May 22

Qualities of Pure Devotion

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Hare Krsna.
–Satsanga MP3– Satanga: May 18, 2008 is now uploaded.
On the day of Narasingha Chaturdasi, the glories and divine pastimes of Lord Narasingha deva, were chanted in the Satsanga. According to Vedic understanding Narasingha Chaturdasi is the most auspicious day because on this very auspicious day Lord Krsna incarnated as Lord Narasingha deva to protect His dear most devotee Sripad Prahlad Maharaja. Srila Prabhupada has explained from Srimad Bhagavatam that Sripad Prahlada Maharaja is the best among exalted devotees.
After Prahlad Maharaja pacified Lord Narasingha deva with prayers, Lord Narasingha deva said, “My dear Prahlada, most gentle one, best of the family of the asuras, all good fortune unto you. I am very much pleased with you. It is My pastime to fulfill the desires of all living beings, and therefore you may ask from Me any benediction that you desire to be fulfilled.” Narada Muni explains that although Prahlada Maharaja was only a boy, when he heard the benedictions offered by Lord Nròsimìhadeva he considered them impediments on the path of devotional service. Thus he smiled very mildly and spoke as follows: My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, because I was born in an atheistic family I am naturally attached to material enjoyment. Therefore, kindly do not tempt me with these illusions. I am very much afraid of material conditions, and I desire to be liberated from materialistic life. It is for this reason that I have taken shelter of Your lotus feet. O my worshipable Lord, because the seed of lusty desires, which is the root cause of material existence, is within the core of everyone’s heart, You have sent me to this material world to exhibit the symptoms of a pure devotee. Otherwise, O my Lord, O supreme instructor of the entire world, You are so kind to Your devotee that You could not induce him to do something unbeneficial for him.
Prahlad Maharaja continued, “On the other hand, one who desires some material benefit in exchange for devotional service cannot be Your pure devotee. Indeed, he is no better than a merchant who wants profit in exchange for service. A servant who desires material profits from his master is certainly not a qualified servant or pure devotee. Similarly, a master who bestows benedictions upon his servant because of a desire to maintain a prestigious position as master is also not a pure master. O my Lord, I am Your unmotivated servant, and You are my eternal master. There is no need of our being anything other than master and servant. You are naturally my master, and I am naturally Your servant. We have no other relationship.”
In the Satsanga, HH BhaktiMadhav Puri Swami did invocation prayers to Prahlad Maharaja and Narasingha deva. Then Maharaja engaged devotees in reciting the glories of Sripad Prahlad Maharaja and Sri Narasingha Deva. Details are provided below:
1) The summary of Srimad Bhagavatam chapter, (Canto 7, chapter 8 ) Lord Nrsimhadev slays the King of the Demons — http://vedabase.net/sb/7/8/summary/en
2) Summary of the pastime of Prahlad Maharaja and Nrsingha dev –http://blogs.epicindia.com/bhagavatam/2005/10/son-of-hiranyakashipu.html
3) For auspiciousness HH Bhakti Madhava Puri Maharaj chanted the 108 Holy Names of Lord Narasingha Deva.
Srila Prabhuapada has given the teachings of Srimad Bhagavatam that, “This materialistic life means full of anxiety always. And spiritual life means without this anxiety. Just the opposite. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma. And what is the symptom of being joyful? That is also stated: na socati na kanksati. There is no lamentation or loss, and there is no hankering for gain. Everyone in this material world is hankering after some gain…The material waves are such that whatever we possess, we shall lose it. We have got this nice body, one day we have to lose it. Everything! You possess and lose, possess and lose. Therefore the…, punah punas car…, the same thing repeatedly: gaining and losing, and lamenting and hankering, lamenting and hankering. This is the position of material life.”
Prahlad Maharaja Prayed to Lord Narasingha Deva, “O my Lord, best of the givers of benediction, if You at all want to bestow a desirable benediction upon me, then I pray from Your Lordship that within the core of my heart there be no material desires. O my Lord, because of lusty desires from the very beginning of one’s birth, the functions of one’s senses, mind, life, body, religion, patience, intelligence, shyness, opulence, strength, memory and truthfulness are vanquished. O my Lord, when a human being is able to give up all the material desires in his mind, he becomes eligible to possess wealth and opulence like Yours. O my Lord, full of six opulences, O Supreme Person! O Supreme Soul, killer of all miseries! O Supreme Person in the form of a wonderful lion and man, let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
Lord Narasingha Deva then benedicted Prahlada Maharaja with the following words, “My dear Prahlada, a devotee like you never desires any kind of material opulences, either in this life or in the next. Nonetheless, I order you to enjoy the opulences of the demons in this material world, acting as their king until the end of the duration of time occupied by Manu. It does not matter that you are in the material world. You should always, continuously, hear the instructions and messages given by Me and always be absorbed in thought of Me, for I am the Supersoul existing in the core of everyone’s heart. Therefore, give up fruitive activities and worship Me. My dear Prahlada, while you are in this material world you will exhaust all the reactions of pious activity by feeling happiness, and by acting piously you will neutralize impious activity. Because of the powerful time factor, you will give up your body, but the glories of your activities will be sung in the upper planetary systems, and being fully freed from all bondage, you will return home, back to Godhead. One who always remembers your activities and My activities also, and who chants the prayers you have offered, becomes free, in due course of time, from the reactions of material activities.”
In the Satsanga, there was also a brief discussion about the ontological position of Jaya and Vijaya, who are the two gate keepers of Vaikuntha and were cursed to appear in the material domain as asuras for three births.
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All Glories all Sadhus, Guru and Vaisnavas.
Thanking you.
Your humble servants
Purushottama Jagannatha Das & Sushen Das

