I strive to follow the spiritual practices such as rising early for meditation, but sometimes, being encased in dull matter, even though I am a spirit soul, I stumble. But by divine serendipity this morning, I got a loving moonlit wake-up call!
Generally, a spiritualist strives to rise early in the morning.
The time before sunrise is extremely precious for persons on the spiritual path. A most conducive time for meditation, spiritual reflection, and worship of the Supreme Lord.
It may appear like the depth of darkness to the materialist, but the early morning hours are very sublime.
What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.
Sometimes, even the most well-meaning spiritualist can succumb to imbalances, as I do, ever so often.
My subtle material body consisting of mind, body, and false ego constrains me too often from pursuing spiritual life freely. Sometimes, the spirit and the mind may be willing but it could be the gross material body, made of earth, water, fire, air, and space that constrains me.
The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.
This morning, my alarm was set for 4:00 AM, but somehow or other I did not rise, resolving to rise at 5:00 AM instead.
But then, shortly thereafter, the moon, who is almost full right now, positioned himself in the sky so he shone on my sleeping face with his full brilliance. As if to help the moon, the mirror behind my pillow on the mat joined in with a secondary reflection of the moonrays.
It was impossible to continue sleeping!
Krishna can be perceived through the light of the sun and the moon.
O son of Kuntī, I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable oṁ in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.
My alarm clock and my determination to rise early may have waned, but the waxing moon got me!
Within a few minutes, I was energized by this merciful radiation, reminded of Krishna, and was able to rise refreshed and dive deep into meditation and worship.
The moonlight is an energy of Krishna, the ability for me to engage in acts of Krishna Consciousness are also a gift from Krishna. So it is best to engage my God-given ability in the service of Krishna.
Thanks to that completely undeserved beautiful start to the day, despite all other obstacles or distractions, it has been a most blessed day!
Dear Krishna, thank you for making so many arrangements to help me, a dull recovering atheist, rise to the purpose of human life. Dear Srila Gurudeva, my dear spiritual master, thank you for your prayers and blessings on my behalf, which allow even me, a wretched lost soul, to bask in Krishna Consciousness, even if some of the time.
With all this talk of going to Mars and the Moon, did you ever pause to think that this has been tried before? There is a way to go to other planets but is this it? But anyways, why go here and there when it is all necessarily temporary?
At least 2.1 Million Years ago, there was a very powerful personality named Ravana. He was the king of a Golden Kingdom called Lanka. He was a very learned scholar, practically unbeatable in battle, and had practically conquered the entire Universe. You can say he was the greatest atheist of his time too.
Ravana
He really wanted to change things up – among other things, he wished to construct a bridge from Lanka to the Moon. He was technically capable of accomplishing this, seeing that he was undefeated in the Universe.
The Moon
The Moon is a Heavenly Realm, where the residents enjoy a very long duration of life, very strong, attractive bodies, with all manners of facilities for sense gratification, all powered by a beverage called “Soma Rasa” – literally, the nectar available on the Moon.
Chandra Deva, King of the Heavenly Realm of the Moon Planet
Naturally, everyone wants to go to a beautiful place where a lot of sense gratification is available. The hordes of humans going to various places for tourism is the proof of this. Mostly, people go on vacation for a weekend, a week, maybe a month or two, and yet others manage to stay on vacation for a long time, according to how much wealth and health someone possesses.
A vacation spot is not without its perils
In order to gain health and wealth, one must try very hard, and many are unsuccessful. Quite often, the healthy are not wealthy, and the wealthy are far from healthy. So, their capacity for sense gratification is limited. Most people who are on vacation don’t want the vacation to end. They want it to last as long as possible.
If someone is able to go on an unearned vacation, that is seen as a great stroke of good luck. If a politician was to promise his people unlimited free vacations, he would stay in power for ever, and the people would remain grateful to such a leader for ever!
Student slogging away
But to go to the Moon planet requires tremendous merits, which can be obtained by performing various severe austerities and penances, quite painful, and most cannot make it. Great practitioners of the process of material elevation, called “karma kanda” strive for many, many lifetimes to enter the heavenly realm of the moon. But one cannot go to the heavenly realm in these earthly bodies, just like an astronaut puts on a space suit to go into space and a diver puts on a diving suit to go under water, similarly, the heavenly realm requires a heavenly body.
