Newsletter Number #144  ( January issue 2005 A.D. Gaurabda 518)
http://www.hknet.org.nz/index.htm
http://welcome.to/hknetworks

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ki jaya

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Please Accept My Respectful Obeisances & Best Wishes To All

_0____,

All Glories To Srila Prabhupad.

\o/
(_)
/ \ All Glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.

Welcome to the latest re-vamped edition of the on-line HKSRNewsletter, and our humble attempt to render some service to the devotee community. As you can see we've changed the format, and everything is here hyper-linked on-line, we hope it's now easier for you all. This newsletter now goes out to way over 2108 receivers. We trust that all is well with everyone by the Mercy of the Lord. However, if anyone would like to be removed please just send us a message requesting me to do so, and we will do it promptly. If you are receiving this from a friend, and would like to be added directly to the mailout please also let us know and we will do the needful there too. Removal and Subscription details at the very end of this newsletter.

Hare Krishna. =>B-) JTCd

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The Nectar in this Issue 

See the events on Interactive Calendar site for details:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2002-2003.html
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2003-2004.html
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html

Vaishnava Calendar for 2005-2006????
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2005-2006.html
(some selected locations are available already below)

The present year's calendar:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html

Download the Vaishnava Calendar software VCAL 4.01

Local temples

Words of Wisdom - Shastra & Shastrakaras speak:
... (Srila Prabhupad & the previous Acharyas)
... Coming Festivals
... Local temples
... Verses from Shastra
... Hare Krishna Maha Mantra
... Hare Krishna as ancient religion - NOT a cult
... Vaishnava Songs
... Samskaras and Agama Tantra
... Articles - Topical links - Do bad things happen to good people??? etc
... Vedik revival - Vedik World Heritage

Advertisements - what's on where: check them out...
... Cyber Community Notice Board
...lastest important news items !!!!

... Hare Krishna School in Auckland
... Ayurvedic health - and seminars - Radiance Ayurved has new site
... Fire Safety - Water Safety - Internet Safety
... Singles - Hare Krishna Singles - Vegetarian Singles - Marriage Compatibility checking
... FREE CD Rom
... Sri Shalagram Tirtha Pradarshini web-site and new newsletter
... Vegetarianism and Beyond site gets re-vamped
... Gaura Yoga - Wellington
... The Loft Auckland
... The new Auckland Temple now open

... Boxing Day Asian Tsunami Disaster Food (prasadam) Relief Appeal

... and much more

At Grass Roots: Topical stuff
... Seasonal Greetings...Happy 2005
... Have a Happy Year - Gaurabda 518

Prasadam Recipes: To slake the thirst of body, mind & soul
... some really useful Vege links and support
... inspiring Vegetarian articles
... Eggless cooking - baking - cakes
... Vegetarian Cheeses - new page (try the Tuxford range...)(updated August 2004)
... Vegetarian clubs
... Hare Krishna Food For Life - local and international food relief
... check out the new Ekadasi recipes link
... 101 reasons to be a vegetarian
... Meat substitutes - Tofu - Soy - TVP - tempe recipes
... White Sugar free from bone char in NZ
... FREE Meet your Meat CDRoms
... How to offer your food to God
... You mean that's in the Bible?
... visit our Vegetarianism and Beyond Award winning web-site
... Kurma's new web-site
... The Meatrix
... Holiday Season & Xmas survival recipes

Krishna conscious - Vedikly acceptable jokes:
... cut loose have a laugh
... serious therapy in humour !!!
... did U ever wonder -  Ways of the world - Strange but true

Thanx 2 our sponsors and supporters:
... sponsorship and support
... add or remove - sub or unsub
... HELP !!!
... donations welcome

Now you can view the FULL years 1999-2000 & 2000-2001 & 2001-2002 & 2002-2003 & 2003-2004 & 2004-2005.
All Calendar entries are explained - Appearance or Disappearance
days, festivals, fasts, feasts, etc.

View previous years festival dates on the Calendar:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2001-2002.htm
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2002-2003.html
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2003-2004.html
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html
Vaishnava Calendar for 2005-2006????
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2005-2006.html
(some selected locations are available already below)

The present year's calendar:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html

Sri Devananda Pandit - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Fasting for Saphala Ekadasi - (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 7th January 2005  in NZ)

Sri Mahesa Pandit - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Uddharana Datta - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Locana Das Thakur - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Srila Jiva Goswami - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Jagadisa Pandit - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Makara Sankranti (Sun enters Capricorn)
Makara Sankranti all about Makara sankranti

Fasting for Putrada Ekadasi - (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 21st January 2005  in NZ)

Sri Jagadisa Pandit - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Sri Krsna Pusya abhisheka

Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Sri Jayadeva Goswami - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Locana Das Thakur - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Fasting for Sat-tila Ekadasi - (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 5th February 2005  in NZ)

Sri Ganga Sagara Mela

Sri Vasanta Pancami

Srimati Visnupriya Devi - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Srimati Sarasvati Puja

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Pundarika Vidyanidhi - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Sri Raghunandana Thakur - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Sri Raghunatha Das Goswami - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Kumbha Sankranti (Sun enters Aquarius)

Sri Advaita Acarya - Appearance  - Avirbhav (Fasting till noon)

Sri Bhismastami

Sripad Madhvacarya - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sripad Ramanujacarya - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Fasting for Bhaimi Ekadasi - (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 20th February 2005  in NZ)

Sri Varaha Dvadasi - Appearance of Lord Varaha deva
(The fast is observed till noon on the Ekadasi)(Feasting is done today.)

Sri Nityananda Trayodasi - Appearance of Nityananda Prabhu (Fasting till noon - 22nd Feb in NZ)

Sri Krsna Madhura utsava

Srila Narottama Das Thakur - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Sri Purusottama Das Thakur - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Srila Gour Govinda Swami -- Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Prabhupad - Appearance  - Avirbhav (Fasting till noon)

Fasting for Vijaya Ekadasi- (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 7th March 2005  in NZ)

Sripad Isvara Puri - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Shiva Ratri - Appearance Day of Lord Shiva

Srila Jagannatha Das Babaji - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Rasikananda - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Purusottama Das Thakur - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Mina Sankranti (Sun enters Pisces)

Fasting for Amalaki vrata Ekadasi - (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 21st March 2005  in NZ)

Sripad Madhavendra Puri - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Holi

Sri Krishna Chaitanya (Gauranga) Mahaprabhu - Appearance - ( 26th March 2005 in NZ )
Gaura Purnima - (Fasting Ekadasi style untill moonrise)

Jatakarma Festival of Srila Jagannatha Misra for Birth of Baby Lord Chaitanya

This year's also now available for viewing:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html

All Calender information HERE
http://www.hknet.org.nz/CalendarWhosWho-page.htm

http://panjika.pagehere.com/

Check out the Ekadasi pages with links to every Ekadasi:
(also find out from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada what is, and what constitutes a mahadwadasi)
Find out about Dwadasi and Mahadwadasi here:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/dvadasi.htm

NEW EKADASI RECIPES:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/ekadasi-page.htm

kasmad ekadasi jata tasyah ko va vidhir dvija
kada va kriyate kim va phalam kim va vadasva me

ka va pujyatama tatra devata sad-gunarnava
akurvatah syat ko dosa etan me vaktum arhasi

"Oh Gurudeva! When did Ekadasi take birth and from whom did she appear? What are the rules of fasting on the Ekadasi? Please describe the benefits of following this vow and when it should be followed. Who is the utmost worshippable presiding deity of Sri Ekadasi? What are the faults in not following Ekadasi properly? Please bestow your mercy upon me and tell about these subjects, as you are the only personality able to do so."

