Re: The Food-Price Crisis

PLEASE SEND THIS ACROSS TO MANY PEOPLE SO THAT THEY MAY KNOW HOW MEAT EATING CONTRIBUTES TO ECOLOGICAL ECONOMIC CULTURAL MORAL AND SPIRITUAL DISASTER. IT ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO GLOBAL WARMING AND POLLUTION.

PEOPLE HAVE SAID THAT VEGETARIANISM MEANS DEFORESTATION AND ECOLOGICAL IMBALANCE. BUT THIS IS JUST IMAGINATION. SEE THE EFFECT ON THE ENVIRONMENT BY EATING MEAT.

PROCESSING 1kg OF MEAT GENERATES ENOUGH CO2 AS 150 MILES (240 KM) OF TRAVELLING BY CAR !!! THAT IS THE CO2 GENERATED FROM BURNING ATLEAST 21 L OF PETROL IN THE CAR ENGINE. HOW MUCH CO2 IS THAT????? YOU JUDGE

AND CONSUMES 172,800,000 JOULES (OR 41300.1912 KCAL OF HEAT - ENOUGH TO COMPLETELY BOIL 413 LITRES OF WATER !! FROM 0 TO 100 DEGREES C)

DO YOU KNOW THAT 15 BILLION (15,000,000,000) ANIMALS ARE SLAUGHTERED IN ONE YEAR??? IT IS MORE THAN TWICE THE WORLD POPULATION

OUR VEGETARIAN CROPS ARE BEING USED UP TO FEED ANIMALS FOR KILLING. INSTEAD WE CAN EASILY SUPPORT THE CURRENT POPULATION

SO YOU DECIDE?? TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT MEAT? IF I WERE YOU, I WOULD STICK TO BEING A PURE VEGETARIAN - OR QUIT IT FOREVER.

GROWING 1KG OF RICE PLANTS TAKES NEGLIGIBLE AMOUNT OF PETROLEUM OR ELECTRICITY AS COMPARED TO 1KG OF MEAT

Category: News and Politics
A SEA change in the consumption of a resource that Americans take for granted may be in store � something cheap, plentiful, widely enjoyed and a part of daily life. And it isn't oil.

It's meat.

The two commodities share a great deal: Like oil, meat is subsidized by the federal government. Like oil, meat is subject to accelerating demand as nations become wealthier, and this, in turn, sends prices higher. Finally � like oil � meat is something people are encouraged to consume less of, as the toll exacted by industrial production increases, and becomes increasingly visible.

Global demand for meat has multiplied in recent years, encouraged by growing affluence and nourished by the proliferation of huge, confined animal feeding operations. These assembly-line meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world's tropical rain forests.

Just this week, the president of Brazil announced emergency measures to halt the burning and cutting of the country's rain forests for crop and grazing land. In the last five months alone, the government says, 1,250 square miles were lost.

The world's total meat supply was 71 million tons in 1961. In 2007, it was estimated to be 284 million tons. Per capita consumption has more than doubled over that period. (In the developing world, it rose twice as fast, doubling in the last 20 years.) World meat consumption is expected to double again by 2050, which one expert, Henning Steinfeld of the United Nations, says is resulting in a "relentless growth in livestock production."

Americans eat about the same amount of meat as we have for some time, about eight ounces a day, roughly twice the global average. At about 5 percent of the world's population, we "process" (that is, grow and kill) nearly 10 billion animals a year, more than 15 percent of the world's total.

Growing meat (it's hard to use the word "raising" when applied to animals in factory farms) uses so many resources that it's a challenge to enumerate them all. But consider: an estimated 30 percent of the earth's ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world's greenhouse gases � more than transportation.

To put the energy-using demand of meat production into easy-to-understand terms, Gidon Eshel, a geophysicist at the Bard Center, and Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan � a Camry, say � to the ultra-efficient Prius. Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.

Grain, meat and even energy are roped together in a way that could have dire results. More meat means a corresponding increase in demand for feed, especially corn and soy, which some experts say will contribute to higher prices.

This will be inconvenient for citizens of wealthier nations, but it could have tragic consequences for those of poorer ones, especially if higher prices for feed divert production away from food crops. The demand for ethanol is already pushing up prices, and explains, in part, the 40 percent rise last year in the food price index calculated by the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization.

Though some 800 million people on the planet now suffer from hunger or malnutrition, the majority of corn and soy grown in the world feeds cattle, pigs and chickens. This despite the inherent inefficiencies: about two to five times more grain is required to produce the same amount of calories through livestock as through direct grain consumption, according to Rosamond Naylor, an associate professor of economics at Stanford University. It is as much as 10 times more in the case of grain-fed beef in the United States.

The environmental impact of growing so much grain for animal feed is profound. Agriculture in the United States � much of which now serves the demand for meat � contributes to nearly three-quarters of all water-quality problems in the nation's rivers and streams, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Because the stomachs of cattle are meant to digest grass, not grain, cattle raised industrially thrive only in the sense that they gain weight quickly. This diet made it possible to remove cattle from their natural environment and encourage the efficiency of mass confinement and slaughter. But it causes enough health problems that administration of antibiotics is routine, so much so that it can result in antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threaten the usefulness of medicines that treat people.

