namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

News report - my commentary follows.

(Canberra) The Australian government has passed legislation recognizing same-sex couples under a large number of laws, but the measure falls short of granting either marriage or civil unions.
The omnibus bill mounted its final hurdle Monday, winning approval in the Senate. The legislation passed the House in September. It still requires the signature of the Governor General, a formality, before going into effect.

The Vedic culture relies heavily on learning through hearing. One of the primary pramanas or sources of evidence in Vedic epistemology is sabda-pramana or "hearing from authority".

The macro economic situation can be confusing and difficult to grasp. When it comes time to vote for a candidate based on their position on economic reform I'd like to share you with you a few simple pointers from my PhD (Prabhupada Hearing Degree) in economics. You don't have to read all of Srila Prabhupada's books to get this information, just the commentary to the First Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.These are the actual fundamentals of economics:

In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.

My sincere prayers are with H.H. Jayapataka Swami at this time of a challenge to the physical health of his body.

Maharaja has always been very kind and encouraging to me, and his disciples have also.

I wish Maharaja a speedy recovery and many years of continued service to the devotees of ISKCON and the people of this world. If this doesn't happen, I am sure that his service will continue anyway, in another body.

While in New Zealand on my recent trip, and looking for food ingredients in the supermarket with my mother, I had this realization:

Religious traditions with dietary restrictions such as Islam and Judaism have terms which describe their otherwise complex and arbitrary (to outsiders) lists of do and don'ts. In the case of Islam approved foods are halal. In the case of Judaism the term is kosher.

Courtesy of Madhava Ghosh came the insight: "Pain is weakness leaving the body".

Pain in yoga practice is not "injury" - it is the attempt of the system of the body to maintain the status quo. One part rebels, complains, tries to change the equation: "Leave things as they are - it's harder to change than it is to stay the same, and I'll make it harder for you..."

It is the duty of the practitioner to push through it, to take it to another level.

This life is fleeting, uncertain the final hour
Just like the drop of water sitting on the lotus flower

Oh my mind, just worship the lotus feet of the son of Nanda, which make one fearless

- "Bhaja hure mana", Govinda dasa

I'm working on the follow-up to my bestselling book "On Leadership". It's called "On Rulership".

The extended title is "On Rulership and the Volunteer Varnashram Society".

Hugh Hefner just lost his three live-in girlfriends. Holly Madison has left, and Brigette and Kendra are not far behind

Here's another podcast from the Jorm. This time it's about the current economic crisis.

• David Jorm on the Economic Crisis .ogg .mp3

I love the way he predicts the apocalypse with the Polynesian crooning in the background...

Don't try to be a person of importance, try to be a person of value

- Albert Einstein

What we are seeing is a bunch of people who have failed to be of value, but still insist on being important.

Their focus was wrong. Don't try to be an enjoyer - strive to be a servant.

I'm not personally familiar with the situation, and all newspaper reports give a slanted version of reality.

However, reading a couple of pieces in the LA Times I get a sense of the root cause of the meltdown of the major financial institutions of the US economy.

Take one BBC news report from 2003:

"The results were clear with both our experimental groups and in both test scenarios. "Creatine supplementation gave a significant measurable boost to brain power."

Add one report from the Mayo Clinic:

Live from his hideout deep behind the former Bamboo Curtain, David Jorm riffs on life in China and the re-introduction of varnasrama social organisation in a modern context.

David Jorm on China and Varnasrama (ogg, 5 MB)

I culled this post from Krishna Consciousness & Ecological Awareness. I added the blog feed to Planet ISKCON, but this post is worth pulling out of the history, given the recent discussion on this issue.

Interestingly enough, my morning realization at Bikram today is an interesting counterpoint to Devadeva Mirel's "Plain Truth".

There she presents the old adage: "Eat right, exercise, die anyway".

Of course that's true, but it's a truth devoid of subtlety. Once you realize this truth, you can still go further. Krishna consciousness is not fatalism or nihilism.

still to come: subheadings to make it easier to read, some graphics, and links to external blogs

If you've followed my blog for even a short while you've probably figured out that I'm a Hare Krishna. Cows are considered sacred by Hare Krishnas, and my recent posting on the effects of Dairy on the human body will verge on heresy for some members of the movement. You might say that it challenges a sacred cow - literally.

However, bhakti yoga is not meant to be dogmatic or unthinking, so let's take a look at this sacred cow, shall we?

I'm using this in my presentation tonight. It's a preliminary level of freedom. Most people today are economic slaves who are contributing to multi-billion bank balances for a few smart people. These people figured out how to take all the leisure time we were promised through automation and computerization and turn it into cash in their bank accounts.

Here's another video I'm using:

In 1962 the cartoon series Jetsons depicted a future America in which George Jetson works at his job at Spacely Sprockets 3 hours a day, 3 days a week.

The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be easily broken.

- Warren Buffet

Lack of retirement planning for leaders is a major problem in ISKCON.

It's all good to say: "Leaders and officials in ISKCON should all be volunteers!"

However, in practice, what will happen is that people will give large sections of their life to ISKCON, and not receive a pension or contribution to a retirement fund in return. Two things result from this:

Mother Gandhari dasi writes me from Vancouver, Canada:

You will be happy to know that actually there is a very nice and relevant engagement ceremony in the Vedic Tradition which the followers are still performing very elaborately. Here is the description for your pleasure.

The Relatives of the groom are invited at the bride's family where are equal number of relatives (all of the couples uncles, aunts from both sides of the parents and all the cousins and grand parents) are present.

H.H. Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami gave this very insightful and thought-provoking class on the grhasta ashram (married life) when he visited Brisbane a few months ago.

It is full of examples and analogies that I had never heard before, which is unusual for a class in an ISKCON temple, which usually consists of refreshing and reinforcing things that are already in my head.

I like the feeling of neural rewiring, so I enjoyed it. Useful information too.

There is only one person who can do whatever they want and get the result they want - and His name starts with K.

For the rest of us - choose one:

Bikram yoga for the win!