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Archive for September, 2007

Random Stuff I Posted on LJ, part two – Recipes: French Toast and Rice Crispy Treats

I used to post on Live Journal a lot. There was a great community of devotees there and I provided a bit of comic relief. I wasn’t afraid to be a bit goofy. Sure, I’d post articles about how to chant better japa and some great Nityananda pastimes, but I’d also post stuff like goofy fake New Vrndavana tshirts (they’re coming soon).

And not that recipes are silly, but they were sort of random and out of the blue.

The recipe I posted was for vegan french toast. As devotees, we can’t have French Toast. No eggs, please. And I’ve never ever liked the banana-based recipes. Sorry, sorry!

Haribol!

That’s right, French TOAST! For eons now, we’ve been unable to partake of this *amazing* dish. Sure, our vegan friends have made it with bananas, but do you really want fried banana bread? Heck no!

So doooo what I dooooooo…..

Here’s the batter:
2 Cups soy, almond, or oat milk (not rice milk, it’s too thin)
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons flour
a bit of vanilla and cinnamon if you like (and you DO like!)

Mix it
Put bread in it,
and fry the bread.

Offer it to Krishna!

Vegan French toast for you!

Love and kisses,
Bhakta Eric

Then, in March of 2006, the Sampradaya Sun ran an article by a “Staff Correspondent” about how Rice Crispies breakfast cereal contains beef (this may have appeared on other devotee news sites as well). I read labels like I should read Prabhupada’s books. I knew that Rice Crispies didn’t have beef or anything else nonvegan in it. However, I did know that I hadn’t had Rice Crispy Treats since I went vegetarian because the marshmallows used to make it contain gelatin (which is made from cow horns/hooves/ickiness).

In the recent Sampradaya Sun article Kellogg’s Rice Krispies… With Beef, they alluded that Rice Krispies contains gelatin. That is not true at all.

According to their actual article and to the Kellogg’s website, Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats cereal has gelatin, not regular Rice Krispies.

Srila Prabhupada once had Rice Krispies cereal and appeared to enjoy it:

Prabhupada: Chewra is there.
Pusta Krsna: Chewra also we can purchase.
Harikesa: Yesterday that puffed rice was Rice Krispies, cereal.
Prabhupada: That was nice.
Pusta Krsna: You like with peas?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Pusta Krsna: Peanuts?
Prabhupada: Not peas, that green… Yes, green peas.
Pusta Krsna: Fried.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk — October 6, 1975, Durban

Rice Krispies Treats Cereal is basically Rice Krispies Treats chopped up in a box. We can’t eat it because of the gelatin in the marshmallows used to keep it all together. However, we can make some very tasty Rice Krispies Treats of our own. Here’s the recipe.

1/2 cup sugar or fructose
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons margarine
3/4 cup peanut butter
4 cups rice crispies

Heat up the sugar, corn syrup and margarine in a big pot and stir often. After everything is melted and starts to boil, add the peanut butter until everything is fully melted together. Now add the rice crispies, mix again. After it’s all mixed, pour into a greased square glass dish and throw it in the fridge till it sets. Cut into squares, offer to Krishna. Jaya!

Both of these recipes have been tested by me many times. For the best French Toast, the thicker the bread, the better. Trust me. You don’t want thin soggy bread. No you don’t.

I’m not sure how to make the Rice Crispy Treats healthier. Corn Syrup and white sugar aren’t exactly the best things in the world for you. If someone would want to try using raw sugar and all natural peanut butter (not that it would help all that much), let me know.

I’ve got other recipes that I’m working on – ones for common spice mixes to take the place of store-bought spice mixes that contain garlic and onions and MSG. Mixes for chili, taco seasonings, etc. Those will be figured out shortly. Excited? Yeah, I bet you are.

Bhagavad-gita – Among women I am…. (10.34)

For those new to the fray, I have a segment on my blog where I take a Gita verse or two and post the translations from four different Gaudia Vaisnava Bhagavad-gitas. I use Srila Prabhupada’s, Tripurari Swami’s, Narayana Maharaja’s and Garuda dasa’s. While all four are accepted by different Gaudia Vaisnavas, it’s really nice to see the harmony in them. It’s also nice to learn how they differ. Maybe it’s some of that “unity in diversity” jazz.

I don’t do this to say “this Bhagavad-gita is better than that Bhagavad-gita!” And I don’t do this to stir, create, tickle or otherwise agitate controversy.

The verse I’m picking today is Bhagavad-gita 10.34. Chapter 10 is a great chapter. The Opulence of the Absolute! The Yoga of Divine Manifestation! Viubhuti Yoga! The Sublime Presence of Divinity! Whatever you call it, Chapter 10 is a good bit of fun!

In Chapter 10, Krishna describes himself through use of smilies. A few months ago, I did a verse from Chapter 10. It was the “Of Secret Things I am Silence” verse. That’s one of my favorites.

But today is text 34. So let’s get on it with it!

Chapter 10, Text 34

I am all-devouring death, and I am the generator of all thins yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence, faithfulness and patience.
-Srila Prabhupada

I am death, destroyer of all; I am the source of all things yet to be. Of women I am fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, fortitude, and forbearance.
-Tripurari Swami

I am all-devouring death, and of the six progressive transformations experienced by all living beings, I am birth. Among women, I am fame, beauty, fine speech, memory, intelligence, forbearance and forgiveness.
-Narayana Maharaja


I am death, which
    takes away everything,
    and the rising into being
    of all that will be.
Of feminine attributes
    [and their presiding goddesses],
    I am fame, beauty, speech,
    remembrance, intelligence,
    constancy, and forbearance.
-Garuda dasa (Graham M. Schweig)

The chapter 10 verses are difficult to do because basically, they’re lists. Lists are translated by item, so you don’t have a ton of variation here. But since Praveen mentioned this verse in one of the comments she left yesterday, I thought that I’d tackle this one today.