Those grain-fed animals, in turn, are contributing to health problems among the world's wealthier citizens � heart disease, some types of cancer, diabetes. The argument that meat provides useful protein makes sense, if the quantities are small. But the "you gotta eat meat" claim collapses at American levels. Even if the amount of meat we eat weren't harmful, it's way more than enough.

Americans are downing close to 200 pounds of meat, poultry and fish per capita per year (dairy and eggs are separate, and hardly insignificant), an increase of 50 pounds per person from 50 years ago. We each consume something like 110 grams of protein a day, about twice the federal government's recommended allowance; of that, about 75 grams come from animal protein. (The recommended level is itself considered by many dietary experts to be higher than it needs to be.) It's likely that most of us would do just fine on around 30 grams of protein a day, virtually all of it from plant sources.

What can be done? There's no simple answer. Better waste management, for one. Eliminating subsidies would also help; the United Nations estimates that they account for 31 percent of global farm income. Improved farming practices would help, too. Mark W. Rosegrant, director of environment and production technology at the nonprofit International Food Policy Research Institute, says, "There should be investment in livestock breeding and management, to reduce the footprint needed to produce any given level of meat."

Then there's technology. Israel and Korea are among the countries experimenting with using animal waste to generate electricity. Some of the biggest hog operations in the United States are working, with some success, to turn manure into fuel.

Longer term, it no longer seems lunacy to believe in the possibility of "meat without feet" � meat produced in vitro, by growing animal cells in a super-rich nutrient environment before being further manipulated into burgers and steaks.

Another suggestion is a return to grazing beef, a very real alternative as long as you accept the psychologically difficult and politically unpopular notion of eating less of it. That's because grazing could never produce as many cattle as feedlots do. Still, said Michael Pollan, author of the recent book "In Defense of Food," "In places where you can't grow grain, fattening cows on grass is always going to make more sense."

But pigs and chickens, which convert grain to meat far more efficiently than beef, are increasingly the meats of choice for producers, accounting for 70 percent of total meat production, with industrialized systems producing half that pork and three-quarters of the chicken.

Once, these animals were raised locally (even many New Yorkers remember the pigs of Secaucus), reducing transportation costs and allowing their manure to be spread on nearby fields. Now hog production facilities that resemble prisons more than farms are hundreds of miles from major population centers, and their manure "lagoons" pollute streams and groundwater. (In Iowa alone, hog factories and farms produce more than 50 million tons of excrement annually.)

These problems originated here, but are no longer limited to the United States. While the domestic demand for meat has leveled off, the industrial production of livestock is growing more than twice as fast as land-based methods, according to the United Nations.

Perhaps the best hope for change lies in consumers' becoming aware of the true costs of industrial meat production. "When you look at environmental problems in the U.S.," says Professor Eshel, "nearly all of them have their source in food production and in particular meat production. And factory farming is 'optimal' only as long as degrading waterways is free. If dumping this stuff becomes costly � even if it simply carries a non-zero price tag � the entire structure of food production will change dramatically."

Animal welfare may not yet be a major concern, but as the horrors of raising meat in confinement become known, more animal lovers may start to react. And would the world not be a better place were some of the grain we use to grow meat directed instead to feed our fellow human beings?

Real prices of beef, pork and poultry have held steady, perhaps even decreased, for 40 years or more (in part because of grain subsidies), though we're beginning to see them increase now. But many experts, including Tyler Cowen, a professor of economics at George Mason University, say they don't believe meat prices will rise high enough to affect demand in the United States.

"I just don't think we can count on market prices to reduce our meat consumption," he said. "There may be a temporary spike in food prices, but it will almost certainly be reversed and then some. But if all the burden is put on eaters, that's not a tragic state of affairs."

If price spikes don't change eating habits, perhaps the combination of deforestation, pollution, climate change, starvation, heart disease and animal cruelty will gradually encourage the simple daily act of eating more plants and fewer animals.

Mr. Rosegrant of the food policy research institute says he foresees "a stronger public relations campaign in the reduction of meat consumption � one like that around cigarettes � emphasizing personal health, compassion for animals, and doing good for the poor and the planet."

It wouldn't surprise Professor Eshel if all of this had a real impact. "The good of people's bodies and the good of the planet are more or less perfectly aligned," he said.

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, in its detailed 2006 study of the impact of meat consumption on the planet, "Livestock's Long Shadow," made a similar point: "There are reasons for optimism that the conflicting demands for animal products and environmental services can be reconciled. Both demands are exerted by the same group of people ... the relatively affluent, middle- to high-income class, which is no longer confined to industrialized countries. ... This group of consumers is probably ready to use its growing voice to exert pressure for change and may be willing to absorb the inevitable price increases."

In fact, Americans are already buying more environmentally friendly products, choosing more sustainably produced meat, eggs and dairy. The number of farmers' markets has more than doubled in the last 10 years or so, and it has escaped no one's notice that the organic food market is growing fast. These all represent products that are more expensive but of higher quality.

If those trends continue, meat may become a treat rather than a routine. It won't be uncommon, but just as surely as the S.U.V. will yield to the hybrid, the half-pound-a-day meat era will end.

Maybe that's not such a big deal. "Who said people had to eat meat three times a day?" asked Mr. Pollan.


