Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Hare Krishna!
I humbly offer this video at the lotus feet of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, who 500 years ago mercifully bestowed upon us the nectar of sankirtan and popularized the mahamantra in order to help release living entities from the ocean of mundane misery and teach them how to properly love God.
The mahamatra, or great chant, consists of the sixteen words
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
It is a blissful and beautiful Vedic chant which invokes the holy names of Lord Krishna. It can easily be chanted anywhere and anytime by anyone, no matter how impure or sinful one may be. One immediately begins to become purified by the mercy of the Lord and begins to cleanse karma.
In the Bhagavad Gita 4:5, Lord Krishna told Arjuna: "Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!". By this, it is understood that whenever we chant the holy names, the Lord not only takes notice of our souls and our lives as they are now, but he can also perceive the karmic momentum and the huge amount of suffering that we carry from previous lifetimes, and this invokes his compassion. Like a mother who immediately comes to a babe who is crying, Sri Krishna comes to save the soul who has taken an incarnation and who seeks refuge in Him.
Hare Krishna!
Monday, July 28, 2008
A new triple-hate coupon
I was very saddened when I heard about the shooting at the Unitarian Church in Tennessee, where two people were killed. I've visited Unitarian churches before and have witnessed the warmth and the tolerance that the Unitarian tradition prides itself on.
I was not, however, surprised to hear that it was a target of hate. Unitarianism has pioneered all the progressive causes from the get go. It was among the first churches to become involved in the women's suffrage, gay rights and gay marriage movements, way before the Christian churches did so. This one church had helped to create a local ACLU chapter, and had helped fight segregation. It considers itself a post-Christian, liberal movement.
I was not, however, surprised to hear that it was a target of hate. Unitarianism has pioneered all the progressive causes from the get go. It was among the first churches to become involved in the women's suffrage, gay rights and gay marriage movements, way before the Christian churches did so. This one church had helped to create a local ACLU chapter, and had helped fight segregation. It considers itself a post-Christian, liberal movement.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Lord Ganesha
Ganesha is to Hindus what Elegua is to Santeros. He loves sweets of all kinds, fruits like mangos and bananas, and therefore he is pot-bellied. He is like a child, easily appeased with food offerings :) and abundantly showers his spiritual and material blessings on his devotees. He also receives incense, like sandalwood.
Prasadam: Food is offered before the Deity with sincerity, and allowed to sit before the murti (Deity) for some time. Such food must be vegetarian. After at least five minutes, it is said that the Deity has eaten and that the rest, the remains, are 'prasadam', which means literally the Deity's 'mercy'. Eating Ganesha prasadam is a huge blessing, it's like eating at the same table as Ganesha. One very auspicious sacrifice to give to Ganesha is the offering of food and the giving of this prasadam to the needy or poor.
We should not be fooled by his playful form. Ganesha is naturally in a blissful, happy state and He hates human suffering and likes to bring joy to all the living entities: he is believed to be very concerned with human suffering, and so He's always willing to lend a hand to the needy or suffering.
One special treat that Ganesha loves are modakas, which are balls of sweet rice prepared with coconut shavings in India. Any variation of this recipe will bring a smile to Ganesha's elephant face! :)
Among Ganesha's tools we find the hatchet, with which he cuts his devotees' attachments and anything that makes his devotees suffer. Every tool with which he is depicted represents an expression of his mercy for his devotees, and so devotees usually believe that each murti or form dispenses different kinds of mercy.
Ganesha is said to have only one tusk: the other one He used to write the Vedas. He is the Scribe of the Gods and the Lord and Vessel of Wisdom, hence He is often invoked before taking tests or exams.
Ganesha is the God of intelligence who uses his wits to survive and thrive rather than physical agility, which he lacks :) He brings opportunities, opens doors and paths and removes obstacles. In his aspect as remover of obstacles, He is called Vighnaraya. Here, the metaphor of the elephant is appropriate, since elephants easily make their way through the jungle with their massive bodies.
His image is usually kept next to the door or entrance to the home. He is also believed to take our prayers to the heavens and it is recommended that He be invoked at the beginning of every Vedic ritual.
There are many celebrated pasttimes of Lord Ganesha, but hopefully this brief introduction helped you to understand what a great resource He is to humankind. May Lord Ganesh shower you all with blessings everyday!
Jai Ganesh!
Bhajan or devotional song: Ganesha Sharanam Sharanam Ganesha (I take refuge in Ganesha, in Ganesh I take refuge!)
One Love
"I don't have prejudice against himself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white."
- Bob Marley
- Bob Marley
The God of Terror versus the God of the Living
and enshrines terrorist propaganda in the scriptures
Then he said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.' "
The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, "You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day."
Exodus 32:27-29
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44
The Ethical Superiority of Non-Violence
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:20
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Ancestral wisdom crowns the head
My son, hear the instruction of thy father
and forsake not the law of thy mother;
for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head
and chains about thy neck.
Proverbs 1:8-9
Gray hair is a crown of splendor.
Proverbs 16:31
My mother is a yogi. She is not a yogi in the sense of sitting in lotus position with an ecstatic smile on her face: She is a Christian yogi. She is a true Christian, one of those who understand and do the work of the Father, not just in theory but in practice. One of the few who forgives her enemies and does not hold grudges and tells people to forgive and not hold grudges, not just for the sake of God's kingdom but because she understands that it is better for the soul. She is one of those who visit the sick because the Lord said "I was sick and you visited me", and feeds the poor because the Lord said "I was hungry and you fed me".