Find out what was said HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/ekadasi-page.htm
 

Download yourVaishnava Calendar and make a hard copy for this
last year's ( 2003-2004 AD - 517 Gaurabda ) from our site:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2003-2004.html

This present year ( 2004-2005 AD - 518 Gaurabda ) from our site:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html

Vaishnava Calendar for 2005-2006????
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2005-2006.html

Vaishnava Calendar Program Vcal 4.01 FREE Download, and make your own Calendar for 2004-2005:
http://www.iskcon.org/calendar/vcal401.zip

or if you can't do that and you'd like a 2004-2005 Calendar for your longitude, latitude and time zone ANYWHERE in the world I can do that for you and e-mail it to you - FREE    Vaishnava Calendar Software 4.01

MAKE YOUR OWN CALENDAR FOR YOUR LOCATION,
no more dodgy calendars/panchangas/panjikas from India

...some already made for you http://www.hknet.org.nz/Cals2005-2006-World.html

Vaishnava Calendar maker for your region - on-line:
http://www.iskcondc.org/cgi-bin/vcalndx.pl

Astrologically/Astronomically Accurate and FREE

Please download the software from:
http://www.iskcon.org/calendar/vcal401.zip

How to use the VCAL calendar program:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/VcalHow2use.html

mailto:jtcd@xtra.co.nz

Vaishnava Calendar maker for your region - on-line:
http://www.iskcondc.org/cgi-bin/vcalndx.pl

Festivals on the Vrindavan Calendar
http://www.naturalnirvana.com/Braja-Mandala/Braja-Mandal-Files/Braja-Vrindavan-Festivals.htm

Time Zones and Countries World-wide:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

Here's a few Vaishnava Calendar locations around the World friends asked for us to post !!

Newsletters:
Do you get the Hare Krishna Newsletter from Auckland?
If not send a message to Mother Madri to add yourself to their list:
mailto:madri@pamho.net
mailto:harekrishnanews_auck-owner@yahoogroups.com

See Auckland's latest newsletter HERE:

Christchurch Temple Times:
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Wellington Temple Newsletter:
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Gaura Yoga Centre (Wellington) newsletter:
mailto:gaurayoga-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

...and across the ditch in Aus': 
Brisbane temple newsletter
to subscribe - mailto:brisbane@pamho.net

Melbourne Temple F.O.L.K. News Daily Newsletter/diatrobe:
http://anitest.manilasites.com/

Sydney Temple Newsletter:
http://www.iskcon.com.au/Mailing_list.html

Other Journals, Newsletters, & KC Blogs:
Aniruddha's blog:
http://www.iskcon.net.au/aniruddha/

Ekendra's Mrdanga
http://www.gopinatha.net/journalKC/index.php
This is my new journal where I hope to contribute something worth reading to the world. The inspiration for this comes from Nectar of Devotion wherein it is stated that to reveal one's mind in confidence is one of the loving exchanges between Vaisnavas. Ekendra dasa.

The Conch newsletter - Radha Giridhari temple Auckland
http://www.hknet.org.nz/TheConch-newsletter.html
The Conch Newsletter is a subscription newsletter that is sent out in Word format either as a printable attached file through e-mail, or hard-copy by snail mail. The newsletter is monthly, and compiled by Amrita-pani devi dasi in conjunction with the editorial advisor HH Mukunda Goswami.

From the virtual pen of Sita-pati dasa http://blog.worldsankirtan.net/sitapati/
News and views from Sita-pati dasa.

The International Society for Education in Krsna Consciousness http://www.isekc.com/ has a Blog called Vaishnava Sanga which one can access from the ISEKC home page.

News stories, articles, comment, insights, features, and Vaisnava perspectives available on-line from http://www.iskcon.com/new/

Mahakarta Dasa (Prabhupada's disciple) is the temple president of ISKCON Sri Lanka, and he is the coordinator of this Food for life relief program for the tsunami victims.
The program starts from today (31st December 2004). The Temple President has gone to Trincomalee (worst affected area) this morning to directly supervise the program with some congregational devotees where prasadam will be cooked and distributed to the victims, beginning from 5000 plates per day. We are starting from Trincomalee and it is the worst affected area in Sri Lanka.

This food for life program will continue for a long period and the program will expand to the other affected areas in the country and for this your help is very much needed.

Sri Lanka is among the worst affected by the recent earthquake in Sumatra (Indonesia) and the subsequent tidal wave which has affected many countries in this region. The tide was 40ft high. In the recent news this morning, the death rate has increased to more than 25000 and many thousands are still missing. Over a million are refugees. The refugees have taken shelter in hospitals, schools and temples. Hospitals have been washed out along with the patients and doctors. To continue this, we need assistance and we have to also go to different affected areas.

So the food for life project by ISKCON (Sri Lanka) should provide a minimum of at least ten thousand plate per day or it will be insufficient for the victims.

How to donate

100% of the donations will be given to the tsunami victims. We will also supply medical items, sleeping mats, bed sheets etc as we receive.

We need assistance from you also for this humanitarian service. Please donate generously for this cause and inform your friends to donate for this purpose. Contact us for further information.

Mahakarta Dasa (Prabhupada's disciple) is the temple president of ISKCON Sri Lanka, and he is the coordinator of this relief program for the tsunami victims in Sri Lanka.

We are the only authorized ISKCON center in Sri Lanka :

Address:  Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple (ISKCON Sri Lanka)
               188, new chetty street,
               Colombo 13
               Sri Lanka

e-mail: iskcon@slt.lk
phone: (00941) 2433325
fax: (00941) 2471099

GBC: H.H.Jayapataka Swami
Co GBC: H.H.Bhanu Swami

Your donations could be sent by draft/cheque/ money order on behalf of the ISKCON account mentioned below to the ISKCON Sri Lanka address:

ISKCON Sri Lanka, 188, New chetty street, Colombo 13, Sri Lanka

Bank account name: ISKCON
Account no: 1050669901
Bank name and address: Commercial bank company Ltd
Kotahena branch
Colombo 13
Sri Lanka

Or,

If you deposit the cheques or drafts in any bank of your country (eg. western union) it will be transferred to the bank here.

Or,

If you wish to send the money through your credit card, you could also do that the same precedure via the bank in your country directing it to the ISKCON account here in sri lanka.

But you should mention the bank and the branch name and address where the money is to be transferred.

Please contact us via email for further information.

Thanking you
Your humble servant
Nandarani dd
Secretary
ISKCON Sri Lanka

Festivals Coming Soon
 
 

click on the above

14th January 2005 (in NZ)
 

See you local temple to find out what's going on in your area and how to be part of it......


Visit Your Local Hare Krishna Temple
See a full NZ list of contacts HERE under Communities:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/index.htm

See the Kiwi yatra HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/NZKiwi-yatra.html

Australian yatra here:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/aussie-yatra.htm

International here:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-int.htm

Iskcon World-wide @ a centre near you:
http://www.iskcon.com/worldwide/centres/index.html

Words of Wisdom - Shastra & Shastrakaras speak

For Books and shastra downloads see Main Index, under Books:
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

The Complete Works of Srila Prabhupada
All the books, the letters and conversations at your fingertips

Requirements: DOS or Windows, 173 MB free disk space, 286 PC or better.
http://wald.heim.at/sherwood/530002/

Srila Prabhupada's Audio lectures to listen to on-line:
http://www.hare-krishna.org/srila-prabhupada-lectures.htm

Listen to Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on-line - all 900 of his lectures are available HERE:
http://www.prabhupadavani.org/

Srimad Bhagavatam - the entire lecture series listen and read along on-line - Narrated by Amala Bhakta dasa:
http://www.prabhupadavani.org/SB_index.html

All Srila Prabhupada's books and more on one disk
http://www.vedabase.com

Visit "Prabhupada Connect" for all manner of Prabhupad Nectar:
http://www.prabhupadaconnect.com/Index.html

Download all the Hare Krsna teachings which includes all Vaisnava and
Vedic concepts by visiting one of the sites listed at the following address.
http://www.geocities.com/suci123/bookdownloadsites1.html


33 Books Online Including Srimad Bhagavatam!
http://www.geocities.com/freeprabhupadabooks

Download or Listen to Prabhupad Bhajans HERE:
http://www.prabhupadavani.org/web/text/Bhajans.html

On-line 1972 McMillan edition - Bhagavad Gita As It Is:
http://www.asitis.com/

Bhagavad Gita AS IT IS on-line through the Tirupathi Balaji site:
http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/

Bhagavad Gita Study guide on-line book:
http://chantandbehappy.com/gita/studyguide/StudyGuide-main.htm

Bhagavad Gita Study guides by numerous Iskcon devotees - FREE downloads:
http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/library/#3

All the Scriptures you'd ever need 4 FREE
http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-books.htm
http://www.hknet.org.nz/DDB.htm
http://www.hknet.org.nz/DDB2.html

last updated 4th August 2003

 

Srimad Bhagavad Gita AS IT IS

Bhagavad Gita:  Chapter 2 - Contents of the Gita Summarized

                                 TEXT 57

                         yah sarvatranabhisnehas
                       tat tat prapya subhasubham
                         nabhinandati na dvesti
                        tasya prajna pratisthita

WORD FOR WORD
   yah--one who; sarvatra--everywhere; anabhisnehah--without affection; tat--that; tat--that; prapya--achieving; subha--good; asubham--evil; na--never; abhinandati--praises; na--never; dvesti--envies; tasya--his; prajna--perfect knowledge; pratisthita--fixed.

