Summary of Gita Class - 17/08/2008

Harekrishna Everyone!!!!

Here is the summary of Gita Class at Suhrud's House on 17th August 2008:

There was a sanskar puja in the beginning for good mental health of the upcoming baby and Manasi.

The recap:
The Bhagwad gita Chapter 2 Verse 39 & 40 were discussed.

Until verse 38 Krishna instructs Arjuna to fight for Fruitive results. He was doing this to actually checking the IQ level of Arjuna and testing if he can be satisfied and convinced to fight. However, Arjuna's speculative calculation and analysis was that he would not want to kill too many people just for gaining material kingdom. This Speculative calculation and conclusion based on his own mental analysis is termed as SANKHYA yoga by lord shri krishna.

In verse 39, Krishna understands that Arjuna will not be satified and convinced to fight the war (or rather his IQ is much more). He needs more higher philosophical explanation as to what is right and what is wrong. This is the FIRST verse from krishna that instructs about NISHKAM karma (without fruitive result)

In Verse 40, Krishna insructs Arjuna that any progress in krishna consciousness is carried by a soul into next life. So there is no fear of falling down unlike in material life where we can go to any lower species depending on our attachment.

Key points:
1. We have two paths to follow: Sankhya Yoga and Bhakti Yoga.
2. Sankhya Yoga - We can speculate and conduct analysis for our entire life time just to reach Krishna (No guarantee this will be successful).
3. Bhakti Yoga - Accept krishna as the supreme and completely surrender.
4. Progress in Krishna Consciousness will be carried over to next life.


Next Class Scheduled @ 4:00pm - 6:00 pm on Saturday, 30th August 2008.

Girish & Ambika's Residence
Unit 8
27-31 Queen Victoria Street
Kogarah, NSW 2217.

Summary of Gita Class - 09/08/2008

Harekrishna Everyone!!!!

Here is the summary of Gita Class at Girish's House on 9th August 2008:

We had Radhika Mataji from Delhi as the guest speaker in the satsang. For those who dont know, Radhika mataji is a Iskcon Devotee who is preaching Since 1998. She is from Sikh background and has written a book called "Vaishnavism in Sikhism".

The recap:
The Bhagwad gita Chapter 2 Verse 70 was chosen to be discussed.

Please read the purport and translation in Bhagwad Gita. The verse is all about desires. It gives an analogy for us to compare our desires with River and Ocean. A desire is like a river which keeps flowing. Ocean on the otherhand is still. We should try to be still like ocean and control our desires by regulation.

For our desires we have two choices...
1. Fulfill the desire
2. UnFullfill the desire

Catch 22 Situation:
Fulfilling the desire will give birth to GREED and unfulfilling the desire gives birth to ANGER. No matter what choice we make Maya is acting accordingly to trap us. This now raises a question then that how do we tackle our desires to escape the trap of Maya.

The Solution:
Maya and Krishna are two sides of a coin. Unless the desires are directed towards Krishna we are always entrapped by Maya. When the desires are directed towards Krishna, Maya then hides behind krishna and thus cannot influence you. Hence, desiring for the satisfaction of Krishna's senses will keep us free from the clutches of Maya.

Interesting Point made by Mataji:
Man always GETS and then FORGETS.
God always GIVES and then FORGIVES.

Because of Festivals coming up in the next 2 weeks, So there wont be any Gita class until Janmastami.

Next Class: TBA

Janmashtami

Hare Krishna All,

I have been informed that there will be Janmasthmi program in temple from 22 - 24 th Aug in the temple. Also, Lord Balaram jayanti will be observed on 17th Aug. More details to follow. It festival months from now as we have Lord Ganesh festival coming up in Sep. This is Shravan month and is really good month to do spiritual progress.

Haribol , Ganpati bappa morya

Summary of Gita Class - 02/08/2008

Harekrishna Everyone!!!!

Here is the summary of Gita Class at Mandar's House on 2nd August 2008:

We had Aman as guest in the satsang. For those who dont know, Aman is an active devotee and was accompanying Vijay prabhu on that day.

The recap:
Body has designation and designations have duties to perform.

Upto Verse 2.35 Krishna tells arjuna that we are not this body but we are eternal Souls.

Point to ponder: If we are not this body and if we are soul then What should be the duty of soul????

As designations change so do the duties... for example, If you are an Entry level employee your duties will be XYZ and if you become manager your duties will be totally different.
So Krishna now tells Arjuna that we are souls and that the souls duty is to be connected with the supreme personality of godhead.

Verse B.G 2.36 & 2.37 Krishna instructs Arjuna with Fruitive activities. He Asks Arjuna to fight to give up lethargy and fight with determination which is his duty as a khsetriya.