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May 17

Does the Big Bang theory really explain the Origin of the Universe?

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Hare Krsna.
 
–Satsanga MP3– Satanga: May 11, 2008 is now uploaded.
 
In the Satsanga a scientific understanding of the Origin of Universe is discussed.
 
The term Big Bang was coined by Fred Hoyle. He implied it as a derisory statement seeking to belittle the credibility of the theory that he, himself, did not believe to be true. However, the discovery of cosmic microwave background in 1964 was taken by many scientists as almost undeniable evidence for the validity of the Big Bang theory. Thus Big Bang became a prominent cosmological model for describing the origin of the universe among the majority of modern scientists.
 
Research on Big Bang cosmology intensified further due to major advances in telescopic technology as much as from the analysis of abundant data produced by satellite observatories, such as the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), the Hubble Space Telescope and Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). Cosmologists now believe that they have fairly precise measurements of many of the parameters of the Big Bang model. Furthermore, they have made the discovery that the expansion of the universe appears to be accelerating (inflationary model), an assumption that needs to be made in order to correct some problems in the original Big Bang theory.
 
Using the general theory of relativity to exptrapolate the expansion of the universe backwards in time yields an infinite density and temrpature at  a finite time in the past. This singularity signals the breakdown of the general theory of relativity. According to the Big Bang theory, our universe sprang into existence as this “singularity” around 13.7 billion years ago.
 
We should have some idea about the term ’singularity’ in order to understand what the Big Bang theory is all about. Singularities are zones which defy our current understanding of physics. They are believed by scientists to exist at the core of black holes, which are areas of intense gravitational pressure. Cosmologists believe that the pressure is so extreme that finite matter is actually squished into infinite density within the black hole. It is these zones of infinite density that are known as singularities. Thus our universe is believed by the scientists to have begun as a singularity - an infinitesimally small as well as infinitely hot and dense indefinite something.
 
If this is the case, a genuine question that spontaneously comes to mind is: “What caused the Big Bang?” More clearly, we can ask:
 
(1) What caused the initial point (singularity) to expand?
(2) Where did the initial point (singularity) come from?
(3) What was there before the initial point (singularity)?
 
Science approaches its limits in trying to answer these questions. Yet, in order for anyone to really accept the Big Bang as a satisfying rational theory of the universe’s origin, it must provide some comprehensible idea about the actual beginning and not merely postulate a vague, arbitrary and inexplicable point, and then refer to data from a presumed consequent stage.
 
In the Satsanga, HH Bhakti Madhava Puri Swami of Bhaktivedanta Institute contrasted this explanation with the contribution of Vedic cosmology in answering questions about origins. Vedic cosmology doesn’t stop at an abstract indeterminate point or singularity. To explain this, Maharaja discussed a sloka from the Rig Veda (10:129),
 

Nasadasinno sadaseettadanim naseedrajo no vyoma paro yat
Kimahvariva kuh kasya sharmannambhah kimaseedgaahanam gabhiram [1]

 

 
“Then there was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.
What covered in, and where? And what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water?”
 