The kundalini yogi can choose the moment of his departure
Not everyone can afford an astronaut suit or a diving suit, or the training needed to perform those activities, or the means of transport needed!
Astronaut wearing a special suit
This is generally true… to become a great rich businessman, to become a rich professional like a doctor or software engineer, stock broker or real estate tycoon, one must work very hard. What to speak of those things, if one wants to get a mere University degree, one has to slog for a good 20+ years through school and University. And even then a degree is not guaranteed, after all, so many students fall by the wayside without earning a University degree.
Stock Brokers struggling to earn a livelihood
So naturally, Ravana was a very popular king, he promised the Ultimate heavenly luxury just for the mere price of climbing a staircase!
But Ravana didn’t make it. In fact, he bit the dust at the hands of Lord Rama – God who appeared as the Ideal King. And needless to say, the staircase never materialized.
So, these days, it is all the rage to want to go and live in space, on the Moon, or maybe Mars. Fools are claiming to take anyone who wants to go anyplace in our Universe in due course of time. But they too will bite the dust, just like the mighty Ravana. And it’s not only Ravana, but unfortunately, a large number of his followers were also slain in the battle outside Lanka.
In fact, compared to the Original Ravana, these little ravanas like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson are not even as significant as bacteria. They are rich on imaginary wealth, somehow everyone is accepting their billions of dollars of fake money as real. Every single day, just by rising and setting, the sun is eroding their lifetimes. They are already old men, and will sooner or later succumb to inevitable death.
The intelligent person should ask the right questions…
What about this planet? What about getting along with each other here without trying to kill each other? What about respect for all of us, all races, all species, all species? What problems are we trying to solve running away from this planet and this life here and now?
No matter how amazing a place might be on this planet, no matter how beautiful, how relaxing, or how exciting, has it’s own share of problems. Every “tropical paradise” has it’s share of birth, death, old age, and disease, not to mention mosquitoes, crime, violence, exploitation, and corruption!
If I live in a poor country, say a place like Burundi or Somalia, say I want to go to a rich country like the United States of America or Germany… can I go there without a passport, a visa, and a plane ticket? Can everyone in the world go to any place on the planet today? So, why can someone travel to other planets without acquiring the necessary qualifications?
Those of us who have the experience of being on holiday, does the holiday last for ever? Is it not that once the money is finished, one has to get back home and resume work? So, even if someone was able to go to some heavenly realm, would it not be temporary? Should we not look for a permanent solution to the problems of the world?
आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोका: पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन । मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते ॥ १६ ॥
ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino ’rjuna mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate
From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again.
While the Moon is a heavenly realm, Mars is actually an inauspicious planet, why should anyone go there!
NASA, little Ravanas
So therefore, instead of being in the Ravana camp by being a fan of NASA or Musk or the like, or placing any faith in them, we should instead go beyond their bluffs and reach a higher level of consciousness, Krishna Consciousness. Instead of going here and there, we should strive to go back home, or be right at home in our eternal spiritual identities, regardless of where we may be placed.
We are spiritual beings at our core, we all are. We’re having this material experience, and striving to get the material experience that will truly satisfy us. But no material experience can make us truly happy just as a fish out of water will never be happy.
Easy Journey to Other Planets
If you want to read this book “Easy Journey to Other Planets” by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, click here. If you would like a paper copy, or send a copy to the little Ravanas, let me know!
Some say humans landed on the moon, saw that it was a barren world, collected some rocks, took some pictures and videos, and then returned. But Srila Prabhupada, a spiritually enlightened person says that this was a collosal hoax… and he is no conspiracy theorist? How to understand this?
Nikhil Mishra, 14 December 2017
Hare Krsna
Can any one kindly explain to me the controversy associated with moon landing?
read in an email that Srila Prabhupada says that landing on the moon was a false propaganda and it actually did not happen!
humbly exploring truth and seeking surrender unto lotus feet of Lord.
Nikhil
Janis, 14 December 2017
Hare Krishna!
Indeed in the Chitralekha devi dasi Harrychund “Srila Prabhupada said…………!!!” email series this is mentioned. Would you please explain this to me also how the moon landings did not happen if nowadays many independent (or so it is said) investigators with high resolution photographs confirm traces such as lunar rovers, camping sites etc.
Humbly your servant,
Janis
Filip Misic, 14 December 2017
Hare Krishna!