From an article on the net,

Aspiring to be a servant of the Vaisnavas and the Lord,

Srinath

Comment on this Post

questions to Swamiji on phyical symptoms

Swami ji,
I've noticed - at least thrice in the last 5 years - that when my mind becomes very very calm (when reading on spiritual matters, I'll elaborate shortly), I show these these symptoms:
(1) my breathing becomes very infrequest (very slow)
(2) my breathing becomes very shallow (air taken in/out is very small in amount)
(3) I feel sleepy, sometimes end up sleeping or sometimes body becomes calm as sleeping but mind is calm & conscious.

The occassions it happened was
(1) reading "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda and thinking about it
(2) reading (on http://www.cosmicharmony.com or similar websites) that God's creation is teeming with intelligent advanced higher life forms, and thinking of the blissful spiritual kingdom (where probably one day humanity will land up after evolving spiritually) that exists beyond our current perception, and the one-ness of the creation with the Almighty.

I'm a 34 year old Hindu, generally healthy (except with a recent liver problem). Are the symptoms I describe above ok/normal/common?

Regards,
Rajib

Comment on this Post

Falldown and avoiding offenses

Dear Swamiji and all devotees,

Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krishna! Jaya Visnupada Srila Prabhupada! Jaya Swami Gaurangapada! All glories to the illustrious guru parampara and all our acaryas! Glories to the Pancha Tattva, who appear as personalites of devotion in five features! All glories to the spiritual master and to all Vaisnavas!

  Please accept my respectful obeisances! Dandavat Pranam! Requesting you mercy so that I continue to advance in devotion continuously.

  After the events which have unfolded over the last few days, I have come to some realisations which I feel are very important for all sadhakas. These are based on what I have practically experienced many times over thanks to all my mistakes and this fact was quite painfully clear after a while. In one sentence I can say that this is the best deterrent against commiting offenses - that all offenses culminate and lead to the most dangerous Vaisnava aparadha. Thinking about this a hundred times a day is equivalent to beating the mind with a shoe and a whip and it should put enough sense in a sadhaka not to commit offenses even if the mantrarajas are very forgiving.
 
   It turns out that while the mantrarajas EXCUSE the offenses when they are committed, it doesn't mean that they aren't being done. It simply means the mantrarajas don't consider what we did and minimize or nullify the benefits of chanting them at the time the offense was committed unlike the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, which does not produce any benefit when chanted offensively but only turns on the chanter and  ultimately leads to his fall-down instead. In simpler language, it means if we commit an offense while chanting, that won't diminish the spiritual benefit we gained on that day's chanting. But at the same time the offenses being committed will not be eradicated unless there is a very powerful determination in the chanter that he should permanently cease from committing any of the offenses. Excusing is different from eradicating.

If a person is offensive and has no will to give up offenses, then the only solution is to chant the names of the Lord 24 hours a day without any break...only then can they be eradicated. However, since we never get anywhere near that figure, it means that if we do not have a desire to become offense-less in our devotion, then whatever offenses that we commit gradually start accumulating in the heart. They are excused and not considered by the Lord while giving us the spiritual benefit of chanting the mantrarajas, but excuse means also an excuse to stay in the heart as well. The seed of offenses when encouraged, becomes a weed, the most poisonous weed of all anarthas which grows more and more by the more offensive behavior one indulges in as they proceed. If a person is committing offenses out of innocence because they do not know and they have no intention to commit them, then the Lord forgives that soul and makes that person quickly aware of the offenses and the effect of his chanting makes him spontaneously stop all offensive behavior even without his knowledge. That sort of chanting is namabhasa which will quickly become pure.

If on the other hand, a person KNOWINGLY commits offenses thinking that he will be excused, then very quickly the weed of offenses grows in his heart and very soon it will strangle the delicate creeper of bhakti. The person becomes more and more lenient, less disciplined and doesn't mind committing offenses. It is not long before the effect of those offenses become clear and his chanting begins to decline. Even now it is not too late. One can always realise and repent and leave this tendency for good. But the weed of offenses when it grows ultimately results in the chanter doing things like disobeying his guru or the Lord, or behaving badly with devotees, or worse. The ultimate fruit of the tree of offenses is Vaisnava aparadha which promptly brings in the mad elephant which uproots the creeper of bhakti and destroys everything. That person is condemned for billions of lifetimes. At this point even the mantrarajas refuse to forgive that person and even if he chants, the names will go against him and he will be destroyed.

Ultimately all offenses whether for Radha Krishna naama or maha mantra, or Nitaai nama, Gaura naama or Hari naama all will slowly but surely lead to the Vaisnava aparadha offense sooner or later. The difference is that upto that point the chanter of the mantrarajas gets the full benefit of his chanting, but if his desire is not sincere, the bhakti tree is overpowered by the offenses tree after a point. It all comes to no difference in the end once the foolish chanter reaches the point of Vaisnava aparadha after which it all goes to zero and then he goes into negative and we can say that he will go to hell and never come back till perhaps a billion Brahmas go by and that too depends on whether he will repent and atleast have a desire to beg forgiveness from the Vaisnava he offended. If this stage is reached, the only solution is to IMMEDIATELY fall at the Vaisnava's feet and beg forgiveness and NEVER, EVER commit any offenses from that point on. However if someone takes advantage of this thinking, "I will beg forgiveness now and start all over again with my old ways" then he is lower than a person who eats his own stool. This person then becomes guilty of another Vaisnava aparadha, that of cheating the devotees and at this point there is nothing that can save him till the Lord decides he has had enough punishment.