She's one of those Christians who understand the true sense of renunciation, which is explained in the 18th chapter of the Gita. She did not need to read the Gita! She simply knows, from experience, that when one takes refuge in God one does not need to worry or suffer needlessly, God has taken care of us already. She truly understands, viscerally, the transcendental science of refuge taking.
I find that the more I learn about the transcendental science of yoga, the more I understand mother as a yogi. She did not need to read the Bhagavad Gita, or chant the mahamantra from which I derive so much pleasure: Jesus entered her heart and taught her the same eternal science of yoga that Krishna has deposited in my breast through the Gurus of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.
I do not know how to properly thank her enough for the character-building education that She bestowed upon me, and how her good example has saved me from my own ignorance many, many times. My bitterness at very imperfect tradition of Catholicism and the internalized homophobia that it took me years to outgrow, clouded my judgement, and for many years I have underestimated Christ's grace and power.
But in truth my mother, who lost her own mother when she was only about eight years of age, is the product of her father's upbringing and of Christ's grace and mercy. And her father, who was a very pious Catholic, is the product of his own upbringing. It was thanks to the mysticism and simplicity of my Christian forefathers that I was given a top of the line education, the character and the strength to survive the paradox of homophobia without succumbing to a life of depravity and rebellious rage. Rebel I did, it was necessary to rebel, but I did so intelligently.
Therefore I humbly praise and worship the holy lotus feet of my family's Guru, Lord Jesus Christ, with all of my heart. May the Creator lead the spirits of my ancestors to the highest realms of light forever and ever. Amen.
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Exodus 20:12
We stand upon the shoulders of our forefathers and mothers.
Yoruba adage
and forsake not the law of thy mother;
for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head
and chains about thy neck.
Proverbs 1:8-9
Gray hair is a crown of splendor.
Proverbs 16:31
My mother is a yogi. She is not a yogi in the sense of sitting in lotus position with an ecstatic smile on her face: She is a Christian yogi. She is a true Christian, one of those who understand and do the work of the Father, not just in theory but in practice. One of the few who forgives her enemies and does not hold grudges and tells people to forgive and not hold grudges, not just for the sake of God's kingdom but because she understands that it is better for the soul. She is one of those who visit the sick because the Lord said "I was sick and you visited me", and feeds the poor because the Lord said "I was hungry and you fed me".
She's one of those Christians who understand the true sense of renunciation, which is explained in the 18th chapter of the Gita. She did not need to read the Gita! She simply knows, from experience, that when one takes refuge in God one does not need to worry or suffer needlessly, God has taken care of us already. She truly understands, viscerally, the transcendental science of refuge taking.
I find that the more I learn about the transcendental science of yoga, the more I understand mother as a yogi. She did not need to read the Bhagavad Gita, or chant the mahamantra from which I derive so much pleasure: Jesus entered her heart and taught her the same eternal science of yoga that Krishna has deposited in my breast through the Gurus of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.
I do not know how to properly thank her enough for the character-building education that She bestowed upon me, and how her good example has saved me from my own ignorance many, many times. My bitterness at very imperfect tradition of Catholicism and the internalized homophobia that it took me years to outgrow, clouded my judgement, and for many years I have underestimated Christ's grace and power.
But in truth my mother, who lost her own mother when she was only about eight years of age, is the product of her father's upbringing and of Christ's grace and mercy. And her father, who was a very pious Catholic, is the product of his own upbringing. It was thanks to the mysticism and simplicity of my Christian forefathers that I was given a top of the line education, the character and the strength to survive the paradox of homophobia without succumbing to a life of depravity and rebellious rage. Rebel I did, it was necessary to rebel, but I did so intelligently.
Therefore I humbly praise and worship the holy lotus feet of my family's Guru, Lord Jesus Christ, with all of my heart. May the Creator lead the spirits of my ancestors to the highest realms of light forever and ever. Amen.
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Exodus 20:12
We stand upon the shoulders of our forefathers and mothers.
Yoruba adage
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I'm here so cry with me, dance with me, while I'm here smile just for a while ... - Robi Draco, from the lyrics of Songbirds and Roosters
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Ape Rights
According to this article entitled "Animal-Rights Farm: Ape rights and the myth of animal equality",
Under a resolution headed for passage in the Spanish parliament, respecting the personal rights of "our non-human brothers" won't just be a good idea. It'll be the law.
The resolution, approved last week by a parliamentary committee with broad support, urges the government to implement the agenda of the Great Ape Project, an organization whose founding declaration says apes "may not be killed" or "arbitrarily deprived of their liberty." No more routine confinement. According to Reuters, the proposal would commit the government to ending involuntary use of apes in circuses, TV ads, and dangerous experiments.
Under a resolution headed for passage in the Spanish parliament, respecting the personal rights of "our non-human brothers" won't just be a good idea. It'll be the law.
The resolution, approved last week by a parliamentary committee with broad support, urges the government to implement the agenda of the Great Ape Project, an organization whose founding declaration says apes "may not be killed" or "arbitrarily deprived of their liberty." No more routine confinement. According to Reuters, the proposal would commit the government to ending involuntary use of apes in circuses, TV ads, and dangerous experiments.
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