Developing Faith – A Systematic Study
Every endeavor begins with faith: a trip, new business venture, marriage, university education, purchase of a car or house, belief in God, etc. Faith that one has a chance of success always precedes the endeavor and later one gets the knowledge that the endeavor was either a success or failure. One may assume that knowledge must precede faith. But, the fact is that first one has faith and then knowledge follows as one has practical experience of the endeavor. Faith is defined as strong or unshakeable belief and trust in something sublime.
Lust, Anger and Greed – I When one’s lust (intense desires) for sense gratification is frustrated, anger and greed arise. More specifically, greed develops from the mode of passion. A greedy person’s hankering for sense enjoyment has no limit. Even if a greedy person has ample money and adequate arrangements for sense gratification, he is not satisfied. He attains neither happiness nor peace of mind. It is the nature of the mode of passion that causes mental disturbance and frustration in one’s life. One is always devising plans and schemes to acquire money and assets to satisfy his insatiable appetite for acquisition and power. All these passionate endeavors are sources of distress. The Bible says, “Greed causes fighting; but the one who trusts in God will be enriched.” (Proverbs 28.25)
Lust, love and liberation Lust is the worst enemy of man. It can obsess the mind and oblige a person to commit selfish acts for personal gratification at the expense of another. According to Vedic philosophy, all living entities come originally from God. They always remain His part and parcels as gold in a gold ring is qualitatively one and quantitatively different from the gold in a gold mine. Another example is that of the spark of a fire and the fire itself or a drop of ocean water and the ocean. They are qualitatively one and quantitatively different.
Is Gadhimai Devi pleased by animal slaughter?
On November 24th and 25th the religious festival of worship of Gadhimai, the goddess of motherhood of all living beings was celebrated. Pleasing her is supposed to release the worshippers from sin, anger. desire and stupidity. It is shocking that a group of Nepali priests decided that the best way to worship Gadhimai is by slaughtering up to 500,000 animals in two days. The animals include cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, rats, pigeons, rabbits, etc.
History of Tirupati Balaji
Balaji is a name of the Lord of the Universe which means He is all-powerful. Bala in Sanskrit refers to spiritual strength and also material prowess. When the Lord is addressed as Balaji, it means that He is the source of spiritual strength for His devotees.The famous Deity of Balaji is situated on top of the Tirumala mountain which is about 3000 feet elevation. The prefix Tiru means sacred nd Mala means a hill or peak. Tirumala is a sacred mountain.
Similarly, Tirupati means the sacred husband ( Tiru — sacred, pati — husband) of the Goddess of Fortune Lakshmi devi. Thus Tirupati Balaji is Lord Visnu who is the husband of the Goddess of Fortunes Lakshmi devi.
A Modern Miracle of Spiritual Transformation Spiritual Epiphany of Sethu Raman
The word epiphany comes from the Greek language. It means a striking appearance as in the realization of the truth or a divinely inspired in-sight. Arjuna’s realization that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead is an example of an epiphany. Arjuna considered Krishna as his intimate friend and relative. After surrendering to Him and accepting Him as his spiritual master, Arjuna questioned Krishna about the nature of self-realization. By hearing Krishna’s explanations, Arjuna became convinced that his friend and mentor is actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Understanding Illusion – The hardest subject
The Vedic literature defines illusion in a very precise manner. In the Caitanya Charitamrta Adi 2.86 the four defects of every human being are explained. They are bhrama, pramada, vipralipsa and Karanapatava.Bhrama refers to false knowledge or mistakes, such as accepting a rope as a snake or an oyster shell as gold. A mistake is due to imperfect vision or hearing Everyone makes mistakes.Pramada refers to inattention or misunderstanding of reality. | may make a mistake because my senses are imperfect. However, if | become convinced that my mistake is true due to inattenton or misunderstanding of reality, | fall into illusion. Illusion implies a false ascribing of reality based on what one sees or imagines. In the Sanskrit language this is called maya (ma–not, ya–this). One mistakenly sees a rope and thinks it is a snake, and then, is convinced that it is a snake. This can be taken a step further to delusion which implies an inability to distinguish between what is real and what only seems to be real This inability to distinguish may be due to false conditioning or to a disordered mind. If one believes firmly or acts with such a misunderstanding of reality (illusion), they are in a deluded state of mind.
Lust, Anger and Greed – I When one’s lust (intense desires) for sense gratification is frustrated, anger and greed arise. More specifically, greed develops from the mode of passion. A greedy person’s hankering for sense enjoyment has no limit. Even if a greedy person has ample money and adequate arrangements for sense gratification, he is not satisfied. He attains neither happiness nor peace of mind. It is the nature of the mode of passion that causes mental disturbance and frustration in one’s life. One is always devising plans and schemes to acquire money and assets to satisfy his insatiable appetite for acquisition and power. All these passionate endeavors are sources of distress. The Bible says, “Greed causes fighting; but the one who trusts in God will be enriched.” (Proverbs 28.25)
Lust, love and liberation
History of Tirupati Balaji
A Modern Miracle of Spiritual Transformation Spiritual Epiphany of Sethu Raman
Understanding Illusion – The hardest subject