Both Srila Prabhupada and Naryana Maharaja use “I am all-devouring death.” Tripurari Swami uses “I am death, destroyer of all.” While Garuda dasa uses “I am death, which takes away everything.” While we don’t know Garuda dasa’s word-for-word, Both Prabhupada and Naryana Maharaja translate sarva-harah as “all-devouring” and Tripurari Swami translates it as “destroyer of all.”

Krishna is saying that “I am death, I take away everything, I destroy all.”

It continues in Srila Prabhupada’s as “I am the generator of all things yet to be.” Tripurari Swami’s pretty well agrees with that: “I am the source of all things yet to be.” Generator and source are basically the same. Prabhupada translates udbhavah as “generator” and Tripurari Swami translates it as “source.”

Garuda dasa’s has a slightly different twist on it with “[I am]… the rising into being of all that will be.” His is poetic (that’s the point of his translation). It clearly shows the cycle of death and birth. Krishna is death that takes away everything and he’s the rising into being of all that will be. Birth.

While Srila Prabhupada’s and Tripurari Swami’s say that Krishna is the generator/source, Garuda dasa’s hints that He’s not just the origin of this birth, but the activity itself. He “is the rising into being…” “rising” is a verb, while “generator” and “source” are nouns. I wish I could see his word-for-word. Was he literally translating it? Or was he taking a poetic license? I don’t think it really changes the meaning. After all, we do worship an absolute God.

But Narayana Maharaja’s is very different. “…and of the six progressive transformations experienced by all living beings, I am birth.” The conclusion is the same: I am birth. But where does “…and of the six progressive transformations experienced by all living beings” come from?

He translates bhavisyatam as “of the progressive samskaras.” In contrast, Srila Prabhupada translates it as “of the future” and Tripurari Swami as “of future manifestations.”

Srila Prabhupada, in his purport, explains the “six basic changes” as “They are born, they grow, they remain for some time, they reproduce, they dwindle and finally vanish.” Those are the progressive transformations. I’m not sure why Narayana Maharaja translated them as “samskaras.” Maybe at one time, vedically, there were ceremonies for each stage.

All of the translations, except for Garuda dasa’s, translate “narinam” as “of (or ‘among’) women.” Garuda dasa’s translates it as “Of feminine attributes,” which is rather different, but same point. Again, we don’t have his word-for-word to see how he came to that conclusion.

Moving on, here’s a quick little chart. They go, from top to bottom:
-Srila Prabhupada
-Tripurari Swami
-Naryana Maharaja
-Garuda dasa


fame    fortune        speech          memory            intelligence    faithfulness    patience
fame    prosperity    speech          memory            intelligence    fortitude        forbearance
fame    beauty        fine speech    memory             intelligence    forbearance    forgiveness
fame    beauty        speech           remembrance    intelligence    constancy     forbearance

1) kirttih – Fame. All agree.

2) srih – Prabhupada is the only one to translate “srih” as “fortune”. Tripurari Swami translates it as “prosperity” while Narayana Maharaja and Garuda dasa translate it as “beauty.” Fortune and prosperity are the same, of course. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura defines it as “beauty.” In his purport, Narayana Maharaja defines it again as “beauty or fortune.”

3) vak – Speech or “fine speech.” Same thing, really. In his purport, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura translates it as “cultured speech.” Tripurari Swami says that “Speech (vak) is also identified with the Sanskrit language, which is said to be capable of expressing all ideas.”

4) smrtih – Memory or remembrance. Also the same.

5) medha – Intelligence. All agree. This was the word that Praveen specifically mentioned in her comment. “Of women (or “Of feminine attributes”)… I am intelligence.” All translations agree. There’s also nothing in the purports about this.

6 & 7) dhrtih & ksama – This word and the next, ksama, seem to have very similar meanings. So much so that while Tripurari Swami used the word “forbearance” for dhrtih, Narayana Maharaja and Garuda dasa used it for ksama. The words: fortitude, forbearance and constancy are all very similar in meaning. Every translation, except for Srila Prabhupada’s uses them for one or both of the words. Srila Prabhupada uses “faithfulness” and “patience” respectively. I really like that. Faithfulness is a type of fortitude, but it’s softer and seems more spiritual. Patience is a virtue, similar to forbearance, but kinder, with more mercy. And speaking of mercy, Narayana Maharaja translates ksama as forgiveness, possibly taking that hint from Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. Forgiveness is certainly one of the most wonderful things ever. To be forgiven is beautiful. I’m not sure why it is translated as such when others translate it as patience or forbearance, but I’m glad it’s there.

Interestingly enough, Srila Prabhupada translated “ksama” as “forgiveness” in Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto Seven and in many classes.

And that’s the verse.

The reason that this was picked was because of the last part. The “of women” part. Here, Krishna is saying that he is the good qualities of women. These qualities are actually the qualities of the seven wives of dharma (as noted in Tripurari Swami’s purport), though he doesn’t mention who they were (aside from their names clearly being the words above – Kirti, Sri, etc).

The Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 6, Chapter 6 is all about the Daughters of Daksa and their Progeny. However, from what I read, it doesn’t mention these daughters. Just that Prajapati Daksa has sixty daughters. Is it mentioned elsewhere in the Bhagavatam? I don’t know. I’m not a scholar, I’m a parrot.

Narayana Maharaja’s purport goes into more detail. They were the daughters of Prajapati Daksa. He was the one who cursed Narada Muni so that he (Narada) had to constantly travel (which seems to be why sanyasis must travel).

I’ve just spent the last half hour researching the daughters of Daksa. There are different accounts as to how many daughters he had (sixty, twenty-four, etc). And it’s rather confusing, so I stopped, thinking that I was probably taking it a bit too far.

