The temple arranged a hike in the Kloovendale nature reserve, a peaceful private setting just perfect of some good clean fun!
Click here to view the pics.
Free to be
Monday, May 26, 2008
Blessed - 2x
HH Jayapataka Maharaja, made two of his usual speedy visits to Lenz in these past two weeks. On Maharaja’s first visit Maharaja showed slide shows of his one year of travelling. It was pretty cool seeing the different places (especially since I was in America when he was visiting New Vrindavan and New York Ratha Yatra so I could say, “Hey! I was there” :o) )
Then yesterday Maharaja gave an awesome class form the 11th chapter of Bhagavat Gita where Krishna says “Time I am the destroyer of the world...” Maharaja was saying that when he was in South America he was visiting this one cathedral and there was this huge picture of Gabriel, the arch angel, blowing on a horn and all these bodies from the graves were rising out and as they would rise, muscle and flesh would come back to the skeletons as in the graves they were just bones – I know … eeuu …
So this is describing the end of time, judgement day. These believers promote the theology that you live, die; wait for judgement day and at that time your body will once again rise. I never knew that so found this quite interesting. This is completely contradictory to vedic philosophy. Where the soul is the actual self and the body is temporary. The soul, once removed from material covering, can immediately enter the spiritual kingdom. Maharaja was quite funny when describing what would the best thing be for the body. The options are either being eaten by worms, ripped apart by vultures or burnt. Fire seems to be the best of the 3, This also removes attachment the soul might have for it.
Anyway the point is time destroys all things material.
Maharaja then described the glories to the 11th chapter of BG. When Parvati asked Lord Shiva about this chapter the following was described. (Maharaja is hilarious with the voices)
Once there was a chapter 11, Bhagavat Gita devotee. Every day he would read chapter 11 of BG. So as he was travelling he came to this one village where he wanted to stay in a guest house so he goes in and asks the guest house manager if he can have a room to stay in. so the guest house manager laughs all funny but says yes. As he shows him to his room he bids him goodnight and again laughs as if something is very funny. But the devotee just ignores it. Anyway he read chapter 11 of BG and goes to sleep. The next morning he finds that the entire guest house is empty he goes outside and sees the manager who is very shocked to see him and says “you here!” and the devotee is like “yes, I booked in here last night. Remember?” and then a Brahmin comes running along saying “My son! My son!’ then looking at the devotee, says”Only you can save him!” and the devotee says hold on and tell me what’s going on. The Brahmin explains that there is a man eating rakshas and that he use to come everyday to the village eating people so then the village told him he can’t do that so then he said he is cursed to be like this so he has to eat. So they made the arrangement that anyone who stays at the guest house will become the food for the rakshas, the only reason the devotee got saved was because he chants the 11th chapter of BG everyday. The bramin’s son was somehow in the house when the rakshas came so he was taken also.
So they go to the rakshas and plead for the son. The rakshas says the only way is to throw water that has had the 11th chapter of the BG chanted of it on to him. So the devotee did this and the rakshas gets liberated and the son because he was inside the rakshas. The Brahmin is very happy to see his son and then the visnuduttas came to take the rakshas and the Brahmin’s son back to godhead and the Brahmin is shock that his son is going and tells him to stay. Maharaja was really funny when he was pretending to be the father asking his son to return to his mother, to his daily chores, to all the entanglements that we have.
Anyway Maharaja said that this is a good lesson to remember if we are ever in the vicinity of man eating rakshas ;o)
How the rakshas came to be a rakshas is also a long story basically he was a farmer farming his land with his bullock carts when he heard someone screaming for help. Being so submerged in tama guna he thought let me just finish this little piece of land before I go see what is happening. Because of his lack of compassion he became a rakshas. The person who was screaming for help was a crippled person who was being attacked by vultures. Maharaja said that whoever dies in saving another devotee that person will go back to godhead.
HH Jayapataka Maharaja ki jai!
Truly blessed to get Maharaja’s association twice!
Then yesterday Maharaja gave an awesome class form the 11th chapter of Bhagavat Gita where Krishna says “Time I am the destroyer of the world...” Maharaja was saying that when he was in South America he was visiting this one cathedral and there was this huge picture of Gabriel, the arch angel, blowing on a horn and all these bodies from the graves were rising out and as they would rise, muscle and flesh would come back to the skeletons as in the graves they were just bones – I know … eeuu …
So this is describing the end of time, judgement day. These believers promote the theology that you live, die; wait for judgement day and at that time your body will once again rise. I never knew that so found this quite interesting. This is completely contradictory to vedic philosophy. Where the soul is the actual self and the body is temporary. The soul, once removed from material covering, can immediately enter the spiritual kingdom. Maharaja was quite funny when describing what would the best thing be for the body. The options are either being eaten by worms, ripped apart by vultures or burnt. Fire seems to be the best of the 3, This also removes attachment the soul might have for it.