This also doesn't imply that the sadhaka must consider oneself safe even if one chants 24 hours a day. As long as the desire to misuse one's marginal independence and free will is not gone one is not safe. Even a person who reaches such a very high stage is in danger and there is no room for any type of conceit. One must never feel satisfied with what devotion he has done even if it is so great that it cannot be done even by Lord Brahma or Lord Siva. As Gour Govinda Swami said we all either go up or go down. There is no stagnation or saturation. If we feel saturated or we think we stagnate, then we are falling down, no doubt about that.

When a devotee, especially a leader falls down he does not go down alone, he takes his troupe with him. So many thousands of people will be shattered or disappointed. Some my go for guidance elsewhere. But one major part of the people as has been seen in history owing to the influence of the age of Kali will ultimately use the EVEN excuse to say , "Even he who was so advanced did it? What is wrong if I who am lower has such a problem?" By this the yardstick of their advancement becomes relative, not absolute and ultimately these people will also fall down.  The other major group of the people will feel hopelessly betrayed or lost. Ultimately they will lose faith and come to the conclusion that the whole thing was a big failure and they will all leave the devotional practice sooner or later. We have seen this happen on atleast 3 major occasions in history. Yet another danger due to this is that it encourages the creation of apasampradayas. When people justify their mistakes and think that they can go on being devotees while committing offenses, then it only takes a group of a few such malicious minded individuals to form a new apasampradaya and go about cheating the unfortunate public. We have seen so many such cults come up in the last few centuries -- no need to mention names -- All of them ultimately conspire to ruin the name of pure devotion and to ultimately make people lose their faith in the true religion of devotional service. Hence they are far more dangerous than all the atheists in history.

Therefore the falldown of a devotee is the most disastrous and unfortunate event that can happen to himself, to others around him, to his guru (!! Because the disciples sins affect the guru's devotion as well !!), to his disciples, to others whose devotion is fledging, to the common populace, and ultimately the entire world, nay all of creation and to BHAKTI ITSELF and to the lord as well because he is always very distressed to see a soul go away from him!!. This is by no means an exaggeration. It is only the expert devotee who can realise the truth of what happened and keep his devotional faith and progress intact while chaos reigns around him. But to be that expert one has to have come a long way and for that ONE MUST NEVER COMMIT OFFENSES OR ENCOURAGE THAT MENTALITY. I must add that this one came from the fact that I realised that my friends considered me some sort of infallible idol and justified their own mistakes in my name because if I was apparently superior and made mistakes, they couldn't be blamed...That set the alarm bells ringing.

Therefore the mantrajas mercy is not an excuse for committing offenses. It is very important to be vigilant as we do with the Hare Krishna maha mantra, perhaps even more vigilant because there is a risk of the lax attitude developing in the chanter which makes him go too easy on himself. One must be very strict as we have all learned this lesson in the recent events over the past few days by the mercy of the Lord and the Vaisnavas. That is exactly the point, we must be very strict. I feel that one should never hesitate to use  discipline on oneself for the sake of advancement. The Lord has given me a nice whack to remind me that the first thing I need is  -- discipline, military discipline -- the solution to all problems faced by a sadhaka. Again this means quality and high quantity chanting without wasting any time.

The guru is the one who can save the erring student and implore the Lord to show his mercy. But if the disciple commits offenses to the guru, then as I said earlier he is finished. Sometimes the guru may reject him. If Lord Krishna refuses to accept a person, then Srimati Radharani may plead on his behalf. Or if a person is too unfit to approach Radha Krishna, Lord Caitanya can take pity on him. If even Lord Gaurahari refuses, Lord Nityananda can take mercy on him. If even that is not possible, their devotees can show their mercy. But if even these devotees leave him, then he is completely finished. There is no hope. Actually the devotees never want to leave us, but they sometimes do that in the interests of pure bhakti and its proper maintenance and distribution. Until the devotees decide to change their mind the sadhaka is doomed because of his offenses. There is no telling when he can ever get that mercy again. It is said that when one accumulates sukriti for a time equal to a billion lifetimes of Brahma, he becomes worthy to chant the names of the Lord. So the value of this opportunity is beyond any comprehension power and if I waste this chance, I would be a fool beyond a fool beyond all fools ever to tread this planet, the laughing stock of the entire universe even.

This letter is therefore a plea from a low and worthless wretch who is half-heartedly trying to become a servant of the Lord's devotees for not just to whom the letter is addressed to, but to all sadhakas and devotees who are chanting and making advancement  that PLEASE DO NOT COMMIT OFFENSES AND NEVER ENCOURAGE THAT MENTALITY no matter what name of the Lord they are chanting. One must not even think of activities that are offenses because Bhagavad Gita says that the soul becomes completely entangled in the world when he THINKS OR CONTEMPLATES material things which are the objects of the material senses. The danger signs must be recognised early on to avoid what will eventually, but surely, by a very complicated chain of events, lead to an irreplaceable loss of indescribable and unfathomable magnitude for the sadhaka, the Vaisnavas, even the Supreme Lord and to all of pure bhakti!