I was also disturbed with this matter some time ago. But after researching why Srila Prabhupada said something like this, I found out, that this statement that the moon landing is not real, is originated from the shastras. I don’t know fully what the shastras say about this subject, but I think they must be saying that no human from our planet is able to physically go to the moon, because our bodies are not suited for this. Also, the modern day science´s descriptions of the moon say that it is completely deserted and only has hills, is quite strange. In the shastras there are many descriptions of the moon and the inhabitants of the moon.
I am not at all familiar with these exact statements nor am I authoritative to speak on this, but I only wished to help clear your doubts. Maybe some more experienced devotee could help. Just know that Srila Prabhupada has so often emphasized how the shastras are flawless, and in fact they are. So please have faith in the shastras, not atheistic scientists of the Kali-yuga.
your humble servant,
Filip
Sudarshan Das, 14 December 2017
Hare Krishna,
Yes, the moon landing was a hoax. Srila Prabhupada said that very clearly.
Actually, without even referring to Srila Prabhupada’s quotes, I still don’t believe that the moon landing ever happened. The modern day scientists also challenge it with a lot of arguments. They have found irregularities in the photos and videos that are shown to us.
When we refer to Vedic scripture the belief is cemented. Each planet has souls living there and they have bodies that are suitable to live on that planet. We who are the residents of earth cannot enter into these planets with our present material bodies.
In one place (Sorry I could not find the reference), Srila Prabhupada explains that even if humans are able to devise material means to reach these higher plants such as the moon, they will not be able to enter it. He gives the example saying that one may take a flight to the US, but they cannot enter into the country without a Visa. They will land in the US, but will be sent back from the immigration counter. So they don’t practically enter and see or understand the US. The scientists’ efforts to enter higher planets are similar.
In another conversation Srila Prabhupada says that actually Moon is further away than the Sun.
So what the scientists are referring to and targeting for is not even moon 😊
There is another conversation also regarding the same where he quotes a verse about this.
All in all, the conclusion is moon landing never happened. Getting to the moon planet is not even our goal. We have a higher mission, Prema, the loving service to Krishna. We should focus on that.
Hope this helps.
your servant,
Sudarshan Das
Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 15 December 2017
Hare Krishna!
I am giving an example to illustrate…
Canada is a “heavenly” country from many perspectives, especially if someone is coming from a war-ravaged or terrorized country.
BUT, if someone enters into Canada without a valid visa, then all they will see of Canada is the inside of a jail cell, and if they go back to their country, they could say “Oh, Canada, its basically a big jail”.
Another example…
When my son was a baby, he wanted to “go” somewhere even when it was not convenient to go, like late at night, or early in the morning. I sometimes used to take him around, swing him, make some sounds with my mouth, take him from this room to that room, back to same room, and he thought he went someplace else and was quite happy.
Many agencies can make someone believe something happened. Memories can be implanted, consciousness can be altered and “experiences” can be inserted into someone’s consciousness.
The demigods who live in the higher planets, they are very powerful.
If a puny impudent little human being tries to exceed their authority, the demigods can easily do whatever they want with the person, such as forcibly stop them, redirect them, etc.
The Vedic view of the “moon landing”, if they ever left the Earth, is that they visited one of the dark planets Rahu or Ketu, which are somewhere between us and the Moon.
Prabhupāda: Yes. How can you say there is no life?
Paramahaṁsa: But the scientists are saying, though, that the nearest star to our… You know, they consider the sun a star. And that the nearest star to ours is four light years away. Which means that it’s… They do not believe that there’s life in this entire solar system, in the planets nearest us, the moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Neptune, Jupiter. They assume it’s either too cold…
Prabhupāda: No, we say in the sun there is life. Otherwise how Kṛṣṇa says, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1). “I spoke this Bhagavad-gītā science to the sun-god.” So? Sun-god is dead stone, and Kṛṣṇa spoke to him?
Bahulāśva: They’re very convinced, though, that they went to the moon, the scientists.
Devotee (3): I was going to ask you, Prabhupāda, is that the moon planet that we see, is that the same moon planet that’s mentioned in the śāstras? The same planet?
Prabhupāda: Yes, same one. But the moon planet where they went, that is a dark planet. That is not moon planet.
Morning Walk — July 21, 1975, San Francisco
Bottom-line, we trust our Acharyas who have nothing material or spiritual to gain from us. We don’t trust the so-called scientists who need to create an illusion of progress in order to gain more and more funding dollars to maintain themselves.