And in that light, I leave you with the last bit of purport from Srila Prabhupada…

“The six opulences listed are considered to be feminine. If a woman possesses all of them or some of them she becomes glorious. Sanskrit is a perfect language and is therefore very glorious. After studying, if one can remember the subject matter, he is gifted with good memory, or smrti. One need not read many books on different subject matters; the ability to remember a few and quote them when necessary is also another opulence.”

Random Stuff I Posted on LJ, part one – Chant Hare Krishna

A few years ago, I kept a blog on Live Journal. In fact, I still cross post many of my entries there. During that time, I posted many things I wrote for sitproperly.com, daily happenings and other realizations. I also posted a whole MESS of random weirdness. From Chant Hare Krishna reminders to messed up little comic strips. From recipes to wacky Ebay finds.

And in a pointless attempt to consolidate my online life, I present for you a new six(ish) part series: Random Stuff I Posted on LJ! During 2004 -2006, the ISKCON & Beyond on LJ was pretty big. It was a nice community where everyone generally got along. These folks were solely responsible for keeping me in practice. They were encouraging, supportive, helpful and just wonderful people.

In turn, I graced them with one of my only good qualities: Randomness.

I have a love for the surreal.

And so my first installment of RSIPLJ gives you… Chant Hare Krishna!

We all need to be reminded sometimes to chant. Our mind wanders, our life ebbs and flows like the tidal waters of tiny inlets near an ocean and generally we’re human (or mostly).

So when I came across this patch on Ebay, I was tickled to near leaving the body.

chant.gif

This came out of the punk scene in the waning years of the Krishnacore period. Isn’t is marvelous?

Now, some folks don’t get it. And that’s ok. We are all different, unique parts and parcels. However, it inspired me. A lot. I followed suit. I walked in the footsteps, so to speak. I did what I do best… I took it too far. But the key is – I did it randomly!

My first exercise into this fold was not a Chant Hare Krishna parody. It was a parody of “Andre the Giant Has a Posse.”

posse.gif

I’m not exactly sure where it came from. Again, it’s random. But I felt that while Andre the Giant may indeed have a posse, Srila Prabhupada’s was better.

spposse.gif

Indeed.

And then I got to thinking of other parodies that I could do. But then I stopped thinking about that and started working on a short “comic strip” parody of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, aptly titled “Bhakta Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” (that’s coming soon, don’t you worry).

My parody of that involved Bhakta Cowboy Curtis, in the end… well, I don’t want to give away the exciting conclusion… but in the end, Bhakta Cowboy Curtis strikes a memorable pose from which anyone at all could derive “Chant Hare Krishna.”

But for those who couldn’t…

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I wanted to do a bigger version, but I think I used this for my LJ Icon. Other icons followed…

cluck.jpeg god.jpeg

The right one is from the famous Lost TV show. The left one is from the famous Christian Chick Tracts that feature God as a faceless dude in a robe sitting on a rather expensive toilet.

Then it hit me. We are fallen jivas. We fell down from the spiritual sky because we wanted to be Krishna. We wanted to be the meanest, the prettiest, the baddest mofo low downs around this town. In short… we wanted to be “da mastah.” And what better embodiment of that original sin than Shonuff the Shogun of Harlem?

shonuff.jpg

Shonuff thought he was the meanest, the prettiest, the baddest mofo low down around this town. He thought *he* was Da Mastah! But, actually, it was not the famous Shonuff, the Shogun of Harlem who was Da Master. Oh no. Da Master is the Holy Name! So, dear Shonuff, please take this Holy Name and chant! Your life will be sublime!

Now, there was no way to really out do my Shonuff parody. And I’ll admit, my final few forays into this genre are weak and predictable. I thought I’d use a tried and true symbol of true randomness. Next up… the famous “Indian dude on a motorcycle.” Let’s give it up for him!


chantvroom.jpg

It didn’t go over as well as I had hoped. Too predictably random? I mean, who hasn’t used the old “Indian dude on a motorcycle” before?

And like everything that went on for far too long, there was a Christmas Special. I had reservations about doing it. I mean, a parody of my own parody? This could signal the end of the world. You know, real wrath of God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling. Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanoes, the dead rising from their graves. Cats and dog living together… mass hysteria!

But I digress to bring you the famous It’s a Very Chant Hare Krishna Christmas:

merrychristmas.jpg

That is when I knew it was over. At that moment, I knew that parody had become parody. That random had become predictable.

And so with one final blow, one final kick in the crotch to all things keeping us from chanting the Holy Names of the Lord, I squeaked out one more… and “forever” hung up my sandals.

kick.jpeg

That’s right, I finished with an icon. Weren’t expecting that, huh? Didn’t think so.

And thank you for somehow making it to the end of the first installment of Random Stuff I Posted On LJ Part One. Stay in school, say “no” to drugs, Chant Hare Krishna and Staaaaaaaaaaaay Demented!

Classic ISKCON Vinyl for you!

I’ve always been interested in the early vinyl recordings that Srila Prabhupada and the devotees did. I started collecting them about three or four years ago and I’ve done pretty well for myself here. I had NO idea that this many records were released! I couple of years ago, someone (maybe on Sampradaya Sun?) Did a couple of articles on Hare Krishna music. They included pretty much anything that was even influenced by devotees (like Alice Coltrain).

That’s not really my focus.

As a rule, I’m trying to stick to the more traditional bhajan and kirtan recordings. Releases like “Change of Heart,” the Michael Cassidy recordings and those wacky Hansadutta records wouldn’t make it into the list. This is all (or mostly) traditional.

Because there is no way to be sure if I have “everything,” I’m hoping that devotees will come out of the woodwork and give me a heads up on some of the pieces that I’ve missed.


index.jpg

I know that I don’t have everything. Heck, my entire collection won’t even fit in the above pic. So here’s a list of what I have, broken down by record label.

There is a reason I’m doing this, bare with me.