PS : I had to use caps as i could find a way to underline or use bold letters. Kindly please do not think I intended to shout or get excited in my talk. Once again asking your forgiveness if you were offended in any way. Please be free to correct my misconceptions on this matter and all the mistakes i may have made in this article.

Aspriring to ever be a humble servant of you and all Vaisnavas and the Supreme Lord,

A most unworthy soul,

Srinath.K

Comment on this Post

Re: Nityananda is GOD.

Sri Brahma Samhita 5.46
�When the flame of one candle is expanded to another candle and placed in a different position, it burns separately, and its illumination is as powerful as the original candle�s. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, expands Himself in different Vi��u forms, who are all as luminous, powerful, and opulent as He. Let me worship that Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda.�
Sri Brahma Samhita 5.39
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who by His various plenary portions appears in the world in different forms and incarnations such as Lord Rama, but who personally appears in His supreme original form as Lord Krsna.�
Adi lila 5 156
Lord Caitanya is the same Lord K���a, and Lord Nity�nanda is Lord Balar�ma. Lord Nity�nanda fulfills all of Lord Caitanya�s desires.
CC Adi lila 5.8-9
Lord Balarama is the original Sa�karsana. He assumes five other forms to serve Lord Krsna.
He Himself helps in the pastimes of Lord K���a, and He does the work of creation in four other forms.

