I call it pleasant when you can touch nature. I asked our visiting monk from Orissa, Padmanayana, what he had to say about an owl’s making itself kn
nature (21)
Part 2
FURTHER DIFFERENCES WITHIN THE VEDIC SANSKRIT ITSELF, AS WELL AS WITHIN THE CLASSICAL SANSKRIT ITSELF
REPEATING INTRO
This is several questions made in the form of an article. I find them intriguing and aspire for answers. I beg kind insightful devotees to offer insights, and, if they find time, to evaluate or critique the answers which i have offered according to my own limited understanding. The very questions are written in bold text. The purpose of this is for my insignificant self
In this thoughtful reflection for Religious News Service (RNS), Joshua M. Greene (Yogeshvara Dasa) recalls his memorable 90-minute conversation with Jane Goodall during the 2000 United Nations World Peace Summit. Though surrounded by religious dignitaries in robes and rituals, Goodall stood out by speaking of nature itself as sacred rather than relying on institutional affiliations.
Greene notes that Goodall’s legacy challenges believers of any faith to reconsider how we relate to the natural wo
The Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies (BIHS) is set to host a special hybrid screening of Nature’s IQ, a visually striking documentary that blends science, philosophy, and art. The film is based on the award-winning book Nature’s I.Q.: Extraordinary Animal Behaviors That Defy Evolution by Īśvara Kṛṣṇa Dāsa (Dr. István Tasi) and Balázs Hornyánszky, and is directed by Kristina Danka, Ph.D. (Krishna Lila Devi Dasi).
Scheduled for Saturday, September 27, at 1:00 PM EST, the event will take
An important part of the Itihasas are the Puranas. The Puranas are the histories of the universe and contain many stories that took place on earth or even on other planets and dimensions, or in which superhuman powers are commonplace. As we pointed out earlier, Vedic knowledge often consists of information about things from beyond our own sense perception or experience. We can be assured of its authenticity because of the fact that many Vedic scholars such as Shukadeva, Maitreya, Madhva, Raman
There is a warning for drivers about the oncoming freezing rain. For this reason, I am cancelling several programs, especially trips up north such as Huntsville and Sudbury. Better to buckle down and stay at home. By Providence, I had good reason to stay planted. A good 40 or so people came, studiously, to learn about guidelines of Kirtan. The five-hour workshop proved successful. Let the weather do what it wants. We were absorbed in the cultural practices of chanting, and there are standards
This is several questions made in the form of an article. I find them intriguing and aspire for answers. I beg kind insightful devotees to offer insights, and, if they find time, to evaluate or critique the answers which i have offered according to my own limited understanding. The very questions are written in bold text. The purpose of this is for my insignificant self to gain clearer understanding on the subject. That would help me in completing a written presentation on Vedic culture, which
From Back to Godhead
“Probability is the most important concept in modern science, especially as nobody has the slightest idea what it means. —Bertrand Russell
Throughout human history, philosophers and seekers of knowledge have sought to discover a single fundamental cause underlying all the phenomena of the universe, Since the rise of Western science in the late Renaissance, many scientists have also felt impelled to seek this ultimate goal, and they have approached it from their own characte
From Back to Godhead
Being God, Krishna has no work to do and simply enjoys in His original abode, while His expansions and energies, such as time, take care of the material creation.
As working men and women we typically leave home in the early morning and spend eight or nine hours on the job. Life at work sustains life at home. Official dealings at work contrast with family intimacies at home. However diffuse and overlapping the boundaries between the two, our work persons differ from our
Kala reminded me that the large slug we saw feasting on a bush along the trail gives guidance as to what’s good for human. The most nutritious leaves are what slugs eat. Interesting!
We also came up on softwood trees, or what we thought were pine trees. Actually, the trees boarding some of the beaching are hard as can be, although they bear needles like our northern soft pines. The name of this tree is casuarina and they are protected in these areas by the government.