TRANSLATION
   In the material world, one who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor despising it, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge.

PURPORT by HDG Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
   There is always some upheaval in the material world which may be good or evil. One who is not agitated by such material upheavals, who is unaffected by good and evil, is to be understood to be fixed in Krsna consciousness. As long as one is in the material world there is always the possibility of good and evil because this world is full of duality. But one who is fixed in Krsna consciousness is not affected by good and evil, because he is simply concerned with Krsna, who is all-good absolute. Such consciousness in Krsna situates one in a perfect transcendental position called, technically, samadhi.

 - His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with permission.

 - His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Bhagavad Gita As It Is - http://www.asitis.com/

View our Bhagavad Gita Overview:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/BG.html

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with permission.

Archive: http://www.cs.rice.edu/~vivek/btg/archive/
Home Page: http://www.cs.rice.edu/~vivek/btg/

Join Bhagavad Gita eGroups HERE
mailto:bhagavad_gita-owner@egroups.com

Prabhupada Uvacha:
(here's some nectar, sometimes it comes in the form of Srutakirti prabhu's diary, other times from Govinda dasi's diary, or sometimes from a letter, but still nectar...)

Prabhupada Tells Short Stories

"There is a very instructive story, and it is a historical fact. The Muslim emperor Akhbar once inquired from his minister, 'How long does one remain in lusty desires?'

"The minister replied, 'Up to the last point of death.'

"Akhbar did not believe it, and he said, 'No, no, how can you say that?'

"'All right,' said the minister. 'I shall reply in time.'

"So one day,  all of a sudden,  the minister approached the emperor and said, 'You be immediately ready to come with me with your young daughter.' Akhbar knew that his minister was very intelligent and that there must be some purpose. He went with him,  and the minister took him to a person who was going to die. The minister then asked Akhbar, 'Kindly study the man who is about to die, on his face.'

"So Akhbar noticed that as he and his young daughter were entering,  the dying man was looking to the face of the young girl. In this way, Akhbar understood, 'Yes, what he said is true. Up to the last point of death the desire is there to see the face of a young girl.'

"This is called duspurena -- it is never fulfilled. This attraction of man and woman and family life continues."

To receive little snippets of nectar like this on a daily basis subscribe HERE: or If you want to introduce anyone else in reading Srila Prabhupada Nectars, please send their eMail addresses to mailto:krpamaya_gauranga@hotmail.com

Please Chant:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Listen to Srila Prabhupad on-line
....a different lecture, morning walk, conversation or class daily.

"Don't Think God Has No Feeling"

Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.5
Mayapur, February 25, 1977

Listen to the entire lecture on-line:
http://prabhupadavani.org/Bhagavatam/RAMfiles2/SB572.ram

Pradyumna: "Translation: When Lord Nrsimhadeva saw the small boy Prahlada Maharaja prostrated at the soles of His lotus feet, He became most ecstatic in affection toward His devotee. Raising Prahlada, the Lord placed His lotus hand upon the boy's head because His hand is always ready to create fearlessness in all of His devotees."

Prabhupada:

sva-pada-mule patitam tam arbhakam
vilokya devah krpaya pariplutah
utthapya tac-chirsny adadhat karambujam
kalahi-vitrasta-dhiyam krtabhayam
 [SB 7.9.5]

So to become devotee or favorite to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very easy. It is not at all difficult. Here we see the example, Prahlada Maharaja, a five year old boy... [break] He's a devotee. He only knows the Supreme Lord, and he offered obeisances. That is his qualification. Anyone can do that. Anyone can come here in the temple and offer obeisances. Where is the difficulty? Simply one must have the sense that "Here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna or Nrsimhadeva or any one of His multi-expansions."

In the sastra it is said, advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs. 5.33]. Krsna has ananta-rupam. Therefore every rupa is expansion of Krsna's original rupa. The original rupa is Krsna. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. Then there are so many rupas: Rama, Nrsimha, Varaha, Balarama, Parasurama, Mina, Tortoise, Nrsimhadeva. Ramadi-murtisu kala-niyamena tisthan [Bs. 5.39]. He's always existing with different forms, not that he is existing only in Krsna form. Every form... Ramadi-murtisu. The same example, as we have given many times: just like the sun, time of sun, twenty-four hours, so out of the twenty-four hours or twenty-four incarnations, any time is present. It is not that now it is, say, eight o'clock. Then seven o'clock is finished. No. There is seven o'clock in any other part of the world. Or nine o'clock. Nine o'clock is also present. Twelve o'clock is also present. We have got one watch given by Gurukrpa Maharaja. (laughter) He has brought from Japan. It is very nice. Immediately you can see what is the time now in different places, immediately. So all of them are existing. Therefore Krsna's lila is called nitya-lila, not that one lila is going on, other lila is finished, no. Everything is existing simultaneous. Therefore this word is used, ramadi-murtisu. Ramadi-murtisu kala-niyamena tis... Niyamena. Exactly in due time... Just like the sun, exactly. Formerly there was no watch, but by the shadow one could study. You can study now also. Even now. In our childhood we used to study by seeing the shadow. "Now it is this time" -- and exactly the same time. So kala-niyamena tisthan, not that haphazardly -- now this shadow is one o'clock here, and next day, one o'clock there, no. The same place, you'll find. Kala-niyamena tisthan.

Similarly, Krsna's lila, niyamena tisthan -- exactly. There are innumerable universes. Here Krsna is born. Now Krsna is taken by Vasudeva to Vrndavana. Same thing -- immediately here born, Krsna has gone to Vrndavana -- in another universe Krsna is born. Krsna is born again. In this way His lila is going on. There is no cessation, neither there is any discrepancy of time. Exactly. Just like Krsna comes upon this earth once in Brahma's day. So so many millions of years, Krsna will appear again, if not personally, by His expansion, amsena. Caitanya Mahaprabhu will appear exactly in due course of time. Lord Ramacandra will appear. So ramadi murtisu kala-niyamena tisthan [Bs. 5.39]. So this lila, Nrsimhadeva, that is also exactly in time.

So sva-pada-mule patitam tam arbhakam. Very innocent child. If an innocent child like Prahlada Maharaja, he can get so much mercy of Nrsimhadeva, so pierceful appearance of the Lord that even Laksmi could not approach... Asruta. Adrsta asruta purva. There was no such form of the Lord. Even Laksmi did not know. But Prahlada Maharaja, he's not afraid. He knows, "Here is my Lord." Just like the cub of a lion, he is not afraid of the lion. He immediately jumps to the head of the lion because he knows, "It is my father. It is my mother." Similarly, Prahlada Maharaja is not afraid, although Brahma and others, all demigods, became afraid to approach the Lord. He simply as an innocent child came and offered his obeisances. Tam arbhakam vilokya. So, so God is not impersonal. Immediately he could understand, "Oh, here is an innocent child. He has been harassed by his father so much and now he's offering his obeisances unto me." Vilokya devah krpaya pariplutah. He became very much, I mean to say, melted with mercy. So thing, everything is there. Don't think that God has no feeling, thinking, feeling. No. Everything is there. Unless He has got sympathetic feeling in Him, where we have got it? Because everything is coming from God. Janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1].