Apple Records
- 1810 – Hare Krsna Mantra (7″ Single)
- 1821 – Govinda (7″ Single)
- SKAO3376 – Radha Krishna Temple LP

Golden Avatar Productions
GAP 1001 – Every Town and Village
GAP 1002 – Gopinatha/Ohe Vaisnava Thakura (7″ Single)
Gopi-108 – Govinda

Hare Krsna Records
12″ LPs
- 1002 – Hare Krsna Festival Part II
- 1003 – Hare Krsna Festival
- 1004 – The Beautiful Hare Krsna People
7″ Singles
- 2001 – Hare Krsna Festival
- 2002 – Hare Krsna Festival
- 2003 – Hare Krsna Festival Amsterdam

Productions Parampara
- RPI 101 – Temple Radha Krishna
- RPI 102 – Vrindavana
- RPI 103 – Goddess of Fortune

Radha Govinda Productions
- 20072 – Radha Govinda Productions

Radha Krsna Productions
- 1001 – India
- 1003 – Krsna Meditation (Double LP)
- 1004 – Hare Krsna Festival
- 1005 – Krsna Meditation


Other records

- A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami – Krishna Consciousness
- Benediction Moon

And that’s my collection. So … what? Am I just bragging? Totally.
Ok, not really. I’m starting a new feature here on my blog. Each Ekadasi (I hope), I’ll feature a new recording. I wish to Krish that I could put up the entire record, but I don’t have nearly the band width for that. (Can anyone help me there?) I’ll pick a track or two and put them up in a low-fi MP3. Y’all can have a listen-to that-a way.


hkr-2001-harekrsnafestival.jpg

Each post about this will feature extensive pictures and a review/write up by yours truly. I won’t go in order and I probably won’t do “the famous George Harrison’s Radha Krishna Temple.” Because we all have that.

Also, if you know of other records that would fall into this category, please let me know. I am pretty sure I have everything that I know exists (except for the Visnujana Swami 7″ with the Dallas gurukula – must find that somehow). I know I’m missing things (like whatever Radha Krsna Productions #1002 was).

I’ll start this on the next Ekadasi, October 6th (here, anyway). I, of course, reserve the right to do it more often and also randomly.


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Bhagavad-gita in Black and White (Quasi-book review)

“Spiritual realization is a process of learning who we are and what we are not. It can take years to throw off the yoke of social condition, but the reward is in realizing your eternal constitutional position as a child of God, not as a pawn in the game of racial identity politics.”

gita.jpg

A lot has been done with the Gita in our little movement. And I think that’s great. Take the Legend of Bagger Vance. Not bad. I totally don’t get the golf thing, but that’s not important here.

What’s important is that yesterday the book The Bhagavad-Gita in Black and White; From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness came into the bookstore I own. It’s authored by Charukrishna dasa (Charles Michael Byrd) who is, bodily, of black, white and Cherokee heritage. Charukrishna, before becoming a devotee, was a proponent of mixed-race pride.

The book is laid out into 18 chapters, each titled as the corresponding Bhagavad-gita chapter (Ch. 7 is Knowledge of the Absolute). Charukrishna prabhu then picks out a verse or two, gives a very nice explanation based upon Srila Prabhupada’s gita. After he finishes his purport, he then explains how it relates to our society’s perception of race.

I started picking through the book last night, figuring that since I’m white and have very little experience with the black community, I couldn’t possibly relate. But after reading a bit, I’m really getting it.

It’s amazing that even through all this social conditioning that I, a white boy from farm country, was having the same realizations about race, racism and race pride that a mixed-race fellow from Virginia turned mixed-race pride advocate was having.

A lot of what he is saying in the book is fairly politically incorrect. But I challenge anyone to say he’s wrong about how the race card is used against us (“us” meaning all people).

For example, in his Bhagavad-gita 7.5 section, he first explains, exactly as Srila Prabhupada does, that living entities are of a superior energy of the Supreme. He also quotes the same Srimad Bhagavatam verse (10.87.30) as Prabhupada. He discusses false ego and how to become fully Krishna conscious. Just like Srila Prabhupada’s purport.

He next applies this to race-consciousness. And this is where it can get a bit dodgy for the liberals amongst us.

The clamor over hate-crime legislation is a perfect example of how competing racial and ethnic divisions – brought about by impious souls diverting their minds to illusory pursuits such as racial pride and superiority – are tearing our country asunder. In the aftermath of the vicious dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. in 1998 by three white supremacists in Jasper, Texas, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said the case “clearly shouts across the world for the urgent need of this Congress to move quickly to strengthen and to pass anti-hate legislation.” As I wrote in “A Guilty Verdict in Jasper,” Mfume’s remarks border on the preposterous, as if to say that Byrd would still be alive today if Texas had anti-hate legislation on the books and if his killers knew of it beforehand.

Although anti-hate legislations may result in courts meting out heftier sentences after the face, these laws won’t resurrect the dead. Why is there no emphasis on reconstructing race, on teaching our children, from first grade on, that it is a social construct, that difference between human beings – whether between white and black or between Serb and Kosovan – are largely perceived? ….

Once this country’s race leaders cease exploiting the gross and subtle inferior energy (matter) for their own financial and political purposes, the superior energy (the living entity) will have a better chance to remember its real spiritual mind and intelligence and transcend this senseless race-consciousness. Only by developing htis spiritual insight will we be able to co-exist on this planet and gradually work toward understanding our common source, God.

And folks, that is one hell of a Bhagavad-gita class.

My one critique of the book is that he doesn’t connect this enough. He doesn’t link this as much as he could to our philosophy. For example, at the end of the last paragraph, he could have ended “…whose identity is firmly ensconced in a racial essence, a racial consciousness, a bodily concept.”