In Verse B.G 2.38 Krishna Instructs Arjuna how to peform duties without fruitive work (Nishkam karma). Arjuna was thinking that he is incurring sin by killing elders and guru's in the battle but Krishna instructs that he who performs his duties without fruitive results incurs no sin.


Key Points:
1. Soul's duty - is to be always connected with the god.
2. Performing duties without fruitive results incurs no sin. (Nishkam Karma)

Next Week: we will see How to do karma without getting into the bondage of action (work).

Next Class Scheduled @ 3:00pm - 5:00 pm on Saturday, 9th August 2008.

Girish & Ambika's Residence
Unit 8
27-31 Queen Victoria Street
Kogarah, NSW 2217.

Summary of Gita Class - 26/07/2008

Harekrishna Everyone!!!!

Here is the summary of Gita Class at Suhrud's House on 26th July 2008:

We had Amol Wagholikar as guest in the satsang. For those who dont know, Amol is Mandar's Brother-in-law and friend of Suhrud. He is also very good University mate of mine (Girish). Since it was his first class so the discussion was more in general to understand and discuss everyone's view about Gita:

1. Why do we all meeting every week and are discussing Bhagwad Gita?
2. How easy/difficult is to follow the principles of Gita?
3. How does other religions fit in the scope of gita?
4. How we conclude certain things about reality by observing the ignorants/illusion.

Later we discussed the shloks B.G 2.32 till B.G 2.35.

Key Points:
1. Krishna's final Judgement to Arjuna is that He must fight the battle and die rather than get a bad name and be dishonoured in this world for Dishonour is worse than Death.

Homework: Answer the following question (in Hindi):

Question: Kajal se kali kya hai?? Aur bhumi se bhari kya hai??? Hint: Read shloks B.G 2.32 till B.G 2.35 carefully.

Answer: Kajal se kali Kalank (Dishonour) hai aur Bhumi se bhari Paap (Sin).

Next Class Scheduled @ 4pm - 6pm on Saturday, 2nd August 2008.

Mandar & Sonal's Residence
Unit 9
1A Ocean Street
Kogarah, NSW 2217.

Christ-Krishna Connection

"Krishna or Christ - the name is the same."
~ Swami Prabhupada

Despite their differences, Hinduism and Christianity have great similarities. And this is particularly prominent in the case of the life and teachings of the two central figures of these world religions — Christ and Krishna.

Similarities in just the names of 'Christ' and 'Krishna' have enough fuel for the curious mind to prod into the proposition that they were indeed one and the same person. Although there is little historical evidence, it is hard to ignore a host of likenesses between Jesus Christ and Lord Krishna. Analyze this!

• Both are believed to be sons of God, since they were divinely conceived
• The birth of both Jesus of Nazareth and Krishna of Dwarka and their God-designed missions were foretold
• Both were born at unusual places — Christ in a lowly manger and Krishna in a prison cell
• Both were divinely saved from death pronouncements
• Evil forces pursued both Christ and Krishna in vain
• Christ is often depicted as a shepherd; Krishna was a cowherd
• Both appeared at a critical time when their respective countries were in a torpid state
• Both died of wounds caused by sharp weapons — Christ by nails and Krishna by an arrow
• The teachings of both are very similar — both emphasize love and peace
• Krishna was often shown as having a dark blue complexion — a color close to that of Christ Consciousness

Christ comes from the Greek word 'Christos', which means "the anointed one". Again, the word 'Krishna' in Greek is the same as 'Christos'. A colloquial Bengali rendering of Krishna is 'Kristo', which is the same as the Spanish for Christ — 'Cristo'.

The father of the Krishna Consciousness Movement AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada once remarked: "When an Indian person calls on Krishna, he often says, Krsta. Krsta is a Sanskrit word meaning attraction. So when we address God as Christ, Krsta, or Krishna we indicate the same all-attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Jesus said, 'Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name', the name of God was Krsta or Krishna."

Prabhupada further says: "'Christ' is another way of saying Krsta and Krsta is another way of pronouncing Krishna, the name of God…the general name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose specific name is Krishna. Therefore whether you call God 'Christ', 'Krsta', or 'Krishna', ultimately you are addressing the same Supreme Personality of Godhead…Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said: namnam akari bahu-dha nija-sarva-saktis. (God has millions of names, and because there is no difference between God's name and Himself, each one of these names has the same potency as God.)"

God or Man?
According to Hindu mythology, Krishna was born on earth so that the balance of good in the world could be restored. But, there are many conflicting theories regarding his Godhood. Although, Krishna's story depicts him as the ultimate Lord of the Universe, whether Krishna himself is God or man is still a contentious matter in Hinduism.