Athato brahma jijnasa. What is Brahman? Brahman means the original source of everything. That is Brahman. Brhatvat brhanatvat. So if this feeling is not there in God, then how He can be God, this feeling? Just like if one innocent little child comes and offers some respect to us, immediately we become feelingly merciful: "Oh, here is a nice child." So Lord Krsna, Nrsimhadeva, He also became pariplutah, feelingly merciful, not ordinary merciful, feeling that "How innocent this child is." So feelingly, utthapya: immediately got him up. "My dear child, get up." And immediately put his hand on the head. Utthapya tac-chirsny adadhat karambujam. Karambhuja, lotus hand, lotus palm. So these feelings are there. And He wanted... Because this boy was bewildered that such a big murti came from the thumbs(?), the columns and the father, gigantic father, is dead, naturally he is little disturbed in mind. So therefore vitrasta-dhiyam krtabhayam: "My dear child, don't be afraid. Everything is all right. I am present and there is no fear. Be pacified. I will give you protection." So this is the exchange. So there is no need of very, becoming very learned man, Vedantist and... Simply these things are required: you become innocent, accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and fall down at His lotus feet. Everything is complete. This is wanted, simplicity. Simplicity. Believe in Krsna. As Krsna said, mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhanan... [Bg. 7.7], believe it! There is no more superior authority than Krsna

...............continued

 There is a new book out complied by our recently departed godsister, Mulaprakriti dasi. Its called "Our Srila Prabhupada, A Friend to All." It is a series of interviews with people who knew Srila Prabhupada before he came to the West. One of them, Gopal Chandra Ghosh, who works at the Vrndavana Research Institute, recounts how in the early 60s when Srila Prabhupada was living at Radha Damodara temple, Srila Prabhupada told him how he had been chanting one night and three effulgent personalities appeared before him, dressed in kauping and kanti mala and chanting japa. Two were older, one was younger. They were Srila Rupa, Sanatana and Jiva Goswamis. They instructed him on his writing of the Bhagavatam (which Srila Prabhupada had just started at that time) and how to preach.

 Of course, many people may claim to have special relationships with Srila Prabhupada now that he has departed, but at least in this instance, I had a confirmation from Srila Prabhupada himself about this incident.

 In 1976, I had heard from Harikesa that Rupa Goswami had appeared to Srila Prabhupada but he didn't know any details. I was intrigued and one day I asked Srila Prabhupada about it. Here's my entry from TD vol. 3:

July 26, 1976 -- London

When Harikesa went out to attend to some work, I remained a few minutes more, alone with His Divine Grace. During the conversation I had flipped through the pages of the new book and had noticed a picture of Srila Prabhupada's kitchen in the Radha-Damodara temple in Vrndavana. I now told him about it.
"Oh! Where it is?" he enthusiastically asked. I found the page for him. Opportunities like this don't arise frequently, so as he inspected the brownish photo I asked a few questions about Prabhupada's life before ISKCON. "Through that window you could see Rupa Gosvami's samadhi. And for those two rooms they were charging five rupees a month?"
"Yes," Prabhupada said. "These rooms were broken. So they told me that 'You can repair these, and whatever you like, you can give.' So I thought, 'Don't need much space.' Before me there was a tenant in that other room, he was paying three rupees. So I thought, 'Two rooms, but I have spent money. So I'll give him five.' Now I am giving them ten rupees."
"To retain it."
"Yes."
"Sometimes the devotees go down there and clean out the rooms," I told him,
"and they have kirtana there sometimes. I think this is the first book that someone included this photo."
"Yes. It was very calm and quiet. And people used to offer obeisances from outside because they knew. Practically everyone knew me. So they used to offer ..."
"You were very well known in Vrndavana before you came?"
"Not very well known, but people knew me."
"Because you were writing?"
"Yes."
"Or because of your ambition to come to the West?"
"No, at that time there was no such thing," Prabhupada replied. "I was living there, retired man."
"So when you went to Vrndavana, you'd given up the idea of coming to the West?"
"No, coming to the West, the idea was there, but I was planning how to go, how to go there, how to preach there, how to take some books, how to bring them -- everything alone ..."
"So as soon as you had some books then you were ..."
"Yes. Then I decided. Everything was being dictated by superior."
With Srila Prabhupada in such a congenial mood, I took the courage to broach something Harikesa once mentioned to me. "I was told that one day you were told by Rupa Gosvami that you must go."
Prabhupada's mood changed slightly. "But that was open secret," he said dismissively. "Everyone knew." Then he changed the subject.

>> Ref. VedaBase => TD 3-4: London

Bhaktivedanta Vedabase Network ...
http://vedabase.net/

The Scientific - Mathematical Proof for God's existence:
http://www.god.temple.at

(Collection of philosophical and mathematical proofs for existence of God can be found in this site.)

Scientifically Philosophical Books for the layman
.........
Click on any of these books to read more about them and where to get a copy

or contact your local temple for purchases

sample of Life comes from Life HERE.pdf

Quotes from Shastra - scriptures
dehino 'smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati

"As the embodied soul continually passes in this body from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul in not bewildered by such a change." [Bhagavad Gita. 2.13]

The Holy Name Cannot be Realized Through the Material Senses

ataù çré kåñëa nämädi na bhaved grähyam indriyaiù
sevon-mukhe hi jihvädau svayam eva sphuratyadaù

          Therefore the material senses cannot appreciate Kåñëa's holy name, form, qualities, and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Kåñëa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord's holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord's food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kåñëa really is. In other words, the holy name of Kåñëa can never be grasped by the material senses. Only by rendering devotional service, beginning with vibrating the Lord's glories upon the tongue, can one realize Kåñëa, for he will reveal Himself directly to the sincere soul. The formula for perfection in chanting the holy name. (Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu 1.2.234)

Hare Kåñëa is the Mahä-mantra for the Age of Kali

hare kåñëa hare kåñëa kåñëa kåñëa hare hare
hare räma hare räma räma räma hare hare
ñoòaçaitäni nämäni dvätriàçad varëakäni hi
kalau yuge mahä-mantraù sammato jévatäraëe
varjayitvä tu nämaitad durjanaiù parikalpitam
chandobaddhaà susiddhänta viruddhaà näbhyaset padam
tärakaà brahma-nämaitad brahmaëä guruëädinä
kalisantaraëädyäsu çruti-svadhigataà hareù
präptaà çré brahma-çiñyeëa çré näradena dhématä
nämaitad-uttamaà çrauta-päramparyeëa brahmaëaù
utsåjyaitan-mahä-mantraà ye tvanyat kaepitaà padam
mahänämeti gäyanti te çästra-guru laëghanaù
tattva-virodha-saopåktaà tädåçaà daurjanaà matam
sravathä parihäryaà syädätma-hitärthinä sadä
hare kåñëa hare kåñëa kåñëa kåñëa hare hare
hare räma hare räma räma räma hare hare

            Hare kåñëa hare kåñëa kåñëa kåñëa hare hare, hare räma hare räma räma räma hare hare: This sixteen-name, thirty-two syllable mantra is the mahä-mantra in the age of Kali by which all living beings can be delivered. One should never abandon chanting this mahä-mantra and take to other so-called purificatory processes which are practiced by rascals, or engage in chanting other metrical compositions of the name of Kåñëa that are against the pure conclusions of the scriptures, or are filled with rasàbhäsa. About this divinely spiritual mahä-mantra, which delivers one from material existence, the original guru, Lord Brahmä, has said, kali-santaraåädi çrutite, "The çrutis have declared this mantra to be the best means of deliverance in the age of Kali". Having all heard this from Brahmä, the sons and disciples of Brahmä, beginning with Närada, all accepted the Hare Kåñëa mahä-mantra and, having meditated on it, attained perfection. (Ananta-Saàhitä)

The Principal Result of Chanting the Holy Name is Kåñëa-prema,
Not Dharma, Artha, Käma or Mokña

bhaktistvayi sthiratarä bhagavan yadi syäd
daivena naù phalati divya-kiçora-mürtiù
muktiù svayaà mukulitäïjali sevate'smän
dharmärtha-käma-gatayaù samaya-pratékñäù

          O Lord when a devotee, by good fortune, develops unflinching devotion to Your transcendentally beautiful, youthful form, then liberation herself waits with folded hands to be his maidservant. And right behind liberation, piety, economic development, and sense enjoyment will wait for the chance to serve. (Kåñëa-karëämåta 107)

Take a mini-pilgrimage to Mathura and Vrindavan on-line - you will not be disappointed:
http://www.vrindavan-dham.com/general.php

The wonders of Vraja Mandala Parikrama
http://www.touruniversal.com/

Pictures of Prabhupad in Australia and Indonesia:
http://www.iskcon.net/gauranga/ppad.htm

taken by Amogha prabhu ACBSP

Prabhupad photo gallery - US:
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/srila_prabhupada_photo_gallery.htm
compiled by Srinandanandana prabhu ACBSP

European Krishna conscious festivals - photo galleries:
http://www.bharatavarsa.net/Gallery/albums.php

Foto galleries of Latino America with Rasananda Swami
http://www.rasanandaswami.com.br/fotos.htm

Krishna conscious instructive dramas - plays:
http://www.cedarpost.com/krsnaconsciousplays/TableOfContents.htm

"Glory to the Sri Krishna Samkirtan which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years together. Thus the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death, is extinguished. The Samkirtan Movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction Moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge, it increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it helps us to have a taste of the full nectar for which we are always anxious."