Here we can see that Rig Veda presents a very penetrating inquiry into origins. In the beginning there was absolutely nothing (nothing existent or non existent), not even the expanse of space (air, sky). It then questions: was it contained (covered) in something greater than itself, and if so, where or how was it related to or grounded (sheltered) in that? The mention of water is generally made in reference to the idea of the unconscious abyss, the unknown that lies in the depths beneath the surface knowledge of appearances available to our sensuous inspection. It also represents the unactualized or unmanifest realm of possibility. The ancients (including Aristotle) had the concept of modal types of being: possible (or potential), actual, and necessary. Necessity is what connects the possible to the actual, i.e. it is the actualizing principle. Today, philosophers refer to these terms in what is known as modal logic. These modes may also be related to the trigunas that are found in Samkhya philosophy.
 
The last question concerning water (the unknown or unconscious) is interesting because a distinction is implied between the material reality (ontological state of indeterminate being) and the consciousness or knowledge of material reality (epistemological determination of being).  In the primordial stage before the creation of the material universe, if there were only unconsciousness, then an indeterminate material potency could exist that becomes actual in conjunction with the awakening of consciousness. We will explain in more detail the difference and relation between ontological being and the epistemological determination of being. The significant point is that the Vedas present a very broad and open minded inquiry into actuality, unrestrained by any dogmatic doctrines such as scientific materialism, subjective idealism, etc.
 
In order to understand the origin of the universe (where everything came from) we must know what we are left with when we abstract from or take away everything that belongs to our physical experience of what we call the universe. What results from such abstraction is a kind of pure undetermined being we may call ‘nirguna‘ or a state that is devoid of all material qualities. When something is indeterminate, we mean that it has no specific determinations. For example, a dark blob seen far off in the distance may be indeterminate (undetermined) until it comes closer to us, when we can then determine what it is, — say, an elephant.
 
When we make judgments like, “It is an elephant,” or, “It is a cow,” we first refer to the subject as an indeterminate “it.” Then we predicate it by a determinate identity such as elephant, cow, etc. The indeterminate “it” simply refers to the fact that something “is,” or something “is there,” i.e. something exists, without specifying or determining exactly what it is. Once it is established ‘that’ something is there, we can then determine ‘what’ it is. So two distinct but united aspects of the thing have to be considered: ‘that’ it is (its indeterminate being), and ‘what’ it is (its determinate qualities).
 
Scientists have concluded from the Big Bang theory that there is an indeterminate singularity out of which the universe is manifested. They arrive at this conclusion by abstracting or thinking away all determinate qualities of the manifest universe. What they are left with is a pure mathematical abstraction they call a singularity. Therefore, what is actually arrived at by such abstract thinking can only be an abstract thought, and that is exactly what a singularity is. Thus the origin of the universe, although the scientists would like us to believe it is merely a physical or material point, is in reality only an abstract thought. But this implies that Mind must pre-exist the origin of the universe if we insist the origin is simply a singularity, which can only be an abstract thought.
 
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All Glories all Sadhus, Guru and Vaisnavas.
 
 
 
Thanking you.
 
 
Your humble servants
Purushottama Jagannatha Das &
Sushen Das 

 
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May 13

Can Emergence Theory help us understand the Origin of Life?

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‘Satsanga MP3′ Satanga: May 04, 2008 is now uploaded.
 
Today the evolution theory is facing internal criticism in the scientific world. This has lead to the fact that many scientists are pushing a new concept, which they call ‘Emergence Theory’ by which they are hoping that they could explain the most difficult problem, ‘Origin of Life’.
 
The basic concept of ‘Emergence Theory’ is that when a large number of complex reactions occur at a time, it may lead to completely new phenomena such as life.  For example, in a glass of water we don’t see high waves and tides. However, when water is aggregated in large quantity, as we find in an ocean, then new phenomena appear such as waves and tides. Similarly, scientists who are proponents of emergence theory surmise that, if many complex chemical reactions are carried out simultaneously, life may arise all of a sudden.
 
In the Satsanga, HH Bhakti Madhava Puri Maharaj discussed the fundamental drawbacks of ‘Emergence Theory’. Maharaj explained that, waves and tides are physical phenomenon and they can be explained by the ordinary laws of physics. On the other hand, the major symptom of life is consciousness. But consciousness does not follow any of the ordinary physical laws because it is something completely different from matter. Current physical laws are not able to explain how matter becomes aware of itself. To propose that consciousness arises from complex chemical reactions would thus produce something that could not be explained in terms of physical laws. Thus the new concept, ‘Emergence Theory’ is also not sufficient to provide any tangible clue about the origin of life.
 
