The first time I met Yamuna devi, my life changed forever.
I was in Saranagati for the Christmas holidays in 2000 having a reunion with my closest childhood friends. We were all in our early twenties, and having recently finished our university education and started work, we spent our time together recalling our childhood activities. One day we decided to have kirtan, but in a rather irreverent way, mocking the showy, elaborate vocal and instrument style we had all absorbed growing up in ISKCON.
consciousness (11)
We are familiar with the literary devices of similes and metaphors. In a simile, we may say something like, “The summer air was as hot as a furnace”, but in a metaphor we do not simply compare two things but describe one as the other, as in Sandburg’s poem: “The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches, and then moves on.”
The language of metaphor and poetry is the language of emotion and love. In the Italian film “Il Postino” (The Postman), a simple
From Back to Godhead
Krsna consciousness means God consciousness. We all have consciousness or awareness, but of what are we aware? For example, if you are pinched you will feel it that is consciousness. In our normal everyday activities we are conscious of so many things like our stomach, our dress, our relationship with others, and so on. This particular facility of consciousness is the symptom of life. Without it there exists only inert matter, lifeless and dull. What is absent from the corp
By Leif Asmark Jensen
(Lalitanatha dasa)
Presented at The Consciousness in Science Conference, Gainesville, Florida, January 20, 2019
Consciousness is our most immediate experience. Yet, when it comes to studying consciousness beyond one’s own conscious experience, we can only study circumstantial evidence. One such category is studies of the symptoms of a conscious action on events or physical objects. This is known as the argument from design.
An argument from design refers to the inference t
Modern materialistic science is not sure about the origin and nature of most psychic phenomena including dreams. This information can be found in Vedic scriptures.
Srimad Bhagavatam 6.16.53-54, 7.7.25 or 7.15.61 describes three material states of consciousness:
1. jagrata, awakened state (beta, 14 – 20 Hz)
2. svapna, dreaming state (alfa, 7 – 14 Hz)
3. susupti, deep sleep (theta, 4 – 7 Hz)
Beyond them is the fourth state (turya) which is non-material (SB 6.5.12, 7.9.32, 7,15.54). On this level
Man has the chance to bloom spiritually by raising himself to the highest level of love of God.The Vedic scriptures divide consciousness into five categories, namely covered, shrunken,budding, blooming, and fully bloomed.
Trees and plants, for example, are almost inert. They fall into the “covered consciousness”category. They seem to show no sign of consciousness, but when we observe them carefully, we see they have a limited consciousness.
Other living entities, such as worms, insects, and oth
Scientific Views / The Bhaktivedanta Institute
Dr. Richard L. Thompson, a charter member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, is a formally initiated disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. After studying at the Stale University of New York and Syracuse University, he received a National Science Fellowship and completed his Ph.D. -in mathematics at Cornell, specializing in probability theory and statistical mechanics. His dissertation "Equilibrium States on Thin Energy Shell
By Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Michael Cremo is on the cutting edge of science and culture issues. In the course of a few month’s time he might be found on pilgrimage to sacred sites in India, appearing on a national television show, lecturing at a mainstream science conference, or speaking to an alternative science gathering. As he crosses disciplinary and cultural boundaries, he presents to his various audiences a compelling case for negotiating a new consensus on the nature of reality,
Sour
To be a well wisher of others, one could say: “Well, from now on, I’ll give something to every beggar on the street!” That is nice, but what will that person do with it? Maybe something destructive to himself? Maybe buy some intoxication? What good is that?
So no! We have to change the world into a world where everyone gets divine consciousness. We were out today and as we came back, we saw some police cars on the highway. The blue lights were flashing on the side. It looked like they were catc
In Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science (1981) (MNMS), Richard L. Thompson presents a nonmechanistic theory of consciousness drawn from the Bhagavad-gita, a summary of Indian’s ancient wisdom.
He reveals his motivation:
It [science] tells us that the individual person is nothing more than a machine composed of material elements. This machine has come into being only because it and the other machines in its ancestral line happened to be effective at self-duplication in their particular environ
By Bhurijana dasa
In Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.5.24), Narada Muni explains to Srila Vyasadeva how he attained, through the mercy of the Vaisnavas, an exalted spiritual position:
Although they were impartial by nature, those followers of the Vedanta blessed me with their causeless mercy. As far as I was concerned, I was self- controlled and had no attachment for sports, even though I was a boy. In addition, I was not naughty, and I did not speak more than required.
Srila Prabhupada explains in his pu