(Every Town & Village, album cover)

On-line Virtual Arati to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai - check it out
http://www.in2-mec.com/GNpuja.html

http://www.hknet.org.nz/harernam-page.htm
http://Harinam/rulestheweb.com

What's So Special About Chanting Hare Krishna?
By Stephen Knapp (Sri Nandanandan dasa ACBSP):
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/chanting_hare_krishna.htm

Hare Krishna is NOT "a Cult":
Is ISKCON a Cult or part of the "Hindu Culture" or Something Else?
http://www.hknet.org.nz/not-a-cult.html

Hare Krishna is NOT a Cult letter by Kunti dd editor of Hare Krishna World:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/HK-no-cult.html

38 Years of Krishna Consciousness through Iskcon.........
http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa081201a.htm

Very nice articles and numerous links on the About Hinduism web-site.

What is ISKCON ???
http://www.iskcon.org/main/twohk/iskcon/what.htm

Is Iskcon a Cult?
http://www.hknet.org.nz/not-a-cult.html

Iskcon and Hinduism
http://www.hknet.org.nz/IskconHinduism.html

SONGS AND MANTRAS by Vaishnava spiritual masters:
http://web.tiscali.it/no-redirect-tiscali/gopala/Vaishnava-Songs/index.html

Vaishnava Song Book:
http://www.iskcon.org/sastra/f_vs.html
http://www.iskcon.org/sastra/vs_other.html

Vedic Art Publications
http://www.vedicarts.net/catalogmain.html

.........this library is temporarily not working

Listen to or download Prabhupad lectures and bhajans
http://chantandbehappy.com/prabhupada/index.html

Devotional Bhajans and kirtans
http://chantandbehappy.com/bhajans/index.html

Hundreds of devotional songs by various artists - singers - performers - and many more coming soon:
http://www.radiokrishna.com/modules.php?name=NukeView&file=index&query=http://www.radiokrishna.com/rkc_archive_new/index2.php

Download songs
http://www.harekrsna.cz/mp3/folk/

Krishna Vision of Krishna Prema dasa ACBSP Sound Track Vol. 4 samples:
http://www.krisnavision.narod.ru/

Sydney temple Audio page
http://www.iskcon.com.au/Audio.html

Leicester Temple UK Audio page - many bhajans and kirtans
http://www.gauranga.org/audio_page.htm

Listen to Krishna Radio on various subjects on-line:
http://www.krishna.com/newsite/main.php?id=260

Agama Tantra and the Vaishnava Samskaras as a way of life:

Recently I was asked, "Don't you find it an inconvenience to always be checking to see when is the right time to do this or the best time for that?"

In simple terms my answer was and still is; if you go to the bus or railway station or airport it is probably an intelligent venture to enquire about the times and routes of vehicles than to just hope that one will be along soon, or one is going in your direction.

There are subtle influences in the Universe that, for thousands of years gone by, advanced cultures have honoured, respected and utilised. Before the corruption of the Vedik literatures by the Christian and Moslem invaders to India all these things were used; Ayurvedik Medicine; Vedik Astrology; etc. Today there's a rennaisance among many to revive these arts.

We have been trained and studied to be able to provide these services. See some of my sites:

http://www.hknet.org.nz/jtcd-samskaras.html
http://www.iskcon.net/nz-namahatta/jtcd/1-homepage.html

or contact me directly: mailto:jtcd@xtra.co.nz

aham kratur aham yajnah
svadhaham aham ausadham
mantro 'ham aham evajyam
aham agnir aham hutam

"But it is I who am the ritual, I the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb,
the transcendental chant. I am the butter and the fire and the offering."(Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 9.16)

Krishna conscious affirmations:

 Always remember Krishna and never forget Him

Join and receive Krishna conscious affirmations:
mailto:Sravana.SPGTSI@pamho.net

Topical Articles:
Abortion - http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-abortion.htm
Genetic Engineering ( GE or GM ) - http://www.hknet.org.nz/GE.html
Environment - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Environment.htm
Encroachment - http://www.hknet.org.nz/WE-Day2004.html
Cloning - http://www.hknet.org.nz/cloning.htm
Science - http://www.hknet.org.nz/science2KC.html
Cow Protection - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Cow-protection.htm
The Four Regulative Principles of Freedom - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Regs-4page.htm
seX-files - http://www.hknet.org.nz/seX-files.htm
Mundane Knowledge - http://www.hknet.org.nz/mundaneknowledge.html
Death (Yamaduttas - Terminal Restlessness etc)- http://www.hknet.org.nz/death.html
Near Death Experience - http://www.hknet.org.nz/NDE.htm
Ghosts - http://www.hknet.org.nz/ghosts.htm
Reincarnation again here - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Reincarnation-page.htm
Gain some insights in the TV culture  - http://www.hknet.org.nz/television.html
The aweful Truth about softdrinks - http://www.hknet.org.nz/theREALthing.html
Changing the face of the Earth - http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1390/index.html
UFOs - http://www.hknet.org.nz/UFOs.html
Vegetarianism & Beyond - http://turn.to/Vegetarianism
Articles for newcomers to Krishna consciousness - http://www.krishna.com/newsite/main.php?id=87
Self Help and Motivational pages - Deals and Affiliate programs: - http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-selfhelp.html
Myth of the Aryan invasion by Dr. David Frawley: - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Aryan-invasion-mythDF.html

.........many other articles - http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-articles.htm

and from there go to the Main Index http://www.hknet.org.nz/index.htm

“I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Kåñëa], who is always situated in various incarnations such as Räma, Nåsiàha and many subincarnations as well, but who is the original Personality of Godhead known as Kåñëa, and who incarnates personally also.” (Brahma samhita 5:39.)

The Devotee List - Iskcon and Gaudiya math(s):
(It's still being developed, and a lot of devotees are not here......)
http://devotee.s5.com/index.html

Mail box full - over quota - newsletters bouncing.......

Still waiting for an internet company to come forward
and give you a massive mailbox for FREE like it's been rumoured for months.

HELP IS HERE AT LAST.

Tired of that wimpy 2mb mailboxs?  rejecting important emails cause
its always overflowing but still too cheap to spring for a "real" ISP..
No computer but need an email address? Need a stealth email address? Got
a friend who fits that description?... Well here are some other free
options for you. Note that a couple of these offer HUGE 100-200mb mail boxes...

http://www.hotmail.com   ..................2 mb
http://www.yahoo.com ....................4 mb
http://www.freeserve.com ..............5 mb
http://www.myownemail.com ........5 mb
http://www.lycos.com ......................5 mb
 http://www.softhome.net ................6 mb
http://www.bigmailbox.com ...........7 mb
http://mail.uk2.net ...........................10 mb
 http://www.gmx.net
http://www.graffiti.net
http://www.hotpop.com
http://www.mail2world
http://www.mail.com
http://www.mailandnews.com
http://www.mail15.com .................15 mb
http://macnews.de .........................20 mb
http://xms.ms ..................................20 mb
http://balls.com ............................100 mb
http://ukonline.net .......................200 mb

Vedik World Heritage pages

Read enlivening articles
See pictures of exhumed relics
Understand conspirital deceptions...
Join the renaissance to rebuild the Golden Age in the Kali-yuga
Find out about Vedik heritage items all around the world.....