We notice, too, that as th
People are running around–“Oh, I am the manager. I am the factory owner. I am this. I am that. We know his politics, we have to defeat our competitors.” All these things are created just like a man creates a situation in a dream– svapna–drastur ivanjasa.
So when someone asks, “When did we come into contact with the material nature?” The answer is that we have not come into contact. By the influence of the material energy, we THINK that we are in contact. Actually, we are NOT fallen. We cannot b
A fresh snowfall descended recently and has blanketed the surface throughout most of the province. Nature, it seems, speaks to us all the time. With the whiteness of snow, the message is “be introspective,” “be pure,” “be still,” “be calm.” When spring comes around the message is “move about,” “clear the space,” “dance and sing,” “stretch,” “grow.” When summer rolls in I hear it saying “take in the sun,” “relax,” “swim,” “play.” And when autumn ushers in it says “breathe,” “eat,” “sleep,” “smell
Purification is a realistic element of life. A lot people nowadays go into some therapy with an idea that they can overcome something within themselves. In the Vedic culture, purification is essential in life. It says that everyone needs to purify themselves. In principle, it is understood that every living being has a higher and lower nature. The higher nature is elevating us. It is bringing out noble qualities and it is bringing us to a point of being free from causing suffering to others. Ac
Nature is a knock-out. That is easy to see in the more northern regions. I mean to say there is this gorgeousness about Mother Nature from whatever angle you look, but everyone has their preferences, geographically. During my walks, I was truly taken by the desert beauty of Utah, the mountainous power of B.C., the ruggedness of rocky Newfoundland, the green tones of Ireland, and the exotic wonder of beachy Mauritius. But there’s something special about the Muskoka cottage country.
Karuna, Madha
By surrendering to a pure devotee, we are actually experiencing freedom. The pure devotee sets us free from our lower nature, the lower nature that we have due to our foolishness. Somehow or other, we got entangled in this lower nature and we know that we do not need it, but we still have it.
Take for example, uncontrolled anger! When people get angry, they often break things and it is a lot of damage which they have to pay for. They worked really hard for those things, but then they also break
Trees
What hugs the soil and keeps it in place
Teaches tolerance especially at the base
Provides us company when down and lonely
Is a true member of the earthly family?
Trees
What cuts the wind when all is tossed in the air
Which resembles a turbulent mind enough to scare
What emits a sweet sent at dusk and at dawn
And has sap flow at winter’s end when spring is on?
Trees
What gives warmth in cold in coolness in the heat
And what eats and drinks by their very own feet
Give shelter with shade
One of the best things we can do as a calming task during the pandemic is gardening. It already has succeeded in being the fastest-growing hobby. Gardening is a sure way to being positively engaged and the results are, in most cases, very gratifying. If we have a good reason with favourable weather and apply some TLC (tender loving care) then a harvest can reap great fruits – literally fruits and vegetables, flowers and plants. You can get very creative and who knows, you might open the doo
Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Fifty years ago Earth Day gave a voice to an emerging public consciousness about the state of our planet.
Today, Earth Day is widely recognized as the largest secular observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people every year as a day of action to change human behavior and create global, national and local policy changes.
Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day
Siberian squill -- that’s the name of it. I looked it up after I saw this wondrous ground cover that’s blanketed front and back yards. It is a type of grass with a blue flower and it was just there, suddenly, a sign of spring, and it has sprung! It’s a kind of pop-goes-the-weasel in the plant family.
I took to a trek in the Rosedale area out under the sun like so many others. I noticed the flowers everywhere—a plant pandemic of sorts.
While things look gloomy on the social side. I personally
Krsna’s beauty is not only external. His beauty is not only in His form and in His lotus eyes and so on, the beauty is in His very nature. Krsna is very noble. Our Krsna is extremely kind. When Draupadi was in the assembly of the Kurus and Shakuni was carrying out his tricks with the dice and cheating, the Pandavas lost everything. Even Yudhistira himself was totally lost. He lost all his brothers, then he lost himself and then he wagered Draupadi. So Draupadi was saying that it was not a prope