The Magnanimous Nature of
Sri Nityananda Prabhu

Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Today is the appearance day of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. He is supposed to be the incarnation of Baladeva in Vrajamandala. Narottama das Thakur says �Balaram haila Nitai�. Sanatana Goswami also mentions Nityananda Prabhu as the incarnation of Baladeva in Vrndavana, but some persons within the Gaudiya sampradaya preach that Nityananda Prabhu is the incarnation of Radharani.
So, a vehement protest is given from the side of the Gaudiya Math and we cannot recognize them as the true followers of Gaudiya Vaisnava faith and Mahaprabhu. Nityananda Prabhu took His birth in the district of Virbhum on the Western side of Katwa, north west of Ekachakra, where the Pandavas in disguise lived for sometime.
Nearby is also shown a tree where the Bakaraksasa was killed by Bhimasena. In Ekachakra near Garbhavasa and many other places, we can trace the pastimes of Nityananda Prabhu.
Nityananda Prabhu�s son establised a temple nearby, and Sri Murtis were installed by Him. About two hundred years ago there was a great storm in that area and many ancient arrangements were devastated. A big Zamindar and devotee of the Gaudiya Sampradaya came and restored the puja, the worshipping arrangements at Virachandrapura. All were desolated at that time.
Nityananda Prabhu�s mother�s name was Padmavati, and His father�s name was Hadai Pandit. Ojha was their title although now we do not find any such title.
When Nityananda Prabhu was about 12 years old one sannyasi came and begged Hadai Pandit for his son �I want your son.� The sannyasi came and begged for the child, only one son, and son like Nityananda Prabhu who was very charming. It was almost impossible to live bidding goodbye to such a son, but what to do? A sannyasi has come and asked for him and begging they could not avoid; they could not avoid the sannyasi, they had to give their only son to him.
We are told, that sannyasi was no other than Sri Madhavendra Puri, the guru of Iswara Puri, Advaita Acharya, and Pundarika Vidyanidhi. That sannyasi came and took Nityananda Prabhu away from His house when he was only 12 years old; and Nityananda Prabhu wandered with him through the whole of India, visiting all the holy places.
Mahaprabhu did not visit so many holy places. He generally travelled through the south of India, not northern India entirely, only Vrndavana and Prayag. Dvaraka and Badrinarayana were excluded by Mahaprabhu, but Nityananda Prabhu visited all the holy places that exist in India. After Madhavendra Puri disappeared, he was wandering in the holy places. In the meantime Mahaprabhu coming back from Gaya began his Sankirtana Lila in Nabadwipa.
Nityananda Prabhu was wandering here and there and lastly he went to Vrndavana. He was searching for something because of His inner identification with that of Baladeva. When Krsna came he was feeling some tendency of attraction towards him. In the last period, he began searching in Vrndavana very scrutinizingly but did not find that. Then he got some inspiration, �Where to find Krsna?� �He is now in Nabadwip,� �I shall go there,� with this inspiration in his heart he came to Navadwipa Dhama.
Mahaprabhu had already begun his sankirtana movement, and he had a dream at night that someone came in a chariot and at the peak of the chariot there was a palm tree; and he is searching, �Where is Nimai pandit�s house? Where is Nimai Pandit�s house?� Someone then said, �Here is Nimai Pandit�s house.� Mahaprabhu then told to the devotees, �A great personage has come here to Nabadwipa Dhama last night. You (Srivasa and others) try to find out that great person.� The followers tried their best, they searched in every nook and corner but could not find Nityananda Prabhu. They reported to Mahaprabhu �we tried our best but could not trace any noble person, any saint, or any big man.
�Then Mahaprabhu told, �Let us try with the followers.� He then went straight to the southern side of Nandana Acharya�s Bhavan.
Mahaprabhu went directly to a particular house which is known as Nandana Acharya�s house, and there they found a new gentleman, stout and strong, and golden in appearance, sitting on the veranda of that house.
The devotees of Mahaprabhu could then understand him to be the man of whom Sri Gaurangadeva was telling about. He was sitting there in red robes, all others were white dressed. Someone then chanted some Bhagavata sloka, and so many spiritual symptoms gradually appeared in his body.
They could then understand what a great man he is for he was filled with divine love. He was the agreed personage and gradually coming in intimate connection with him they could understand that he was Sri Nityananda Prabhu. Outwardly his movements were not like a scholarly person, or an ordinary man; he was surcharged with a high type of energy and divinity coming forth from his complexion.
Mahaprabhu gradually began preaching, Haridasa Thakura and Nityananda Prabhu were both given orders. �Go from door to door and request them to leave everything aside and take the name of Krsna. Whomever you may meet going from door to door, approach and ask them to take the name of Krsna leaving aside everything else.� At that time Nabadwip Dhama was mostly filled with trantrics, that is the worship of Sakti Devi and Maya Devi.
�This Maya is disturbing us, so we must take shelter under her feet. When she will be satisfied then she will loosen, open the door and we will get out and become Siva. By nature, by birth, jiva means Siva, Siva means the master of Maya. We are now in the clutches of Maya, misunderstanding. When the goddess of misunderstanding is satisfied with us, she will then withdraw and we shall find a door out, we shall go to the other side.
There are so many liberated souls there and we shall join them. They are all enjoying the position of Siva, the master of Maya.
Maya cannot force them to do anything and everything as she wills, rather she serves her masters. Maya serves Siva, the liberated souls. Maya serves them though in the relativity of Maya, but they cannot control so they render some service to the liberated souls and they are known as Siva. Pasa baddho bhavet jiva pasa mukta Sadasiva.
When within bondage he is jiva, a fallen soul, when he is outside the bondage of this Maya, this misunderstanding, then he�s always Siva. He can then move here and there at his sweet will and Maya cannot force him, rather she will come to serve him, and that is liberation. We shall then serve Maya devi, and the tantric process involves something, in this way she will be satisfied.
They use many things, they may drink wine and eat meats. They offer them to the deities Maya, Sakti and Kali. They also enjoy the women in different moods. They think that the application of mixing with ladies is such, that they will get liberation from the charm of the ladies. In this way in their process, they approve of the wine, the meat and the ladies it seems to be very harmful to us but these are the underlying principles of the tantric upasana.�
In our method, our process of approaching these things which we feel temptation for, we shall get liberation from them. They come to attract us towards them but by a particular process we shall handle them. We shall be masters of those poisonous things, and at that time Navadwipa was filled with such persons.
When Mahaprabhu, Sri Gauranga begun his preaching attempt that everyone should give up everything and take to the name of Krsna, Narayana, he then said, �Not only will you, be out of Maya but you will attain positive life in Vaikuntha, in Vrndavana.� That is higher attainment, and what is to be attained by worshipping the sakti in the method they are following, that is reactionary and sometime again they will have to evolve. This is mentioned in the sastra, but not very extensively. If you are very particular, then you will have to see that in the relativity of this negative world; but it is not safe.
You must enter the positive world then you will be safe. That is not only mere liberation, emancipation from the opposite forces, but practical participation in the serving line, which is very pure. Not to be non-selfish, but must be God-centred, God-serviced. The positive world is there and that is full of pervasive happiness, and that we can attain only through service. Here we are an enjoying unit, an exploiting unit, but it must be given up to get out of the reactionary tendency of life; but we must not wait on the fence, for that is not a safe position.
Then again, that is not paying much because withdrawal from the negative side is not enough. There is a positive world and that is meant for a real high form of life, and that can be attained through service. Service is great, to sacrifice ones own interest, not for any part but for the whole, the absolute good, that is great. Nothing can be compared to that. It is calculative and automatic. To reach the automatic stage of service with love is high pay; so give up all these habits and these former engagements with a lower standard of worshipping, penance and all these things. �Die to Live.� A radical change must be welcome in life.
Life is worth living, life is worth living and it is only open to the human section. In other species it is impossible to get a glimpse of such high light and to begin that way of life, for there are only a very few human beings in the creation. What are the number of human bodies, very small compared to the whole of creation, and that is the door to heaven so you must try to have a positive life. He is Krsna, He is all attractive, He is beautiful, He is the highest reality, He is all accommodating and most charming.
Our life will receive its fulfillment if we can approach that Lord, especially by taking His Holy name. In this age of Kali a special sanction has been given to us that by taking the holy name with satsanga, with the real saints, then we can make progress, enter and approach that high line of preaching.
Nityananda Prabhu was a dynamo of energy and Haridasa Thakura could not follow, a little trouble to carry out the order of Mahaprabhu, what to do?
One day there were so many gunda type persons, they came with an attacking spirit, �You are disturbing us, we are not religious and you have come to preach religion to us; what right have you got? Why do you come to disturb us? As a big society we are following a particular creed, and you are so bold as to blame us for not been religious men. You have come with a new idea of religion and we are to accept that, you fools!
If again you come here you will be taught a good lesson.� In this way they were threatened, but Mahaprabhu still says you must go. Then one day they met Jagai and Madhai. Jagai and Madhai were from Brahmin birth but they did not have any care for religion. They were also entrusted with some administration in the Muslim Government. They had some connection with the Government and they themselves were gundas, although Brahmins by birth. They used to take anything and everything. They were a notorious pair of gundas, Jagadananda and Madhavananda.
Then one day they met him �Oh! You rogues, we have heard of you, you have come to create a new religion here � Never! If we find you again on the street you will receive a licking and will have to weep.� Anyhow, they were given such warning. Nityananda Prabhu had to report every day what progress they had made in their preaching campaign and he almost challenged Mahaprabhu. He said �our life was saved today from the worst pair in the whole of Navadwipa Dham, but if you can deliver them, then I shall think that you have really come to render some service.
They are the greatest rogues ever found in this area and must be converted. If you can do that then we shall say that you have got some power with some objective, and you will be able to do something.� Mahaprabhu felt,
�If it is Krsna�s will then everything will be possible.� They again went out preaching and they met those two gundas, Haridasa Thakura coming back and Nityananda Prabhu stood courageously. There was an earthen pot cast away after used on the side of the way. It was taken and thrown on the head of Nityananda Prabhu and his forehead was cut, blood oozing, Nityananda Prabhu standing.
Some person came to Gaurangadeva saying that Nityananda Prabhu was wounded by the rogues. Mahaprabhu very enraged and excited came there. There was blood oozing, �Who has caused this wound on the body of Nityananda Prabhu? I shall finish the whole town, come forward� Mahaprabhu was besides Himself.
Then Nityananda Prabhu came, �No! No! Don�t be excited my Lord, in this incarnation we are not to use any force; remember it.� Nityananda Prabhu then reminded Mahaprabhu.
In the meantime there another man approached and told �No, no! They are red-clad mendicants what fame is there in striking them.
They are not wholly established rich men or party men, only red-clad sannyasis - there is no credit by killing them or beating them,� and they took Jagai and Madhai away. Nityananda Prabhu then appealed to Mahaprabhu. �What to do, this is not proper. In this age in this time at this juncture what have we come to do, use force? Never!�
In the meantime Madhai came to hit Nityananda Prabhu but Jagai saved him by just opposing him and Mahaprabhu turned around suddenly,
�You Jagai, you have protected my Nityananda.� Mahaprabhu then embraced him and Jagai fell at his feet and began to cry �Hare Krsna.� Mental transformation came in Jagai, then Madhai who was standing there said, �for this deed we are two, such a sin, and Jagai�s condition is such,� In that atmosphere his transformation also began.
Then Nityananda Prabhu came to recognize that in the same place with similar persons, one will gain and the other will fail and so he must also be saved.
Then Mahaprabhu said, �Nityananda Prabhu himself is pleading for you, and so you Madhai, you should also be absolved,� Mahaprabhu then embraced him, he also fell, began to weep, and took the holy name Krsna, and there was wholesale conversion of these two great demons.
There was within minutes an uproar in the town. �Who is this Nimai Pandita, a scholar, so far we can understand but he is endowed with supernatural power. These two great demons, whoever they came across, or whoever would see them would enter their homes and close their doors, such demoniac persons they were, and they were converted by Nimai Pandita within one hour, what miraculous power.�
So in this way Nimai Pandit, got some footing there. Nimai Pandit is not an ordinary, he is not merely a scholar but he is endowed with some supernatural power, original power. Nityananda Prabhu was famous from that time.
Although he was hit on the forehead and blood oozed still he had so much of an extraordinary, patient, forbearing and affectionate heart, that he recommended that gunda who had caused him mischief. Nityananda Prabhu�s position was very safe and very high, a divine position from that time. Nityananda Prabhu has neither an exploiting nor enjoying mood, he is wholeself given to Krsna.
Sanatana Goswami has given this in his commentary: In the rasa lila of Krsna, Krsna was enjoying all the gopis, at that time Balarama also had his separate rasa lila.