Send in your articles and news:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/VWH.html

See more similar pages and links http://www.hknet.org.nz/VWH.html and http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-Vedik.htm

Vedik Culture list
 mailto:vediculture-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

A selection of interesting Krishna conscious articles from New Panihati - Atlanta temple USA:
http://newpanihati.tripod.com/NewsGroup/KCNectar/KCNectarMain.htm

Paradigms - where things are not all they seem

Krishna conscious Dramas and plays:
A collection of 88 transcendental dramas assembled and presented for the pleasure of
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
http://www.cedarpost.com/krsnaconsciousplays/default.htm

Wonderful modern Krishna conscious plays:
http://www.cedarpost.com/krsnaconsciousplays/TableOfContents.htm

These are great for Sunday feasts, or school programs or street presentations, or just for our own understanding.

Read here what Prabhupad says about such plays and dramas:
http://www.cedarpost.com/krsnaconsciousplays/PlaysP2SPquotes.htm

The Formidable Audio page - Bhajans, Kirtans, Lectures many Iskcon devotees:
http://www.iskcon.com.au/Audio.html

and

Bhajans and Kirtans
http://chantandbehappy.com/bhajans/index.html

and

Download latest Real Player for Free:
http://software-dl.real.com/22e4968a89f121132020/windows/mrkt/AUN03D/RealOnePlayerV2GOLD.exe

Listen to audio and view videos on-line here:
http://www.prabhupada.org/prabhupadadesh/a_deposito_oggetti/Archivio_Audio-Video/index.php?q=t&t=EN
http://www.prabhupada.org/prabhupadadesh/a_deposito_oggetti/Archivio_Audio-Video/index.php?q=f&f=%2FAudio
There's literally hundreds of bhajans, kirtans and videos segments to check out.............try all the folders too.......

Nectar for kids and adults alike:
http://www.rasa-music.com/Bodies/body-shop.html

...........more Audio sites linked HERE

Food For Life Global helps Tsunami victims

Tsunami Kills More than 125,000 in Nine Countries
http://www.ffl.org/html/tsunami.html

(A.P.) COLOMBO, Sri Lanka Dec 27, 2004 — Rescuers piled up bodies along coastlines devastated by a tsunami that obliterated seaside towns in Asia and Africa, killing 22,000 people in nine countries. Hundreds of children were buried in mass graves in India, and morgues and hospitals struggled Monday to cope with the catastrophe.

The death toll rose sharply a day after the magnitude 9 quake struck deep beneath the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia. It was the most powerful earthquake in the world in four decades.

Walls of water sped away from the epicenter at more than 500 mph before crashing into the region's shorelines, sweeping people and fishing villages out to sea. Millions were displaced from their homes and thousands remained missing Monday.

The governments of Indonesia and Thailand conceded that public warnings came too late or not at all. But officials insisted they could not know the seriousness of the threat because no tsunami warning system exists for the Indian Ocean.

Officials said the death toll would continue to rise, and the international Red Cross said it was concerned about waterborne diseases.

Sri Lanka said more than 10,000 people were killed along its coastlines, and Tamil rebels said 2,000 people died in its territory, raising that country's toll to more than 12,000.

Indonesia reported about 5,000 deaths and India 3,000. Thailand a Western tourist hotspot said hundreds of people were dead and thousands more were missing. Deaths also were reported in Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Somalia, 3,000 miles away in Africa.

On the remote Car Nicobar island northwest of Sumatra, Police Chief S.B. Deol told New Delhi Television he had reports that another 3,000 people may have died. If confirmed, that would raise India's death toll to 6,000 and the overall number to 23,900.

"The Andaman and Nicobar islands have been really badly hit," said Hakan Sandbladh, senior health officer at the Geneva headquarters of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Offers of aid poured in from around the globe, as troops in the region struggled to deliver urgently needed aid to afflicted areas.

In Bandah Aceh, Indonesia, 150 miles from the quake's epicenter, dozens of bloated bodies littered the streets as soldiers and desperate relatives searched for survivors Monday. Some 500 bodies collected by emergency workers lay under plastic tents, rotting in the tropical heat.

"We have ordered 15,000 troops into the field to search for survivors," Indonesian military spokesman Edy Sulistiadi said. "They are mostly retrieving corpses."

Refugees in nearby Lhokseumawe, many of whom had spent the night sleeping outside on open ground, complained that little or no aid had reached them. The city's hospital said it was running out of medicine.

The Indian state of Tamil Nadu reported thousands of deaths. Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa called the scene "an extraordinary calamity of such colossal proportions that the damage has been unprecedented."

Nearby beaches resembled open-air mortuaries as fishermen's bodies washed ashore, and retreating waters left behind others killed inland. In Cuddalore, red-eyed parents buried more than 150 children laid in a mass grave that a bulldozer filled with sodden earth.

The tsunamis came without warning. Witnesses said sea waters at first retreated far out into the ocean, only to return at a vicious pace. Some regions reported a crashing wall of water 20 feet high.

"The water went back, back, back, so far away, and everyone wondered what it was a full moon or what? Then we saw the wave come, and we ran," said Katri Seppanen, who was in Thailand, on Phuket island's popular Patong beach.

Sri Lanka and Indonesia said at least 1 million people were driven from their homes in each country. Warships in Thailand steamed to remote tropical island resorts to search for survivors as air force helicopters in Sri Lanka and India rushed food and medicine to stricken areas.

In Indonesia, villagers near northern Lhokseumawe picked through the debris of their ruined houses amid the smell of decomposing bodies.

One man, Rajali, said his wife and two children were killed and he could not find dry ground to bury them. Islamic tradition demands that the deceased be buried as soon as possible.

"What shall I do?" said the 55-year-old man, who, like many Indonesians, goes by a single name. "I don't know where to bury my wife and children."

Dozens of bodies still clad in swimming trunks lined beaches in Thailand.

In Sri Lanka an island nation some 1,000 miles west of the epicenter about 25,000 troops were deployed to crack down on sporadic, small-scale looting and to help in rescue efforts. About 200 inmates took advantage of the chaos, escaping from a prison in coastal Matara.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake's magnitude was 9.0 the strongest since a 9.2-magnitude temblor in Alaska in 1964 and the fourth-largest in a century.

The quake occurred more than 6 miles deep and was followed by a half-dozen powerful aftershocks. A 620-mile section of a geological plate shifted, triggering the sudden displacement of water.

Countries around the world were touched. Italy reported 11 of its citizens had died; Norway 10; Britain four; the United States and Denmark three each; Australia, France, Sweden and Belgium two each; and New Zealand one.

Those numbers likely would rise. Sri Lanka said 72 foreign tourists were killed there, and Thailand said 35 of the dead were foreigners.

President Bush expressed his condolences over the "terrible loss of life and suffering." From the Vatican, Pope John Paul II led appeals for aid for victims, and the 25-nation European Union promised to quickly deliver $4 million.

Aid agencies and governments around the world began pouring relief supplies into the region Monday. Japan, China and Russia were among the countries sending teams of experts.

Jasmine Whitbread, international director of the aid group Oxfam, warned that without swift action, more people could die.

"The flood waters will have contaminated drinking water and food will be scarce," she said.

In Thailand, Gen. Chaisit Shinawatra, the army chief, said the United States has offered to send troops stationed on Japan's Okinawa island to assist. Thailand was considering the offer.

Tsunamis as large as Sunday's happen only a few times a century. A tsunami is a series of traveling ocean waves generated by geological disturbances near the ocean floor. With nothing to stop them, the waves can race across the ocean like the crack of a bullwhip, gaining momentum over thousands of miles.

An international tsunami warning system was started in 1965, after the Alaska quake, to advise coastal communities of a potentially killer wave.

Member states include the major Pacific rim nations in North America, Asia and South America. But because tsunamis are rare in the Indian Ocean, no system exists there. Scientists said deaths would have been reduced if one had.

Associated Press reporters Lely T. Djuhari in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Sutin Wannabovorn and Alisa Tan in Phuket, Thailand, and S. Srinivasan in Cuddalore, India, contributed to this report.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Ravindra Swarup prabhu speaks from his book of the same name (2.91 Mb) among some devotees,
he plays the devils advocate to gain further insights into the situation.

