Secret service Podcast–guhyam seva

Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you My supreme instruction, the most confidential knowledge of all. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit. –  BG 18.64

Because of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death. – BG 13.26

O Janārdana, again please describe in detail the mystic power of Your opulences. I am never satiated in hearing about You, for the more I hear the more I want to taste the nectar of Your words. – BG 10.18

The one verse which Śrīla Prabhupāda gave the most lectures on is BG 7.1  Which is a verse wherein Krishna and Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasize regularly hearing about Krishna Conscious philosophy.  Such hearing spiritualizes ones consciousness and helps one develop a spiritual vision.   As it is said, we see Krishna first with our ears.

Therefore I am happy to let you know that we have a new podcast available.  You can find it here at http://feeds.feedburner.com/KalachandjisAudio  The benefit of a podcast is that you don’t have use your data streaming or lose lots of battery life while streaming.  You can set your podcast app to auto download classes when your in a wifi zone or you can just easily select the ones that you like.  

You can subscribe using the link above or you can also look for Kalachandji’s Audio on iTunes and subscribe there.

Texas Faith 126: How do we forgive?

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.

Three days after police found the body of 17-year-old Ivan Mejia in the woods in Garland, his father, Flavio, offered forgiveness to those responsible for the young man’s murder. It was the family’s first public statement.

Two of Ivan’s classmates are in custody for the murder, something police say occurred because of a fight over a girl.

Forgiveness is central to so many faiths. But how do we forgive? And what does forgiveness do for the one who forgives and the one who is forgiven? Can true forgiveness come so quickly as the Mejia family offered it, or must it come through time and grief?

Below is Flavio’s statement.

First, we want to thank you on behalf of our family for
respecting our privacy and our silence. We want Ivan to be remembered as a good servant of society who sought the well-being of others and gave a friendly hand in very humble ways and without pretensions. Also he held in high esteem his faith and his passion for Jesus.
It is because of the faith that we profess and that we instilled in Ivan that we hold no grudge toward the people involved in this unfortunate event. We pray for their families because we understand that just like us they are going through a very unpleasant time. We thank God for his strength, for his care
of our family. We thank from our heart our congregation El Lugar de Su Presencia, the community, friends and relatives who have been of help and blessing in these moments that are so difficult for our family.
We have the certainty that our Ivan lived each moment of his life impassioned by his Creator and we know that he did it as a good soldier of Christ. Like the word says in 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.”
Thanks for your attention. We bless you in the name of Jesus.

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

In the Vedas is said that the beauty of a saintly person is their forgiveness.  It is the quality of those who trying to advance their spiritual consciousness.  It is described that that the chief of all demigods, Brahmā achieved that post because of his superb quality of forgiveness.  Krishna, God Himself, becomes please with those who are forgiving. 

This quality of forgiveness is realized when one understands that God is the supreme controller.  One should not be upset with the instruments of one's own karma.  So for one's own pains a person should be tolerant.  This is personal forgiveness, if others are harmed a person should do their part to protect. This is especially in regards to those who are in leadership, who have the duty and nature to protect others.  Such persons should not avoid corrective methods for the abusive behavior of the unrepentant. 

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

Dome de-domed–pics from temple renovations

We are currently working repairing/restoring/replacing the three large domes on top of the altar.

TEXAS FAITH 125: What’s the balance between religious freedom and freedom from discrimination?

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.

When Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced she was vetoing a “religious freedom” bill that targeted gay men and lesbians, she said religious liberty remains a “core value” in Arizona. But, she added, “So is non-discrimination.”

The debate over the Arizona bill – and similar proposals under consideration elsewhere – highlights the tension between two competing and deeply held American values: the right of people to practice their religion vs. the right to be free from discrimination. It’s a balancing act, and not an easy one.

It is at the heart of the debate over the Obama administration policy requiring businesses to provide health insurance for their employees that includes forms of contraception. It’s central to the argument by supporters of the Arizona bill that a baker who opposes same-sex marriage shouldn’t be required to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. Both sides make a claim on liberty.