Hindus believe that Jesus, like Lord Krishna, is just another avatar of the Divine, who came down to show humanity in the righteous way of life. This is another point where Krishna resembles Christ, a figure who is both "fully human and fully divine."

Krishna and Jesus were both saviors of mankind and avatars of God who have returned to earth at an especially critical time in the lives of their people. They were the incarnates of the Divine Being Himself in human form to teach human beings divine love, divine power, divine wisdom, and lead the benighted world towards the light of God.

These two most admired of religious icons also claim to hold the completeness of their religions by themselves. It's interesting to note how alike each one spoke in the Bhagavad Gita and the Holy Bible about the righteous way of life.

Lord Krishna says in the Gita: "Whenever, O Arjuna, righteousness declines and unrighteousness prevails, my body assumes human form and lives as a human being." He also says, "In order to protect the righteousness and also to punish the wicked, I incarnate myself on this earth from time to time." Similarly, Jesus said: "If God were your Father, ye would love me; for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself but He sent me."

At many places in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna said about His oneness with God: "I am the way, come to Me…Neither the multitude of gods, nor great sages know my origin, for I am the source of all the gods and great sages." In the Holy Bible, Jesus also utters the same in his Gospels: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well…"

Krishna advises all men to continue working for the welfare of the state all through the life: "That man attains peace who lives devoid of longing, free from all desires and without the feeling of 'I' and 'mine'. This is the Brahman state…" Jesus too ensures man, "Him that overcometh 'I' will make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out."

Lord Krishna urged his disciples to follow the art of scientific control of the senses. An expert yogi can withdraw his mind from old temptations of the material world and can unite his mental energy with the joy of inner ecstasy or samadhi. "When the yogi like a tortoise withdrawing its limbs, can fully retire its senses from the objects of perception, his wisdom manifests steadiness". Christ too delivered a similar directive: "But though, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thy shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

Krishna stressed the idea of the grace of God in the Gita: "I am the origin of everything, and everything arises out of Me…". Similarly, Jesus said: "I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth in me shall never thirst."

Little Boy and Doll

I was walking around in a BigBazar store making shopping, when I saw a Cashier talking to a boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old.

The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll. Then the little boy turned to me and asked: ''aunty, are you sure I don't have enough money?''

I counted his cash and replied: ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy the doll, my dear.'' The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand.

Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give thisdoll to. 'It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much . Iwanted to Gift her for her BIRTHDAY.

I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.' His eyes were so sad while saying this. 'My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.''

My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said: 'I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall.' Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me 'I want mommy to take my picture with her so my sister won't forget me.' 'I love my mommy and I wish she doesn't have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.' Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. 'Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll?''

'OK' he said, 'I hope I do have enough.' I added some of my money to his with out him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money.

The little boy said: 'Thank you God for giving me enough money!'

Then he looked at me and added, 'I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give It to my sister. He heard me!'' 'I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. My mommy loves white roses.'

I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local news paper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because the young woman would not be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the news paper that the young woman had passed away.. I couldn't stop myself as I bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wishes before her burial. She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest.

I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed for ever.

The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.

Please DO NOT DRINK & DRIVE.

Now you have 2 choices:

1) Forward this message, or

2) Ignore it as if it never touched your heart.

The value of a man or woman resides in what he or she gives, not in what they are capable of receiving.

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Subhash

Summary of Gita Class - 04/07/2008

Harekrishna Everyone!!!!

Here is the summary of Gita Class at Parag's House on 4th July 2008:

1. Discussion about How Five elements (Earth, water, fire, air & Ether) of material nature were deduced
2. How these 5 elements led to invention/development of Yoga process
3. Two different Yoga approaches
1. Sankhya Yoga - Ascending process
2. Bhakti Yoga - Descending Process

1. What Krishna says about those 5 elements and the yoga process (B.G Chapter 7 Verse 4 & Verse 5)
2. The Goal of all yoga process (Chapter 14 verse 27)
3. The order in which our senses are developed based on each of those 5 elements as and when they are added to constitue our body.

Ear -> Ether
Skin -> Air
Eye -> Fire
Taste -> Water
Rest of all senses -> Earth

For Research : Srimad Bhagwatam 3rd canto - describes how a child body is developed step by step. Full detail of how all elements combine at different stages in the development of the body before birth.

First day on blog

Wow, just had a great time in finding this blog this, wasn't too sure intially but finally got there and could write this. It greets us with Mahamantra and slide shows, truly amazing. Well done Subhash.

Geeta Lessons Archives

Please read about the Geeta Lessons we have every fortnight. Please put the comments here to update others on what we learnt in the last session. This will help devotees to recap and keep all on the same page.

Subhash Patankar

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