Download the article by clicking on the above icon.

Why do Bad Things Happen to Us?

From your views Why do 'bad' things befall us? How does all that come into play? Is everything karma or can anything just happen?
How would a KC devotee deal with let's say he's on the road preaching and someone stabs him badly, how would you view that?

Read the article HERE
http://introduction.krishna.org/Articles/2002/10/023.html

DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?
by Ravindra Swarup dasa

About five years ago, when we were having an altar installed in our new temple, the overseer from the marble company would regularly bring his seven-year-old son along to watch. The boy was very handsome, with jet-black hair and pale skin and long, dark eyelashes. He was well behaved and always seemed in good humor
even though he could hardly walk at all. I never saw him take more than a few steps, leaning on a wall and straining his torso with an awkward twisting motion and
then swinging forward a leg clamped into a large, clumsy brace.

The boy had been born crippled. While he was cheerful despite that, his father was not. His father was an angry man. "When that boy was born I stopped going to
church," he told me once, as he knelt on our altar putting grout between the marble slabs. "I never did anything bad enough to deserve this. Sure, I'm not a saint, but
I don't deserve this. And even if I did, what could HE have done?"

The aggrieved father, an unsophisticated marble contractor, was raising a problem that has long preoccupied Western religious thinkers, so much so that it has
created a special discipline called THEODICY, a branch of theology concerned with justifying the ways of God to man. Theodicy deals with what is usually called
"the problem of evil." St. Augustine cast it into the form of a dilemma: "Either God cannot or God will not eliminate evil from the world. If He cannot, He is not
all-powerful; if He will not, He is not all-good." This formulation makes the logic of the problem clear: to show that the existence of a world with evil in it is
compatible with the existence of a God who is BOTH all-powerful AND all-good. To deny either one of these attributes would easily explain evil, but orthodox
theologians have always considered that unacceptable.

Those who find the problem of evil intractable usually deny the existence of God outright rather than settle for a God limited either in power or goodness. Would
such a finite being really qualify to be called "God"? Would he be worthy of our worship?

Although philosophers and theologians have left us a huge body of technical literature on the problem of evil, it is far from a theoretical concern. It is everybody's
problem, sooner or later. Suffering is universal. But oddly enough, practically as widespread is the sufferer's feeling that he has been unfairly singled out. From
millions comes the outraged cry: "Why ME! What did I do to deserve this?"

It is for such people that Harold S. Kushner, a Massachusetts rabbi, has written his book WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE. It is a painfully
honest treatment of what the author claims is the one theological issue that reaches folks "where they really care."

Kushner's book grew out of his personal pain; his testimony commands respect. He tells how his son was afflicted from infancy with progeria, a disease that brings
on rapid aging, so that Kushner saw the boy grow bald and wrinkled, stooped and frail, until he died of old age in his fourteenth year. Kushner presents the victim's
point of view, and he lets us hear the real voices of people in pain. In that stark light, the standard religious justifications for our misfortunes, which Kushner lays out
one by one, do indeed seem like facile verbal shuffles that don't take people's suffering seriously but simply try, however lamely, to get God off the hook.

Kushner effectively criticizes the standard answers handed out by priests, ministers, rabbis, and he offers instead his own radically unorthodox solution. His book has been a bestseller for months, and he has attracted a large and grateful following among Jews, Catholics, and Protestants. Indeed, the popularity of his view among
members of America's mainstream churches and synagogues suggests something of a grassroots theological rebellion.

The most reprehensible device of theodicy, in Kushner's view, is to remove the blame from God by putting it onto the sufferer, to explain suffering "by assuming that
we deserve what we get, that somehow our misfortunes come as punishment for our sins." To accept that bad things happen to us as God's punishment, Kushner
says, may help us make sense of the world, give us a compelling reason to be good, and sustain our belief in an all-powerful and just Deity - yet it is not "religiously
adequate."

By "religiously adequate" Kushner means "comforting." Seeing suffering as a punishment for sin is not comforting, because it teaches people to blame themselves for
their misfortunes, and so creates guilt, and it also "makes people hate God, even as it makes them hate themselves."

Kushner tells us of a couple who blamed their teenage daughter's sudden death on their own failure to observe the prescribed fast on a Jewish holy day: "They sat
there feeling that their daughter's death had been their fault; had they been less selfish and less lazy about the Yom Kippur fast some six months earlier, she might still
be alive. They sat there angry at God for having exacted His pound of flesh so strictly, but afraid to admit their anger for fear that He would punish them again. Life
had hurt them and religion could not comfort them. Religion was making them feel worse."

It is a virtue of Kushner's work to bring up anger at God up front, to talk at length about what few believers have had the courage to admit, even to themselves.
Many people must be grateful that someone has recognized their real feelings and has dealt with them openly.

But the worst thing about the belief that our misdeeds cause our misfortunes, says Kushner, is that it doesn't even fit the facts. People do suffer ills they don't
deserve; bad things happen to good people all the time. Kushner adamantly maintains this. To the thousands who resent life's unfair treatment, who proclaim in
outrage and indignation, "I didn't do anything to deserve this!" Kushner answers, comfortingly, "That's right, you didn't."

And Kushner is not talking about saints, about people who never do wrong. Rather, he wants to know "why ordinary people, nice friendly neighbors, neither
extraordinarily good nor extraordinarily bad, should suddenly have to face the agony of pain and tragedy... They are neither much better nor very much worse than
most people we know; why should their lives be so much harder?"

Here, tapping into a great psychic underground of resentment, Kushner has found his following. He has been willing to openly acknowledge a vast repressed sense
of betrayal, a great silenced accusation that leaks unwillingly from the hearts of the believers and wends its way up to the divine ear as the universal unvoiced
antiprayer: "You didn't hold up Your end of the bargain!"

Kushner insists that the innocent suffer, and as conclusive proof he advances that grievance which has been the bane of Judeo-Christian theodicy and which
occasioned his own harrowing foray into the problem of evil: the suffering and death of children.

This is what drove the marble contractor to take up atheism, the usual response of those who feel God has failed them. But atheism is the response Kushner wants to prevent with his book. To restore the faith of those who have been spiritually devastated by misfortune, Kushner offers his own story of how he and his wife
"managed to go on believing in God and in the world after we had been hurt."

Kushner is indeed convinced that the existence of a God both all-good and all-powerful is incompatible with the evils of our world; yet he wants us to go on
believing in God - but not in a God who is all-powerful. God is good, but there are limits to what He can do. God does not want us to suffer; He is as angry and
upset at our misfortunes as we are. But He is also helpless.

This is Kushner's credo: "I believe in God," he says, but - "I recognize His limitations." As a result, Kushner tells us in relief, "I no longer hold God responsible for
illness, accidents, and natural disasters, because I realize that I gain little and I lose much when I blame God for these things. I can worship a God who hates
suffering but cannot eliminate it more easily than I can worship a God who chooses to make children suffer and die, for whatever exalted reason."

It is not hard for me to put myself in the place of Kushner or the marble  contractor: I have children of my own. I can even understand why, given the kind of religion
they know, Kushner can worship only a finite deity, and the marble contractor can't bear to enter a church. Nevertheless, I don't have the problem with God that
they do. When bad things happen, I don't find myself calling into question either His power or His goodness.

Of course, I am a devotee of Krsna; my religious convictions are founded upon the Vedic theism revealed in the BHAGAVAD-GITA and the
SRIMAD-BHAGAVATAM. To espouse those convictions has been viewed by most normal Americans as a radical thing to do. But now we find that many normal Americans are willing to do something that, in its way, is more radical than what I've done. They are abandoning one of the most basic and universal theistic tenets:
they are becoming worshipers of God-the-not-almighty.

I want to tell you how we handle the problem of evil. If you, like so many others, are unsatisfied with the standard Judeo-Christian theodicy, perhaps you will
consider our Krsna conscious view before following Rabbi Kushner.

In the BHAGAVAD-GITA Krsna explains that you and I, like all living beings, are spiritual entities, souls. We now animate bodies made of matter, but we are not
these bodies. Our involvement with matter is unfortunate, for it is the cause of all our suffering. We rightly belong in the spiritual kingdom, where life is eternal, full of
knowledge and bliss. There everyone is joyously surrendered to the control of God as they directly serve Him in love. Every action is motivated exclusively by the
desire to satisfy God.