Anyway the point is time destroys all things material.
Maharaja then described the glories to the 11th chapter of BG. When Parvati asked Lord Shiva about this chapter the following was described. (Maharaja is hilarious with the voices)
Once there was a chapter 11, Bhagavat Gita devotee. Every day he would read chapter 11 of BG. So as he was travelling he came to this one village where he wanted to stay in a guest house so he goes in and asks the guest house manager if he can have a room to stay in. so the guest house manager laughs all funny but says yes. As he shows him to his room he bids him goodnight and again laughs as if something is very funny. But the devotee just ignores it. Anyway he read chapter 11 of BG and goes to sleep. The next morning he finds that the entire guest house is empty he goes outside and sees the manager who is very shocked to see him and says “you here!” and the devotee is like “yes, I booked in here last night. Remember?” and then a Brahmin comes running along saying “My son! My son!’ then looking at the devotee, says”Only you can save him!” and the devotee says hold on and tell me what’s going on. The Brahmin explains that there is a man eating rakshas and that he use to come everyday to the village eating people so then the village told him he can’t do that so then he said he is cursed to be like this so he has to eat. So they made the arrangement that anyone who stays at the guest house will become the food for the rakshas, the only reason the devotee got saved was because he chants the 11th chapter of BG everyday. The bramin’s son was somehow in the house when the rakshas came so he was taken also.
So they go to the rakshas and plead for the son. The rakshas says the only way is to throw water that has had the 11th chapter of the BG chanted of it on to him. So the devotee did this and the rakshas gets liberated and the son because he was inside the rakshas. The Brahmin is very happy to see his son and then the visnuduttas came to take the rakshas and the Brahmin’s son back to godhead and the Brahmin is shock that his son is going and tells him to stay. Maharaja was really funny when he was pretending to be the father asking his son to return to his mother, to his daily chores, to all the entanglements that we have.
Anyway Maharaja said that this is a good lesson to remember if we are ever in the vicinity of man eating rakshas ;o)
How the rakshas came to be a rakshas is also a long story basically he was a farmer farming his land with his bullock carts when he heard someone screaming for help. Being so submerged in tama guna he thought let me just finish this little piece of land before I go see what is happening. Because of his lack of compassion he became a rakshas. The person who was screaming for help was a crippled person who was being attacked by vultures. Maharaja said that whoever dies in saving another devotee that person will go back to godhead.
HH Jayapataka Maharaja ki jai!
Truly blessed to get Maharaja’s association twice!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Xenophobia
As if South Africa doesn’t have enough violence…
Since last week or so they have been xenophobia attacks in Johannesburg. Xenophobia is racial intolerance or a dislike of foreigners. These sudden attacks were apparently brought about by the housing allocations where houses were being allocated to foreigners. Some South Africans thought that this was not right as the government should first look after their own people before accommodating foreigners (from other parts of Africa.) The attacks are so violent – on the news they had footage of a mattress being burnt and as the camera closes in you will see that there is a person on the mattress!
Kali Yuga – now is the time to get out.
I remember reading somewhere, at that time, Kirtananda Maharaja was telling Prabhupada how the government didn’t want foreigners (I think in this case it was Indians from India) coming to stay on the New Vrindavan farm. Srila Prabhupada said that was all nonsense, everything belongs to Krishna.
All of these attacks are a political stunt; these foreigners have been here several years, why are these attacks only happening now?
Since last week or so they have been xenophobia attacks in Johannesburg. Xenophobia is racial intolerance or a dislike of foreigners. These sudden attacks were apparently brought about by the housing allocations where houses were being allocated to foreigners. Some South Africans thought that this was not right as the government should first look after their own people before accommodating foreigners (from other parts of Africa.) The attacks are so violent – on the news they had footage of a mattress being burnt and as the camera closes in you will see that there is a person on the mattress!
Kali Yuga – now is the time to get out.
I remember reading somewhere, at that time, Kirtananda Maharaja was telling Prabhupada how the government didn’t want foreigners (I think in this case it was Indians from India) coming to stay on the New Vrindavan farm. Srila Prabhupada said that was all nonsense, everything belongs to Krishna.
All of these attacks are a political stunt; these foreigners have been here several years, why are these attacks only happening now?
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