For instance:
On a recent beach japa walk I saw a large, unleashed dog headed my way, one of those "I'm-mad-as-hell-about-being-so-ugly" breeds. People walking unleashed dogs is a pet peeve of mine (get it?), and especially when those people's pets resemble man-eating gargoyles. This particular creature's...
I live by the beach. Whenever it's low tide, I chant my rounds up and down the shore. Our beach isn't popular for swimming — no soft sand, only endless dunes of broken seashells, which can easily puncture bare feet. It attracts only locals; dog walkers, shark tooth collectors, and a few fishermen.
Except in the coldest or stormiest weather, you'll see half a dozen guys, some as tanned as sun-dried tomatoes, parked there in folding chairs, with coolers full of light beer and bait, shoving PVC...
6 weeks 1 day agodṛṣṭaiḥ svabhāva-janitair vapuṣaś ca doṣair na prākṛtatvam iha bhakta janasya paśyet gaṅgāmbhasāṁ na khalu budbuda-phena-paṅkair brahma-dravatvam apagacchati nīra-dharmaiḥ Being situated in his original Kṛṣṇa conscious position, a pure devotee does not identify with the body. Such a devotee should not be seen from a materialistic point of view. Indeed, one should overlook a devotee's having a body born in a low family, a body with a bad complexion, a deformed body, or a diseased or infirm...0 Comment(s)154 Reads
6 weeks 2 days agoTuesday. "This is the best," I said. I was walking on the beach; it was quarter to eight in the morning, low tide, cool breeze—the low angle of sunrays lit the earth and sky into such rich, deep, otherworldly golden tones that I felt I had ascended to a higher realm. I half-expected to see luminous beings walking without touching the ground or riding unicorns and dolphins. The beauty struck me with such force that I said, out loud, "this is the best." But it's not really the best. It's...0 Comment(s)105 Reads
6 weeks 3 days agoSome years ago in the old temple room at Gita-nagari, I was chanting japa in the back of the room, where hung individual portraits of the previous gurus in our line. One is Jagannatha dasa babaji, who’s credited with rediscovering the place of Lord Caitanya’s appearance in Mayapura, West Bengal. On a pilgrimage to that holy place, I had heard a few details of his life. He’d lived to be over a hundred years old, and his eyelids had drooped down over his eyes, rendering him virtually blind....0 Comment(s)107 Reads