Doing that would not only link what he’s saying directly to Srila Prabhupada’s words, but would also give devotees a better understanding of what he’s talking about. Not that we’re too dim to get that racial consciousness is a bodily conception, but seeing it there on the page really drives it home.

In the final paragraph in the section above, he does, of course, connect the two, but, at least to me, it seems clunky. While he explains what inferior and superior energy is, he doesn’t really let on how it relates to what he’s talking about. In race-consciousness, the superior energy (the living entities) is manipulating superior energy (other living entities) by using inferior energy (bodily concept – in this case, race).

He then jumps right back into a Bhagavad-gita purport, writing “Continual study of the Bhavad-gita leads to the firm understanding and realization that Krishna alone is the ultimate limit of para-tattva (the science of understanding the highest truth), the Supreme Absolute Reality, and that there is no more exalted knowledge than knowing Him. Only by surrendering exclusively to His lotus feet can one become free from the bondage of maya.”

While I certainly agree with that, it seems to almost come out of nowhere.

Now I didn’t come here to rip apart this book. Not at all! I’m really excited about it. This is my new favorite thing ever! Sure, I have a few critiques, but overall, the whole of this book is amazing.

Take, for example, his critique of Jesse Jackson’s “Keep Hope Alive!” campaign from Chapter 9 – The Most Confidential Knowledge.

Inasmuch as “hoping” is the same thing as “postponing” – i.e., it is not “doing” for oneself – what is Jackson actually advocating that black folk do? Think about that, won’t you?

That quote alone speaks volumes. Hoping is postponing. When taken in light of something as heavy as revolutionary thought, that’s some pretty scary stuff. Just who is Rev. Jackson working for?

However, my critique of his work comes back in Chapter 10 – Opulence of the Absolute. Charukrishna prabhu writes “America’s success is by the grace of God, but our nation tends to neglect this truth. Moreover, we seem to ignore our virtues as a nation and prefer, instead, to break into small factions and warring groups.”

This is true. But the conclusion which he’s hinting at is, in my opinion, flawed and simply not spiritual. He is saying that instead of being a united America, we are splitting ourselves into groups according to (among other things) race. But isn’t America, or any nation, inferior energy? Isn’t patriotism a by-product of bodily consciousness? Essentially, we are not American or Russian or Chinese anymore than we are Black or White or Mulatto. These labels are illusions. And our so-called leaders use these labels, these illusions, to manipulate us. It is true of black leaders, it is true of national leaders.

He goes on to say, “Whenever one sees some extraordinary power, one should understand that it is derived from God’s power. It logically follows, therefore, that America’s predominance in the world is due to God’s favor.”

But this is faulty logic. A rapist, for example, rapes to have power over his victim. Is this power, this predominance over the victim due to God’s favor? No. It’s due to the rapist’s freewill and misuse of God’s energy. This is an extreme example, but I don’t see how either could be from God’s favor.

In the next paragraph, however, he and I are back on track.

Recall the dismay expressed by many Africa-Americans when the Census Bureau reported in 2003 that Hispanics had surpassed blacks as the largest minority in America. Observe also the increasing warfare between black and Latino street gangs in many of our nation’s largest cities – particularly Los Angeles.

This is due to a depraved devotion to race-consciousness. In fact, it would not be far off to say that in our country – and throughout most of the modern world – race-consciousness has replaced God-consciousness.

All this is true. But all this could be extended to national-consciousness, patriotism, as well. His book isn’t about that, so I wouldn’t expect him to draw that connection. However, I didn’t expect him to so awkwardly bring up that America’s power is due to God’s favor.

Again, I feel as if I’m criticizing too much. This is a very important book. I think it should definitely be read. Not only that, I feel that books like this should be written more often. We always talk about spiritual solutions to material problems, but we never see examples of them (aside from a few here and there that often seem pointless and very out of touch). But this book really is in touch with its audience. It’s grounded enough in Bhagavad-gita philosophy to please nearly any devotee and its critique of the equal rights movement is, often, brilliant.

And maybe that is where my own problems lie. I have little to no interaction with the equal rights movement. While I’ve always felt a comradery with black culture (starting way back with Sesame Street and continuing through the 80′s hiphop movement), I’ve not actually worked hand-in-hand with these folks.

Maybe my critique of his nationalism is premature. Maybe his audience is nationalistic and not yet ready to throw off the yoke of that particular social condition. Or maybe it’s Charukrishna who is not yet ready.

And maybe my ignorance of the inner workings of the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan prohibits me from understanding why Charukrishna prabhu slags on Farrakhan’s February 2007 speech where he states “How come we, the people of God, cannot embrace each other?” The author criticizes Farrakhan for not being realized enough. Farrakhan doesn’t see Krishna as supreme, only Jesus and Muhammad. But shouldn’t Farrakhan be praised (at least in this respect) for coming as far as he has?

Charukrishna praises Malik El Shabazz’s (Malcolm X’s) transformation at the end of his life. Malcolm traveled to Mecca and realized that he no longer believed in the separation of the races. Farrakhan, now, seems to be preaching the same thing. Charukrishna’s politics again seem to get in the way. Or maybe my own politics are getting in the way of me seeing what this devotee is actually saying.

I did, however, particularly enjoy this quote:

We should school our children from kindergarten by teaching them that race is not real, but we won’t. We’ll continue to focus on battling racism, race-based violence and race-hatred, but we’ll be content to leave the construct of race standing as if it has a basis in reality. It sounds good and noble, but it’s akin to fighting the symptoms of a disease without giving a damn about combating the root cause.

His spiritual conclusions are perfect. They are directly from Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita: As It Is. He explains the Gita in usually common terms and is very clear and concise.

However, what he is also saying is very politically incorrect. It will take some amount of understanding by those of us who have been brought up believing in the equality of races. But Charukrishna explains that races don’t exist and therefore cannot be equal. Why waste times trying to equate zero to zero?