It is also mentioned in Bhagavatam and other puranas, that Krnsa had His rasa lila and that Baladeva also had his rasa lila, but Sanatana Goswami has given the meaning.

That is very fine, very subtle and very difficult to understand. Baladeva continued rasa externally, but in his heart he was making Krsna to participate in that rasa.
He was not the party to enjoy the gopis. He is aloof, he is aside, he is only performing, managing the rasa lila with the gopis and Krsna. He is not only indifferent but with so much serving tendency and wholeself serving attitude.
In Vrndavan mandala in vatsalya rasa and sakhya rasa, they also have marriages, they have their sons, but not in any enjoying mood. There is union of men and women but not in an enjoying mood, or then they will have to be left here in the material world. Both parties meet and are united in a serving mood, that is particularly another type of mood, never an enjoying mood, or then they are not to be allowed to enter that domain.
They will be thrown here in the land of exploitation. When they go through the door of emancipation, liberation and enter Vaikuntha, from there also the exploiting tendency is eliminated, what avoidance! They are outwardly participating but internally in a serving mood. It may be impossible to think but it is such, not only the human form but also the birds and beasts, they are also apparently mixing in an enjoying mood, but really their mood is of service attitude. Such a wholesale transformation has to be effected in ones heart, mind and body, before wholly attempting to enter into that domain.

