TEXAS FAITH 110: Has college football become too violent for the faithful?

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.

Let’s take a break from the weariness of finding the right strategy for the Mideast and deal with sports. Namely, football.

I confess that I have — again — grown to love college football. I enjoy going to TCU games with my 10-year old son, who loves to run the field before the game and root loudly for the Horned Frogs. In fact, it is hard getting him out of a TCU T-shirt these days.

I enjoy the game because it is fast, exciting and strategic. It also is just fun watching the bands and streamers and frivolity. And, being a fan, I like to see my team(s) do well. (As a graduate of the University of Texas who grew up attending TCU games, I spread my cheering around each weekend!)

But as I watch these games, and see players carted off the field, I often inwardly wince. Am I participating in some kind of modern lions-and-Christians blood-lust? And I am doing this at someone else’s expense? The NFL just settled with retired football players to the tune of $750 million over the concussions some of them received. For some players, they have been life-altering concussions.

Related to all this, I felt sick when I picked up our paper and read that CBS Sports was putting a “Johnny Cam” to cover every move of A&M’s Johnny Manziel in his game against Alabama. The guy is a showboat, but he is still only a kid.

So, are we reaching the point where rooting for college football teams is too much? In this Christianity Today essay, Owen Strachan raises the penetrating question: Should Christian fans step away from such a physically devastating, violent sport?

I would broaden his question to ask this question:

Should people of faith who love college football step away from such a physically devastating, violent sport?

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

As time progresses we invent more and more ways to waste time. Spiritual life is not meant to be belief on the backburner but rather something that actually satisfies. A satisfied soul is not interested in wasting time in material activities.

Why is time important?

Because that which you hold dear to your heart will decided where you go after death. If you are invested in the temporary, you will take birth again in this temporary world. So one should use this valuable form of human life to seek and experience the eternal by developing a loving relationship with God. Hare Krishna.

of life: People misidentify the self/soul with this temporary ever changing material body, this is called ignorance.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

Kirtan & Bhakti training at Namah Shivaya Yoga in Dallas

Tej Monga, owner of Namah Shivaya Yoga, invited us to share an experience of the ways of Bhakti Yoga at his teacher training seminar.  Lessons included a talk on the 3 levels of God realization, namely Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan.  The history of kirtan, and then integrated with kirtan participation.  My daughter Visakha came to the event and became the headline attraction.  She first demonstrated yoga poses and also Bharatnatyam classical dance to beautiful bhajans sang by Kalindi Patel back up by her husband Kapil sweetly playing mrdanga with Bhaktin Reivin dancing along.  But the real fun is when  Visakha got the whole group to get up and chant and dance to the Hare Krishna Mantra.   Watch the video below to see the fun.

Chantix VS Chanting–to quit smoking

Before taking to chanting the Hare Krishna mantra daily my wife used to smoke 2 packs of cigarettes every day.  But with the help of this mantra she quickly and easily gave up smoking.

Chantix

The prescription drug Varenicline (Chantix) helps you quit smoking.  It has a standard pharmaceutical list of side effects and warnings.  Here is a few of them.

Allergic reaction.  Anxiety, confusion, depression, restlessness, or mood changes.  Blistering, peeling, or red skin rash.  Chest pain. Fast, pounding, or uneven heartbeat. Lumps on your neck, armpit, or groin.  Numbness.  Red or black stools. 

 

Seeing or hearing things that are not really there. Seizures.  Thoughts of hurting yourself or others.  It may also cause some people to have suicidal thoughts and tendencies or to become more depressed.

So far it has only been linked to 98 suicides, no big deal.   Also it has been linked to murder/suicide cases as well.

vs

 

Chanting Hare Krishna

Chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, is the most effective prescription to give up smoking.  It is proven to work and literally hundreds of thousands of patients have easily given up smoking with this medicine.  Many of whom did it cold turkey.  Here is a list of a few of the side effects and qualities.

• Chanting Hare Krishna awakens love of God.

• Chanting Hare Krishna brings liberation as a side benefit along the way.

• When you chant Hare Krishna, you automatically develop knowledge and detachment.

• Chanting Hare Krishna gets you out of the endless cycle of birth and death.

• It is the most effective means of self-realization in the present Age of Quarrel. Nothing else works nearly as well.

• Chanting Hare Krishna cleanses the heart of all illusions and misunderstandings.

• By chanting Hare Krishna, you become free from all anxieties.

• Chanting Hare Krishna brings you to self-realization—and shows you how to act as a self-realized soul.

• It keeps you ever mindful of Krishna, the reservoir of pleasure.

• There are no hard and fast rules for chanting. You can chant anywhere, any time, under any circumstances.

• Krishna Himself is fully present in the transcendental sound of His name. And the more you chant, the more you realize it.

• All other Vedic mantras are included in the chanting of Hare Krishna. So just by chanting this mantra, you get the benefit of all others.

• Chanting Hare Krishna purifies not only you but every living entity around you. Whoever hears the chanting gets spiritual benefit.

• A person who chants Hare Krishna develops all good qualities.

• You can chant Hare Krishna softly for personal meditation or loudly with your family or friends. Both ways work.

• Srila Prabhupada chanted Hare Krishna, and so did great souls in the past. So why not you?

• It’s free. Chanting Hare Krishna never costs you money.

• Chanting Hare Krishna brings the highest states of ecstasy.

• There are no previous qualifications needed for chanting Hare Krishna. Young or old, anyone can chant—from any race, any religion, or any country of the world.

• Even if you don’t understand the language of the mantra, it works anyway.

• Chanting Hare Krishna brings relief from all miseries.

• Chanting Hare Krishna is easy. When the best way is also the easiest, why make life hard for yourself?

• Chanting Hare Krishna invokes spiritual peace—for you and for those around you.

• When you chant Hare Krishna, Krishna Himself becomes pleased.

• When you chant Hare Krishna, Krishna dances on your tongue.

• By chanting Hare Krishna you can return to Krishna’s world, the eternal abode of full happiness and knowledge.

• Chanting Hare Krishna frees you from the reactions of all past karma. Chanting Krishna’s name even once, purely and sincerely, can free you from the reactions of more karma than you could possibly incur.

• Chanting Hare Krishna counteracts the sinful atmosphere of Kali-yuga, the present Age of Hypocrisy and Quarrel.

• By chanting Hare Krishna you can relish at every step the full nectar that’s the real thirst of the soul.

• The more you chant Hare Krishna, the better it gets.

• If you look through all the Vedic scriptures, you’ll find nothing higher than the chanting of Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

However chanting Hare Krishna is not without warning.  Do not chant this mantra if you would like to keep attachments to pride, lust, anger, and greed.  It will destroy these attachments.