You can hear this Transcendental Nectar of Satsanga at PLAY NOW
 
 
You can browse year/month wise Streaming Satsanga MP3s at: http://mahaprabhu.net/satsanga/ .
 
 
Timing of weekly Satsanga: 6:00 PM India time, Every Sunday.  
 
 
You may visit http://mahaprabhu.net/satsanga/about/ to know the details about joining process for the online ‘Weekly Satsangas’.
 
 
 
All Glories all Sadhus, Guru and Vaisnavas.
 
 
 
Thanking you.
 
 
Your humble servants
Purushottama Jagannatha Das &
Sushen Das
 
 
 
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May 06

Why Conscious Bodies Violate the Laws of Matter?

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‘Satsanga MP3′ Satanga: April 27, 2008 is now uploaded.
In the Satsanga HH Bhakti Madhava Puri Maharaj discussed the topic ‘Why Conscious Bodies Violate the Laws of Matter?’
You can hear this Transcendental Nectar of Satsanga at PLAY NOW
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All Glories all Sadhus, Guru and Vaisnavas.
Thanking you.
Your humble servants
Purushottama Jagannatha Das &
Sushen Das
 
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May 02

Srila Prabhupada’s vyasa Puja Offering

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saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair
uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih
kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya
vande guroh sri caranaravindam 

In the revealed scriptures it is declared that the spiritual master should be worshiped like the Supreme Personality of Godhead and this injunction is obeyed by pure devotees of the Lord. The spiritual master is the most confidential servant of the Lord. Thus let us offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of our spiritual master .
 
Gentlemen, on behalf of the members of the Bombay branch of the Gaudiya Math, let me welcome you all because you have so kindly joined us tonight in our congregational offerings of homage to the lotus feet of the world teacher, acaryadeva, who is the founder of this Gaudiya Mission and is the President-acarya of Sri Sri Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha-I mean my eternal divine master, Om Visnupada Paramaharnsa Parivrajakacarya, Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaja.
 
Sixty-two years ago, on this auspicious day, the acaryadeva made his appearance by the call of Thakura Bhaktivinoda at Sri Ksetra, Jagannatha Dhama at Puri.
 
Gentlemen, the offering of such an homage as has been arranged this evening to the acaryadeva is not a sectarian concern, for when we speak of the fundamental principle of gurudeva or acaryadeva, we speak of something that is of universal application. There does not arise any question of discrirninating my guru from yours or anyone else’s.
 
There is only one guru, who appears in an infinity of forms to teach you, me and all others.
 
In the Mundaka Upanisad (1.2.12) it is said:
 
tad-vijnartham sa gurum evabhigacchet samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham
 
“In order to learn the transcendental science, one must approach the bona fide spiritual master in disciplic succession, who is fixed in the Absolute Truth.”
 
Thus it has been enjoined herewith that in order to receive that transcendental knowledge, one must approach the guru. Therefore, if the Absolute Truth is one, about which we think there is no difference of opinion, the guru cannot be two. The acaryadeva to whom we have assembled tonight to offer our humble homage is not the guru of a sectarian institution or one out of many differing exponents of the truth. On the contrary, he is the jagad-guru, or the guru of all of us, the only difference is that some obey him wholeheartedly, while others do not obey him directly.
 
In the Bhagavatam (11.17.27) it is said:
 
acaryam mam vijaniyan
navamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyasuyeta
sarva-deva mayoguruh 
“One should understand the spiritual master to be as good as I am,” said the Blessed Lord. “Nobody should be jealous of the spiritual master or think of him as an ordinary man, because the spiritual master is the sum total of all demigods.” That is, the acarya has been identified with God Himself. He has nothing to do with the affairs of this mundane world. He appears before us to reveal the light of the Vedas and to bestow upon us the blessing of full-fledged freedom, after which we should hanker at every step of our life’s journey.
 
The transcendental knowledge of the Vedas was first uttered by God to Brahma, the creator of this particular universe. From Brahma the knowledge descended to Narada, from Narada to Vyasadeva, from Vyasadeva to Madhva, and in this process of disciplic succession the transcendental knowledge was transmitted by one disciple to another till it reached Lord Gauranga, Sri Krsna Caitanya, who posed as the disciple and successor of Sri Isvara Puri. The present acaryadeva is the tenth disciplic representative from Sri Rupa Goswami, the original representative of Lord Caitanya who preached this transcendental tradition in its fullness. The knowledge that we receive from our gurudeva is not different from that imparted by God Himself and the succession of the acaryas in the preceptorial line of Brahma. We adore this auspicious day as Sri Vyasa-puja-tithi because the acarya is the living representative of Vyasadeva, the divine compiler of the Vedas, Puranas, Bhagavad gita, Mahabharata and Srimad-Bhagavatam .
 
