You’re Not That Body
I’ve been sitting here for hours. It’s a funeral; my friend died. At uncertain intervals people get off their plastic chairs, fine tune their careful solemnity, and walk slowly to the coffin. The coffin perplexes me. See, this is my first funeral and I’m still trying to figure things out. My friend is gone
Reincarnation & Karma
Yeah, it is pretty dumb to get born and die over and over again. But sometimes desires and dreams overthrow our better judgment and we do dumb things. That’s basically how we got involved in this cycle of birth and death to begin with.
Evidence for Reincarnation
The idea that reincarnation is a natural process that all conscious selves
undergo when their physical bodies die is supported by Stevenson’s statements that it is easy to find persons who claim to remember a previous life.
Individuality
If I have to make myself an individual, then I must not be an individual to begin with. I must be some kind of blank slate who has to go out and buy my personhood and wear my “individuality.”
You’ve turned individuality into something bought from thrift stores and hair salons.
Pointing
For we are no more to be identified with our minds than with our bodies. The mind belongs to the category of the not-self as much as the body does. Both mind and body are material, the former being merely finer or subtler than the latter. Vedic seers know this, but Western philosophers have conflated the spiritual and the mental; “mind” and “soul” are synonymous.
Authenticity
Why is inauthenticity so rampant despite everyone detesting it? The answer is that all of us have a fundamentally wrong conception of who we actually are; we identify ourselves as material when factually we are not. No wonder cheating is so all-pervasive; it starts with our cheating ourselves! Right from the start the very basis is wrong, so it is not surprising that everything that follows is influenced by this primordial mistake.
Focus for Global Unity
Filed under Issue 1, Lead Story
Speaking in Boston before the International Student Societ, Srila Prabhupada provides a practical, simple, and profound solution for world peace and harmony. Noting the increasing number of flags at the United Nations building in New York, he states that inter-nationalism is failing because “your international feeling and my international feeling are overlapping and conflicting. We have to find the proper center for our loving feelings.”
Follow Yourself
The show is finished, and the equipment is loaded. The van sits before the front door, and I sit inside the van. It is cold and windy on the German shore. Three guys approach—young, clean cut & straight-edged. They want to do an interview… “I don’t need Krishna,” says the spokesman, with an unforgettable German accent. “I have my own way.”
Economics: Materialistic, Green, & Transcendental
The modern economic system, being driven by materialistic incentives and measured by production and consumption, is deliberately designed by vested interests to create insatiable desires. Obviously, the more people buy, the more money is made by the sellers. When these sellers are primarily motivated by short-term profit, which is the case today
Mantra – The Sacred Sound
The singing is accompanied by musical instruments and rhythmic drumming. The audience is encouraged to participate by chanting, clapping and even dancing. It is hard to resist the urge to join in! In its heartfelt expression, kirtan can induce profound states of meditation, bliss, and ecstasy.