Politically, he is a Libertarian (note the capital L). Libertarians are generally capitalistic isolationists. However, in this book, he is arguing against isolationism, at least on the basis of race. I personally don’t feel that devotees should enter into the political spectrum. We do not belong in Washington DC. Just as Srila Prabhupada said about the Mantra Rock festival in 1967, “This is no place for a brahmacari.”

But, as is the nature of his book, Charukrishna prabhu must be political. It’s a book about politics. However, sometimes his arguments seem contradictory. In one chapter, he’s down on Marx, but in the next he praises the idea of empowering the nation’s poor and oppressed (though not with “venomous diatribes” or “separatist ideology”), which is a Marxist idea (albeit, more Marxist than Marx).

These lead me to believe that Charukrishna had a spiritual crisis and solved it with the Bhagavad-gita and Krishna consciousness. That is, naturally, a great thing. Who among us will object? But he also seems to be having a political crisis. Maybe he didn’t work through it prior to becoming a devotee. I personally didn’t either. I was a social democrat, but that never sat well with me. I dabbled in the libertarian thing, but capitalism seemed too creepy and directly opposed to what we, as devotees, fundamentally believe (that everything, including wealth, is Krishna’s). That’s when I figured out that I was an anarchist and it fit perfectly within the Krishna conscious philosophy.

And my critiques (the political ones anyway), come from my anarchist background. My critique of his patriotism, especially. Of course, I feel that most anarchists miss the conclusion of the “we are not this country” philosophy, which is also, “we are not these bodies.” But that’s for another time.

In conclusion, I’ll let Charukrishna take us out on a high note…

Our highest calling is the clarion call to return to God. We do ourselves a disservice to think in terms of race and ethnicity. We do the world a disservice to think in these terms, too. Violence begins at home, and if we identify with our bodies, we commit the greatest violence to ourselves and to others as well. Unless we recognize our spiritual birthright, our relation to every living being in existence, we cannot recognize our common Father. If we do not recognize Him, we recognize nothing.

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The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White; From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness by Charles Michael Byrd (Charukrishna) is available from Powells for $16.95.

The drawback to preferring Prabhupada's original books

I was at Philly Rath this weekend and there were a few book distributors selling Prabhupada’s original Gita! It was the compact edition, which I wanted and didn’t have. So I approached one nice young lad, named Philip and asked him if these were the original editions. He hesitantly told me that they were, but he had the revised edition with him too!

After I told him that I wanted to buy the original, he told me that he preferred that as well. But the whole mood of the conversation was tainted by the Ritviks.

I’ll explain.

But first, a quick history of the Ritvik movement. In my religion, we have gurus, spiritual teachers. You can have many teachers, of course, but your guru is the person who initiates you. That’s when we get the sanskrit name. The standard practice in my religion is that the guru initiates his or her disciples and when he or she “leaves his or her body” (ie. “dies”), the disciples, if they’re qualified, can become gurus. They can’t become gurus until their guru passes. And once their guru passes, he, of course, no longer accepts disciples.

The Ritviks believe something of the opposite. Srila Prabhupada, before leaving, was accepting so many disciples that there simply wasn’t any way for him to personally initiate them. He appointed a few senior disciples to initiate on his behalf. The new initiates were still Srila Prabhupada’s disciples. This is a fairly common practice. However, the Ritviks believe that even after Srila Prabhupada passed, that this system should continue. But that’s simply not how it works.

This has been a big, unending debate that is, frankly, old and worn out. Much like the abortion debate or the debate over whether Ford is better than Chevy. Of course, it’s amazingly important, but I think everyone is pretty tired of it.

The Ritviks have left ISKCON (in one way or another). It’s a touchy subject. Annoying too.

I do find myself agreeing with the Ritviks in one aspect though. I, like them, believe that Srila Prabhupada’s books should not be changed.

Herein lies the problem.

While I totally disagree with the Ritviks on every other point, especially their conclusions, I agree with them on the book changes. And so, sometimes, I find myself lumped in with them.

I don’t like this.

Sometimes, in ISKCON, it can get a little black and white. Meaning, if someone is promoting Srila Prabhupada’s original books, the first thing that comes to some people’s minds is “hey! this person must be a ritvik!” That’s a real shame.

But it goes deeper than that.

A lot of the research and cataloging of the book changes has been done by the Ritviks. Many of the websites about it are run by Ritviks. One of the sad qualities I’ve found about these people is that they (at least some of them) can get very offensive. For example, they’ll make up nasty names for other devotees based upon the spiritual names that Srila Prabhupada gave to them (which I think is an offense to Prabhupada). I don’t care what you think of these people, you simply do NOT do that!

It has gotten better lately, I’ll admit that. You can pretty well go to any of the sites and not be greeted with that nonsense all up in your face. But dig a little deeper or follow a link or two and you’re there.

Whatever happened to respectful debate?

The offensiveness is found on both sides, but mostly I’ve found it on the Ritvik side of things.

Another issue I have with some of these Ritviks is that they’ll crash ISKCON sponsored events. Like Philly Ratha-yatra. Now, you’d think “ok, here’s a place where devotees of all sects and denominations could come together, chant and dance and feast just like in the old days!” But no. The Ritviks come, distribute their “Back to Prabhupada” magazine to the unsuspecting public. Sometimes they cause a scene (though they didn’t this year), generally turning off people to the philosophy. Simply, this is not the place for such a debate.

And so when I tell some devotees that I prefer Srila Prabhupada’s original books, I’ll sometimes get that look like, “are you … one of … them?” No! Of course not! I just like Prabhupada’s original words.

Honestly, I think that this isn’t a problem for just me. I think it has polarized ISKCON. I think that ISKCON is less likely to change their printing and revising policies specifically because of the Ritviks. This is, I feel, shortsighted on both the Ritviks and ISKCON’s part. I hope this changes in the future.