Clearly, nobody’s advocating that the government sanction, say, the right to deny service to black people at a lunch counter – regardless of whether the owner says it violates his religious beliefs. At the same time, nobody’s saying a Jewish caterer must work the Nazi rally, even if the Nazis claim they’re being discriminated against.

The question is, as a matter of public policy, how to reconcile competing rights? How do we protect both the religious rights of one person (which may involve discriminating against some people) and the deeply held right to be free from discrimination? What’s the balance and how best do we achieve it?

As expected, our Texas Faith panel of experts on faith and public policy – theologians, activists, clergy, scholars – don’t agree. And in so doing, they offer provocative, thoughtful reasons. If you think you know what side you’re on, read our Texas Faith panel and think again.

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

To be merited rights is a metaphysical concept.  There is no scientific or secular logic that procures rights upon an individual.  Therefore this subject must be approached metaphysically with logic and reason.

The first question is: what is it that is being granted rights?  If there is no logical understanding of the self or individual, then we cannot progress further.

In an American history we had slavery because it was said that dark-skinned people did not have souls. But where is the logic in that?  By simple analysis one can see that the symptom of the soul or self is consciousness.  As soon as the soul leaves the body, that body no longer carries its beauty and luster. That same symptom of consciousness is equal whether one is a man or a woman, dark-skinned or light, or human or animal.   All feel pain and pleasure.   However, because our society’s understanding of the self and consciousness is lacking depth, a large foolish section of society makes claims that animals are without souls and therefore without inherent rights.

Another large and equally foolish section of society will make claims that the unborn individual is also without rights.  This is all because there is no clear understanding of the self which is the foundation of the discussions of rights.  But there are books, such as the Bhagavad Gītā As It Is, that deal with this subject with such clarity that it can shock most people.  Such clarity is necessary to govern social structures in a progressive way.

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

TEXAS FAITH 124: Is it crazy to pray for your team to win the Super Bowl?

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.

Two things Americans take seriously are religion and football. With the Super Bowl set for Sunday, here’s a question: Why do so many people pray for their favorite sports team to win? Is it just a ritual? An act of faith? Or a hedge, just in case?

A new survey finds that half of American sports fans say they believe God or a supernatural force is at play in the games they watch. That includes Americans who pray for God to help their team (26 percent), think their team has been cursed (25 percent) or more generally believe God is involved in determining who wins on the court or in the field (19 percent).

So is God the 12^th man on the field at kickoff when the Broncos and Seahawks meet in the big game this weekend? The Great Odds Maker in the Sky?

The Public Religion Research Institute finds that football fans are the most likely to pray for their own teams to win. About one-third say they ask God to intervene in games. When it comes to whether God rewards religious athletes with health and success, about half of Americans say yes, about half say no. The belief that God will help religious athletes was most prominent among white evangelicals (62 percent) and non-white Protestants (65 percent). When it comes to the religiously unaffiliated, only about 20 percent feel that way.

So why do so many Americans pray for God to help their team? Or believe that God rewards religious athletes?

Do they really think God works this way? Or like Pascal’s wager, do people figure — hey, I’ve got doubts, but what if it works, what if it’s true? Why not be on the winning side?

We put that question to our Texas Faith Panel and the result was a funny, thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining set of answers from some of the smartest people on matters of religion and faith in Texas. It’s not so easy as you might think. Some of the answers might surprise you.

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

The Supreme Lord is not an order supplier waiting to commanded at a whim.  This survey illustrates that many in the world are very ignorant in regards to the position of God.  We are His servants and He also loves to serve us.  How does God like to serve us?  He helps those who are seeking Him get closer.

"To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me." Bhagavad Gītā As It Is 10.10.   Because of illusion, people misidentify the body as the self and become absorbed in the gains and failures that are related to this body.  Thus one falsely thinks himself to be related to a particular group or nation.