But some of us perversely wished God's position for ourselves. We wanted independence so that we could try to enjoy and control others like God does. Yet we
cannot, of course, take God's place; He alone has no master. But to grant our desires, God sends us to the material world, where He now controls us indirectly,
through His material nature and its laws. Here we can forget God, strive to fulfill OUR desires, and have the illusion of independence.

Yet we are controlled by the laws of nature, and these force us to perpetually inhabit a succession of temporary material bodies. In ignorance, we identify ourselves
with each body we enter, and we suffer again and again the pains of birth, old age, disease, and death. Life after life we transmigrate through plant, animal, and
human bodies, sometimes on this planet, sometimes on far better ones, sometimes on far worse.

Once we take a human birth, our destiny is shaped by KARMA. In the BHAGAVAD- GITA (8.3) Krsna succintly defines KARMA as "actions pertaining to the
development of material bodies." This means that there are actions we do now that determine our future material bodies. What kind of actions? Those motivated by
material desire. We may do them directly for ourselves or indirectly for our extended self - our family, friends, community, nation, and the like. All such acts sentence us to future births in the material world, there to reap what we have sown.

KARMA is of two kinds: good and bad. Every civilized society recognizes a set of commandments that have divine authority and that regulate material enjoyment.
Such commandments, for example, restrict the enjoyment of sex to marital relations and oblige the wealthy to be philantropic. They also encourage religious and
charitable acts, which earn the performer merit. And they prescribe atonements for transgressors. Thus people are allowed to pursue material enjoyment, but they
must observe moral and religious codes. And those who follow these codes, who live pious lives of restricted sensual pleasure, are assured of even greater
enjoyment in the life to come.

If we act according to scriptural regulations, the VEDAS tell us, we will produce good KARMA and in future births enjoy the benefits of our piety. For example, if a person is born in an aristocratic family, is beautiful, well educated, or very wealthy, he is reaping the benefits of good KARMA. The VEDAS also tell us that if a
person is extraordinarily pious he may be reborn on one of the higher planets in this universe, where the standard of sensual pleasure is far greater than anything we
have on earth.

Conversely, there is bad KARMA. We create bad KARMA when we disregard scriptural injunctions and restrictions in our pursuit of sensual pleasure - that is,
when we act sinfully. Bad KARMA brings us suffering and misfortune, such as birth in a degraded family, poverty, chronic disease, legal problems, or physical
ugliness. Exceptionally bad KARMA will take us into animal bodies or down to lower planets of hellish torment.

The law of KARMA is as strict, relentless, and impartial as the grosser natural laws of motion and gravity. And, like them, it applies to us whether we know about it
or not. For example, if I eat the flesh of animals even though I can live as well without it, my bad KARMA will force me to be born as an animal and to be
slaughtered myself. Or if I arrange to have a child killed in the womb, I simultaneously arrange for myself to be killed in the same way, again and again, without ever
seeing the light of day.

So when you and I were born we inherited, along with our blue eyes or our black hair, the consequences of our past good and bad deeds. We have a long history,
and the happiness and distress our lives will bring is set. We are indeed children of destiny, hostages to fortune, but it is a destiny we created for ourselves, a fortune
self-made. And in this life we are continuing to create our future.

But of all this Kushner is unaware, and he can make no sense of his suffering. He has the unshakable conviction that God owes him an agreable and happy life, that
God is obliged to arrange matters for his satisfaction. But God fails, bringing on Kushner's crisis of faith. It can only be that God is either bad or weak, Kushner
reasons, and then settles for weakness.

Yet in spite of Kushner, God is both all-good and all-powerful. But He does not engineer our suffering - we do. We are the authors of our KARMA. And it is our
decision, not His, that brings us down into the material world, into the realm of suffering.

So the answer to the question "Why do bad things happen to good people?" is "They don't." All of us here in the material world are - how shall I put it? - NOT OF
THE BEST SORT. Reprobates and scapegraces - each of us persona non grata in the kingdom of God. We are sent here because we seek a life independent of
God, and He grants our desire as far as possible. But since His position is already taken, we can only play at being God while deceiving ourselves that we are
independent of Him.

At the same time, the material world reform us, teaches us through reward and punishment to acknowledge God's supreme position. For by natural law we are
rationed out the pleasures we desire according to our observance of the divine regulations, following the ways of good KARMA. The practice of good KARMA,
then, amounts to a materially motivated religion, an observance of God's orders on the inducement of material reward. By this practice, spanning many lifetimes, I
may, it is hoped, become habituated to following God's commands and reconciled to His supremacy. Thereupon I become eligible at last to take up the pure and
eternal religion, in which, completely free from all material desires, I serve God in loving devotion, asking nothing in return. This religion, called BHAKTI in the
VEDAS, causes my return to the kingdom of God. The acts of BHAKTI are KARMA-less: they produce no future material births, good or bad.

From the VEDAS, then, we learn of two clearly distinct religions, one pure and the other impure. Practicing good KARMA can elevate us in the material world,
secure for us a vast life span on heavenly planets, and so on. In other words, it can make us first-class inmates of the material world. But BHAKTI alone can release us from the prison altogether. Even the best KARMA cannot free us from suffering, as Krsna warns in the BHAGAVAD-GITA (8.16): "From the highest planet in
the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery where repeated birth and death take place." But BHAKTI destroys all karmic reaction, extirpates all
material desires, revives our pure love for God, and delivers us beyond birth and death to His abode. There we never taste temporary, material pleasure but rather
relish eternal, spiritual bliss by serving Krsna and thus joining in HIS bliss.

It is a signal of virtue of the Vedic tradition that it distinguishes so clearly between the religion of good KARMA and the religion of BHAKTI and  offers BHAKTI
purely, without compromise. Most of us, whether Catholic, Protestant, or Jew, have been taught a kind of common karmic religion: God has put us on this earth to
enjoy ourselves, and if we do so within the ordained limits, not forgetting to show God gratitude and proper respect, He will see to our success. We should ask God to meet our needs and fulfill our lawful desires, for He is the greatest order supplier. If we are observant and good, He will reward us well in this life and even better
in the next.

This is the religion Kushner professed: "Like most people, my wife and I had grown up with an image of God as an all-wise, all-powerful parent figure who would
treat us as our earthly parents did, or even better. If we were obedient and deserving, He would reward us. If we got out of line, He would discipline us, reluctantly
but firmly. He would protect us from being hurt or from hurting ourselves, and would see to it that we got what we deserved in life."

Of course, Kushner begins to reconsider his religion when he discovers that it doesn't work. At this point, most people (like the marble contractor) become atheists.
The idea of God as order supplier is thus responsible for a great deal of unbelief. But Kushner wants to preserve his faith in God, or at least in God's goodness, by
denying His power.

Kushner's chief defense of his position is that it is "religiously adequate," that is, comforting. You will recall that he accused conventional theodicy of making people
feel worse - causing them to feel guilty and to hate God. The explanation of suffering I have presented shouldn't make anyone feel worse. True, it says that we cause
our own suffering, yet the point is not to make us feel guilty. The point is to let us know we've made some mistakes and should correct them. And why should we
resent God for our suffering? Suffering comes by the law of KARMA. But KARMA is the impartial working of causal law.

Hostility toward God is what has put us under that law; it certainly won't help us get out. For His part, God is making every effort to get us out: He comes to this
world from time to time to teach the path of BHAKTI, which will destroy all our KARMA, He sends His representatives throughout the world on the same mission,
and He even stays with us as the indwelling Supersoul during our sojourn in the material world, ready to give us the intelligence to approach Him when we put aside
our ancient enmity.

Kushner has the right instincts: he too would like people to cease their enmity toward God, and he even recognizes the ignobility of worshiping Him on the condition
that He satisfy our demands. But if only we recognize God's limitations, he says, we won't be angry at Him when things go wrong in our life, nor will we worship Him for the satisfaction of our desires. Kushner thus urges the religious adequacy of his own theodicy.

But it is far from adequate. Kushner's problem is that he cannot overcome the conditioning