We cannot know anything of the transcendental region by our limited, perverted method of okservation and experiment. But all of us can lend our eager ears for the aural reception of the transcendental sound transmitted from that region to this, through the unadulterated medium of sri gurudeva or Sri Vyasadeva. Therefore, gentlemen, we should surrender ourselves today at the feet of the representative of Sn Vyasadeva for the elimination of all our differences bred by our unsubmissive attitude. It is accordingly said in the Bhagavad-gita (4.34):
 
tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam
jnaninas tattva darsinah 
“Just approach the wise and bona fide spiritual master. Surrender unto him first and try to understand him by inquiries and service. Such a wise spiritual master will enlighten you with transcendental knowledge, for he has already known the Aksolute Truth.”
 
To receive transcendental knowledge, we must completely surrender ourselves to the real acarya in a spirit of ardent inquiry and service. Actual performance of service to the Absolute under the guidance of the acarya is the only vehicle by which we can assimilate transcendental knowledge. Today’s meeting for offering our humble services and homage to the feet of the acaryadeva will enable us to be favored with the capacity of assimilating the transcendental knowledge so kindly transmitted by him to all persons without distinction.
 
Gentlemen, although it is imperfectly that we have been enabled, by his grace, to understand the sublime messages of our acaryadeva, we must admit that we have realized definitely that the divine message from his holy lips is the congenial thing for suffering humanity. All of us should hear him patiently. If we listen to the transcendental sound without unnecessary opposition, he will surely have mercy upon us. The acarya’s message is to take us back to our original home, back to God. Let me repeat, therefore, that we should hear him patiently, follow him in the measure of our conviction and bow down at his lotus feet for releasing us from our present causeless unwillingness for serving the Absolute and all souls.
 
Sitting at the feet of the acaryadeva, let us try to understand from this transcendental source of knowledge what we are, what is this universe, what is God, and what is our relationship with Him. The message of Lord Caitanya is the message for the living entities and the message of the living world. Lord Caitanva did not bother himself for the upliftment of this dead world, which is suitably named Martyaloka, the world where everything is destined to die. He appeared before us four hundred and fifty years ago to tell us something of the transcendental universe, where everything is permanent and everything is for the service of the Absolute. But recently Lord Caitanya has keen misrepresented by some unscrupulous persons, and the highest philosophy of the Lord has been misinterpreted to be the cult of the lowest type of society. We are glad to announce tonight that our acaryadeva, with his usual kindness, saved us from this horrible type of degradation, and therefore we bow down at his lotus feet with all humility.
 
We are happy that we have been relieved of this horrible type of malady by the mercy of His Divine Grace. He is our eye-opener, our eternal father, our eternal preceptor and our eternal guide. Let us therefore bow down at his lotus feet on this auspicious day.
 
Gentlemen, although we are like ignorant children in the knowledge of Transcendence, still, my gurudeva has kindled a small fire within us to dissipate the invincible darkness of empirical knowledge. We are now so much on the safe side that no amount of philosophical argument by the empiric schools of thought can deviate us an inch from the position of our eternal dependence on the lotus feet of His Divine Grace.
 
Gentlemen, had he not appeared before us to deliver us from the thralldom of this gross, worldly delusion, surely we should have remained for lives and ages in the darkness of helpless captivity. Had he not appeared before us, we would not have been able to understand the eternal truth of the sublime teaching of Lord Caitanya.
 
Personally, I have no hope for any direct service of the coming crores of births in the sojourn of my life, but I am confident that some day or other I shall be delivered from this mire of delusion in which I am at present so deeply sunk. Therefore let me with all my earnestness pray at the lotus feet of my divine master to allow me to suffer the lot for which I am destined due to my past misdoings, but to let me have this power of recollection: that I am nothing but a tiny servant of the Almighty Absolute Godhead, realized through the unflinching mercy of my divine master. Let me therefore bow down at his lotus feet with all the humility at my command.
 
Abhay Charan Das [early name of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada]
For Members, Sri Gaudiya Math
Bombay
 
-This lecture was originally published in The Harmonist in 1936, on the advent day of His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.
 
 
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