So Hegel said, �Die to live�, if you really want to live in that plane then you will have to die wholesale as you think you are in this life as flesh blood and bones. It is of opposite type, the purity is there, it can be measured; it is not non-scientific but it is really scientific. It is the process of �die to live�! And love is there, the dying tendency for the object of love, that is love proper otherwise it is imitation, it is hypocracy, it is conspiracy to ones own suicidal attainment.
The pure thing is that if we have got faith for such divine conception of life then we should come to Bhagavatam, the last gift in the sastric world of vedic literatures.
Vyasadeva�s last gift in the world of vedic literatures is Bhagavatam. The Bhagavatam is so high, so high, prithi vite yata katha dharma nam chole.

Our Guru Maharaj�s translation dharmah projjhito kaitavo all the words and tales that are running in this world in the name of religion, Srimad Bhagavatam says all is false, all is false, all is tampered with and not pure, not pure! The pure type of religion is not yet spoken. It is there, all self-centered, the current is towards the centre, not only selflessness but self sacrificing, self forgiving, self forgetfulness, in that way we are to start, we are to start, we are to go.

Sri Nityananda Prabhu came and appealed, �Come to Gauranga, He is the depot, He is the dynamo to send you there very easily. He sang these names of Gauranga on the banks of the Ganges.�Bhaja Gauranga, kaha Gauranga, laha Gauranga nam je jan Gauranga bhaje se amar pran; all you people come and take refuge under the divine feet of Gauranga, give up everything and come fall at the feet of Gauranga. Take His name, remember Him and throw yourself wholly at His disposal. He is my own life, I consider Him to be my life, my soul, my everything.� Nityananda Prabhu saying this began to roll at the door of the householders �Householders! You must do this.� He is rolling and crying, �Accept Gauranga, you don�t know what great benefit you will receive by doing this.�
He is rolling in the dust at the door of the householders with such an appeal. He came to the ordinary masses to give them shelter at the lotus feet of Gauranga, that is Nityananda Prabhu. He came to give Mahaprabhu even to Jagai and Madhai and he appealed to all from door to door to accept Gaurangadeva. You do not know what will be your prospect in life, the highest prospect in life! Nityananda Prabhu is our only hope, He is so benevolent, so generous, so gracious, that very easily we can draw his attention and we can get his recommendation. Gaurangadeva will not be able to disregard his recommendation, and when we have got the grace of Gauranga then the Radha-Krsna lila is within our fists. Nityananda Prabhu�s grace means to get Mahaprabhu�s grace within our clutches and to get Mahaprabhu, means to get Radha-Govinda, Vrndavana, and then everything is within our fists.

Comment on this Post

Re: Nityananda is GOD.

Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna!
Dandavats and obeissances.

I was thinking how humorous it is that people who possess exceptional talents or powers are sometimes labeled as God by unintelligent people of the world. Such people are deified and idolized because they possess some �extraordinary� talent. Probably the funniest part is that these people due to false ego do in some way think of themselves as God, the doer, the supreme controller. There is a lot of this in this age of Kali. Just think how insignificant we are compared to the Lord? It is unfathomable.

One who is not a devotee of the Lord is more than likely going to have the mentality of the hogs, dogs, camels, asses and other animals as explained in the Bhagavatam. One justs gets whipped around by maya and due to false ego thinks oneself the doer or controlloer. The modes of material nature makes one mad and stupid, we can�t see things as they really are. Only by becoming a devotee of Nitai-Gaura can we escape the grasp of maya and see things as they are.

People just have no idea how Great God is. One says �God is great.� But they cannot even begin to fathom the Lord�s greatness. They just see this one insignificant material universe, not knowing that the Lord creates zillions of such universes with no effort whatsoever, only a glance. The Lords creates these huge creations easier than we can walk and he is not the least bit affected, he doesn�t have to plan or make elaborate engineering drafts. By his potencies everything is magically being maintained also, again without the slightest effort on his part. He just has to will or think and it is done automatically and everywhere.

Sometimes everything seems too amazing to me, when I keep thinking deeper and deeper, I just get stunned thinking about the magnificence and reality of the Lord. When I was a young child I had a thought that I frequently dwelled upon. What if there was no God and nothing ever was created? What if nothing existed and never would? Only blackness, void, forever. No life or anything anywhere ever. I always used to think about this and my mind would go deeper, it was a very discomforting feeling. What if I was never created in the first place? I would dwell on these things very deeply even at the age of 4 and 5 years old. I was mesmerized by existence itself. I was always so grateful that God had created me and I think that is something that we can never repay to the Lord.

Of course we naturally want to trace to origin of God with our mind also. Just how did He come about? One�s mind can go on and on forever so of course so we just accept the statements of the Vedic literature about God that he has eternally existed, etc. etc.

Hopefully someday people will make an effort to understand the Lord through this process of  Nitaai Yoga as this is the highest easiest process, and can satisfy all one�s queries forever.

Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krishna
Jagannatha Gauranga dasa

Comment on this Post