And because I was criticizing some devotees, I also like to throw out a few good things. As far as the Ritviks go, their devotion to Srila Prabhupada is inspiring. While I don’t agree with their conclusions, who can say that they don’t love Srila Prabhupada? On the ISKCON side, these devotees are just trying to please Srila Prabhupada by staying true to ISKCON. I personally don’t believe that you have to agree with everything that ISKCON does in order to stay true, but that’s neither here nor there at this point.

All glories to the vaisnava devotees of all sects, denominations and affiliations! Hopefully we can all come together, if not in this lifetime, in the next or beyond.

Original Sin vs. THE Original Sin

Generally, in Krishna consciousness, we do our best to find the similarities between our philosophy and other philosophies and religions. I think this is a really important thing. It’s good to find common ground with whomever you’re speaking with.

But, I feel, there comes a time when you really do have to sort out what you believe and what you simply do not believe.

For me, when I started reading about Krishna consciousness, I was a practicing Baptist. I was a born again Christian. So naturally, I tried to link the two. In some ways, they link up. They’re both monotheistic, both about loving God. But there were so many questions I had with my faith that simply couldn’t be answered by evangelical Christianity.

Specifically, “original sin” and God punishing Himself via Jesus Christ for all of humanity’s sins.

The more I got involved in Krishna consciousness, the less attached to Christianity I was. The writings of Srila Prabhupada certainly helped with this. One book in particular was The Science of Self Realization. Especially the chapter entitled Understanding Krishna and Christ.

In it, Srila Prabhupada has a conversation with a Benedictine Monk and a Catholic cardinal. Also included is an essay about Jesus (Jesus Christ was a Guru). These helped quite a lot, but didn’t tackle original sin.

I put it all to the back of my mind, focusing on chanting and the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. I came to realize that I simply didn’t believe in original sin anymore than I believed that Christ was the only way to heaven.

It was in New Vrndavana where I found a book by Bhaktivinoda Thakura entitled Tattva-viveka (not Bhakti-tattva-viveka). In it he gives his opinions on many different theologies. In one verse and purport, he tackles original sin and the savior philosophy. Here is what is said:

Some philosophers say that because of the first living entity’s sin all the other entities are imprisoned in the material world. Later, punishing Himself for their sins, God delivers the living entities.

Thinking about the virtues and faults of this world, some moralist monotheists concluded that this material world is not a place of alloyed pleasures. They decided that the material world is a prison to punish the living entities. If there is punishment, then there must be a crime. If there were no crime, then why would there be any punishment? What crime did the living entities commit? Unable to properly answer this question, some men of small intelligence gave birth to a very wild idea. God created the first man and placed him in a pleasant garden with his wife. Then God forbade the man to taste the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Following the evil counsel of a wicked being, the first man and woman tasted the fruit of the tree of knowledge, thus disobeying God’s command. In this way they fell from that garden into the material world filled with sufferings. Because of their offense, all other living entities are offenders from the moment of their birth. Not seeing any other way to remove the offense, God Himself took birth in a humanlike form, took on His own shoulders the sins of His followers, and then died. All who Him easily attain liberation, and all who do not follow Him fall into an eternal hell. In this way God assumes a humanlike form, punishes Himself, and thus liberates the living entities. And intelligent person cannot make sense of any of this.

This never sat well with me. Why would God create such a system? It seems pointless, circular and clunky. And, for some reason, God has a son and punishes His son (who is 100% God – so, God punishes Himself), not for our sins, necessarily, but for the sins of Adam and Eve, which we’ve inherited (original sin).

Instead of just brushing it under the rug, ignoring it, I accidentally found Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s critique of it. I thought that I just couldn’t get it. It didn’t make sense. And, as it turns out, it doesn’t really make sense. Yet, this is what I based my entire Christ-based faith and philosophy upon.

If original sin doesn’t really exist, there’s a chance to be sinless. And if someone is sinless, then the Bible verse “…all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” is simply mistaken. So they invented original sin to deal with that. I don’t actually believe that “original sin” is in the bible. It seems to come from Saint Augustine of Hippo. However, most Christians seem to accept it as truth.

I couldn’t, and so rejected it.

We are being punished by a so-called “just God” for what Adam did, not for what we are doing. It’s not our crime, but his. Yet, we still must suffer in hell forever because of it? That does not seem just. It is unjust and silly and I was tickled to see that Bhaktivinoda Thakura found it in much the same light.

But what does Krishna consciousness actually say about this?

We have a bit of a different take on it. You can’t say that we don’t believe in original sin, because we do believe that there is an original sin. The original sin is that instead of serving God, we want to become God. Instead of being the servant, we want to be the controller.

This is very similar to Adam and Eve’s fall down. They didn’t want to follow the teachings of God, they wanted to eat that fruit from the tree of knowledge.

The difference is that, in Krishna conscious philosophy, we ourselves are Adam and Eve. Everyday we want to be the controllers. For example, we set up our schedules just so and when something happens that’s not according to our plans, we freak out. Or we get attached to our position in society or at our job, etc. We don’t like to be subordinate.

We believe that this material world was created just for that.

In an old Back to Godhead article, Ravindra Svarupa prabhu writes,

You see, as the offspring of God, made in His image, we inherit the qualities of God – like Him, we are eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. But we possess those divine qualities in minute quantity. For we are not God. God is great and One without a second. We, His creatures, are tiy and many without number. The creator is independent, and we are dependent. The dependent many are by constitution eternal servants of the independent One, and as long as we act as servants, we remain in the Kingdome of God and enjoy full divine life with Him.

But some among the innumerable, dependent souls don’t like that subordination. We thought – and still think – it is better to be God. We rebellious souls are sent into the material world, a place created just for us to play out our fantasies. We cannot be God – the post is filled – but here we can forget Him and work on our own little God projects.