In bodily consciousness one thinks himself to be Black, White, heterosexual, homosexual, Republican, Democrat, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, or being related to a particular team that they identify with.  In this illusion one imagines that the gains and failures of those different groups are in relation to themselves.  However the self is actually spiritual, eternal, and unaffiliated with the things of this world.

The ephemeral gains for our vehicle, the body, do nothing to bring satisfaction to the self, the soul.  Thus God has no interest in fueling one's illusion but happily reciprocates with those who try to connect with Him beyond the Matrix.

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

TEXAS FAITH 123: Why are religious hostilities on the rise across much of the world? What, if anything, can be done about it?

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.

A new poll finds that religious hostilities have increased in almost every major region of the world. Perhaps not surprisingly, the sharpest increase was in the Middle East and North Africa, most likely an after effect of the 2010-11 political uprisings known as the Arab Spring. But the Pew Research Center study also found a significant increase in religious hostilities in China and the Asia-Pacific region.

Todd Slater

Some numbers in the new report: a third (33%) of the 198 countries and territories included in the study had high religious hostilities in 2012, up from 29% in 2011 and 20% as of mid-2007. Here’s the link: http://www.pewforum.org/2014/01/14/religious-hostilities-reach-six-year-high/

The study looked at efforts by governments to ban particular faiths, prohibit conversations and give preferential treatment to some religious groups at the expense of others. Those haven’t changed significantly. But acts of overt hostility toward religion – religion-related armed conflict or terrorism, mob or sectarian violence, harassment over attire for religious reasons or other religion related intimidation or abuse — have increased.

Incidents of abuse targeting religious minorities seen as offensive or threatening to the majority faith are up. In Libya, for instance, two worshippers were killed in an attack on a Coptic Orthodox church. Harassment of women over religious dress occurred in nearly a third of countries in 2012 (32%), compared to less than one-in-ten (7%) as of mid-2007. And mob violence related to religion occurred in a quarter of countries in 2012 (25%) – double the number from five years earlier.

So what’s happening here? Is this just a cycle, a phase? Or is it something else? The power of religious faith to divide as well as to unite has a long history. But clearly in the last few years, people are increasingly using religion for negative and destructive ends in many places.

Why are religious hostilities on the rise across much of the world? What, if anything, can be done about it? Our Texas Faith panel weighs in:

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

The cause of any type of injustice is ignorance.  Specifically people misidentify the body at the self.  Therefore, in ignorance, one thinks oneself to be White, Black, Asian, Republican, Democrat, male, female, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, as so on.  The solution to injustice is knowledge of the self and practical application.

It is not that one needs to know just theoretically that one is not the body but the soul within.  One must have a process to practically experience it.  That individual who experiences himself beyond body is self satisfied and thus is peaceful and happy.  A society of individuals who have no self knowledge will never be happy.  Therefore peace and happiness is concomitant of actual spiritual knowledge, everything else is ignorance, despite that it may have a religious appearance.

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

Darshan Room Kirtan Anniversary Party

Last Wednesday we celebrated our anniversary of The Darshan Room

What is The Darshan Room you ask?  The Darshan Room is weekly event that taps into the giving newcomers the essence of the Krishna Consciousness experience.  Uplifting kirtan, dynamic discussions, and an absolutely amazing vegetarian feast. 

Many similar venues have been developed throughout the US such as Krishna Lounge in San Diego, Krishna House in Denver, and the traveling Pilgrim’s Lounge in Oakland.

We had a wonderful class given by Nityananda Prabhu our temple president and rousing kirtans by Kalindi Patel.

Everyone had a wonderful time. Here are some responses. 

“I had such a beautiful night yesterday. Thank you for everything.”

“Hare Krishna brother, much love to you and thank you for awesome gathering at the darshan room last evening! so much blessings”

“Having the best celebration of my life!”

“Man the Wednesday program was awesome!!!! nice to see Reivin Alexandria after a LONG time ”

“I enjoyed it, as always “

 

Hare Krishna!!!