That’s why this world is so crazy and hellish. It’s chock-full of people trying to make it as God.

That’s basically our take on it. There’s, of course, more to it. This naturally leads into conversations about karma, reincarnation, the soul’s constitutional position and so on. Those are for another day. For now, we can conclude with the idea that there is an original sin, but it’s not Adam’s desire to eat a fruit, but our own desire to be God.

As was said above, we view this world as a place to play out these fantasies, this original sin. We see the material world as punishment for forgetting our rightful place as servants of God. But there isn’t just punishment here. Here, in our human bodies with human brains and intellect, we can start to comprehend our mistakes. We can, in fact, because fully aware of them, fully realizing our true nature.

On one hand, the material world is a place of punishment, but in this same material world lies the means to escape this punishment. That escape is by reconnecting to the Supreme Whole, God, Krishna.

The simplest way to do this is also the most effective. To connect to God, we should chant His names. There is so much philosophy to study and so many things to learn, but the culmination of all that knowledge is chanting.

The chant that we practice is: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. It is our cry for help, saying “Oh Lord, please engage me in Your service!” We are begging to remember that we are servants of God. This is very effective. Every time we chant, we break down more and more of that barrier we’ve placed between our selves and God. The more we chant, the clearer it becomes.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Appearance Day!

Today is the appearance day of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He is the spiritual master (guru) of Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master’s spiritual master. Our line goes backwards from Srila Prabhupada to Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati to Gaura Kishor dasa Babaji to Bhaktivinoda Thakura. And it is his birthday that we are celebrating today.


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A really good bio is available to read here.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote a ton of books, songs and poems. Many are sung by Hare Krishna devotees everyday. Many of those are here.

One song in particular that is my favorite is Prasada Sevaya. A really cool rendition of it is

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To celebrate this day, devotees fast until noon.

edit – Found this amazing picture of Bhaktivinoda Thakura! I don’t know the story behind the hat and the garb, but it’s pretty damn cool anyway…

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Philly Ratha-Yatra Weekend!

This weekend was wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that upon returning from it, all I want to do is watch Casablanca and mope about not being around devotees (though, instead, I’m just watching Buffy).

I had a few reservations about the weekend. The plans on how to get there weren’t exactly falling into place. Was this some sign that I should cancel it? I hate reading into these things.

Luckily, there’s car rentals. I got a good deal and was on my way.

I arrived after dark at Elisabeth’s. It was the first time meeting her. And after the horrible experience I had with the last person I had a first time meeting with (SLC), I was a bit apprehensive. And nervous. I didn’t want another experience like that.

But VERY thankfully, it was the exact opposite of it. We chatted a bit and watched some TV (hey! House is a good show!) and Eddie Izzard and talked more till falling asleep.

The next morning, the day of the Rath, was Ekadasi. We ate a handful of grapes and a banana or two, got dressed and headed off to the event.

At this point, I don’t even want to talk much about it. It was great. I had a great time.

One of the surreal highlights were the bagpippers.

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Why were there bagpipers at a Ratha-Yatra? I have no idea. They lead the procession, playing “Hare Krishna” melodies (seriously, this was WEIRD – but oh so Philly). Elisabeth and I held the “Philadelphia ISKCON” sign. Then came Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu…

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What’s cool is that two of the devotees (Caru-candra and Priya Darshana) were both at the temple when I started coming. They’re still around and so am I. It was great.

And after them, came the rest of the folks…

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Olivia found me while I was carrying the sign (which had misspelled Acharya, by the way) and we talked for a bit. Elisabeth and I were released of sign duty and joined the rest of the devotees for the big kirtana.

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Another bit of Philly surrealism was Ben Franklin.

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Why? I don’t know, but I was happy to see him. Most of the time, he was walking around, carrying a Bhagavad-gita. That’s great!

This was a Ratha-Yatra that David Byrne, circa 1986 – True Stories should have been narrating. It was weird. But I loved it. Quite possibly the best one I’ve been to ever.

After the procession, Elisabeth and I got some prasad (food) and found Ananga Manjari, Nedra (who reads and posts here a lot), Bhagavan (who I knew from NV and who is now married to Ananga), Olivia and Mangari Lila. We sat around and talked. I loved it.

At one point, Ananga’s kids and another lil vaisnava were running full speed into the Moon… bouncy .. thinger… This thing:
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It was adorable!

The day was winding down and so I think everyone left. I wanted to say goodbye to .. well, everyone. But could only manage to find Olivia, who was in quite a mood. We hugged anyway, said goodbye and Elisabeth and I were off.

What an amazing Ratha-Yatra!

The devotee community there was so sweet. I really really liked it. If it weren’t for harsh winters, I would move there. Even with harsh winters, it’s tempting.

The next day… that would be today… we woke up and we went to Govindas Restaurant. The cafe side. I think I saw Prema there. He’s a devotee I’ve known for years. I’m pretty sure it was him. He sort of recognized me. And I saw Arvin too. If you’ve been following my blog since it’s been on LJ, he was the Indian devote who accompanied me, Jan, Yaitsa and Madhava Gosh to Bhahulavana last summer. He remembered me. Damn, I really love Philly.

Ok, enough with the babble. That was my weekend. Anyone else want to weigh in?

Big super thanks to Elisabeth, Lola (who looks nothing like a man) and Scrabble for hostessing me this weekend. It was very appreciated!

Oh My Krishna!

Today was great. Met SO many people who I’ve always wanted to meet! Nedra and Ananga and Manjari Lila made my day. And seeing Olivia again was great. And I saw Caru-candra (we sort of joined up around the same time), and Bhagavan (who was at NV when I was) and a bunch of other devotees I knew.

I really love Philly.

I wish I would have gotten more pictures of everyone. I wish I would have gotten ANY pictures of anyone. But I didn’t.

Great day. Will post what pics I have tomorrow when I return.

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