Sincerely,
Mahabhagavat Das
Nikhil Mishra, 16 December 2017
ahh….whatever it is…it keeps me wondering about mysteries i see in life with my gross eyes and things written in shastras.
All I want to pray is (while keeping my inquisitive spirit alive)..
Oh Lord! I know You are there, You must be there and Theory propounded by Chaiyanya Mahaprabhu makes sense to my intelligentsia.
Help me out to know You and to appreciate You. Glance your causeless mercy because due to restless senses,i am unable to upgrade myself upto the standard set for a true devotee.Give me attachment to Your namarita.
Hare Krsna
Sincerely
Nikhil
Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 16 December 2017
Dear Nikhil,
That’s called free will. Krishna will never force you but give you a choice at every mentioned to Love Him or Leave Him.
Yes no one can uncover the truth simply by relying on their material senses or vibrating their brain… The mysteries of the Universe don’t give themselves up so easily.
Your prayer is nice.
He gives this choice to the Atheist, and He gives this choice to the Devotee. He loves us all, and His love is unconditional. The only difference is that the devotee accepts Krishna’s love and the Atheist rejects Krishna’s love.
Sincerely,
Mahabhagavat Das
Filip Misic, 17 December 2017
Hare Krishna Nikhil,
That’s the spirit!
your servant, Filip
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How is it that the statements of the Vedic Scriptures in the matter of dimensions of the sun, moon, and the distances between them don’t match with the modern scientific theories?
Partha Das, 28 October 2019
Hare Krsna, Dandavats,
Could you throw some light on the shloka from the 5th canto of Bhagavatam 5.25.2.
The sun globe, which is a source of heat, extends for 10,000 yojanas [80,000 miles]. The moon extends for 20,000 yojanas [160,000 miles], and Rāhu extends for 30,000 yojanas [240,000 miles].
Thanks
Partha Das
Subodh, 29 October 2019
Cosmic and materials knowledge can only affirmed the belief of Krishna’s expansion but can’t get rid of from birth and death cycles, without yug mantras given by mahaprabhu, hence chant hare krishna simply be happy,
Subodh
Partha Das, 29 October 2019
Very true Prabhuji. But a foundation made of solid knowledge will make us very good devotees of the Lord
Here, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī is talking about the sizes of Sun, Moon, and Rahu. Before this verse, he talked about the distance of Rahu from the Sun.
To adherents of modern science, it may all sound very confusing, or even laughable. However, it should be noted that the Jyotisha Shastras deal with planetary orbits and sizes, and they have been predicting eclipses, seasons etc. very well [1]. Modern measurements on size of the planets and distances (including Sun and moon!) match well with the data given in Surya Siddhanta [2]. Bhagavatam’s picture of the universe may seem to contradict Jyotisha Shastras at some points; however, a detailed study would reveal that everything is in order. And Srila Prabhupada wanted his PhDs to go through these details and construct a model of the universe presented in Bhagavatam and display it in Mayapur [3].
All gratitude to all the group members for participating in this worldwide group…
Srimad Bhagavatam is Amala Purana, the spotless Purana, is the literary incarnation of Krishna Himself. Everything mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatam is the Supreme Absolute Truth, even if we may struggle to understand how. Verses and purports that I read in the Bhagavatam say ten years ago sometimes make sense to me now, after all the additional context, or in a class, or somehow by Guru’s and Krishna’s mercy.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: This great universe, situated on one of Lord Anantadeva’s thousands of hoods, appears just like a white mustard seed. It is infinitesimal compared to the hood of Lord Ananta.
The sun globe, which is a source of heat, extends for 10,000 yojanas [80,000 miles]. The moon extends for 20,000 yojanas [160,000 miles], and Rāhu extends for 30,000 yojanas [240,000 miles].
your Servant
Partha Das
Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 12 November 2019
Dear Sriman Partha,
Hare Krishna!
Yes, as I stated before, the Srimad Bhagavatam is spotless, faultless. Everything mentioned in the Bhagavatam is the Supreme Absolute Truth. We may not be able to understand it, just as sometimes ordinary people cannot understand the words of a great genius…That being known, what exactly is your question?
Sincerely,
Mahabhagavat Das
Partha Das, 12 November 2019
Hare Krsna,
My question is that the shloka is not clear wrt what we learned in school about the sizes of these planets and the distance between them.
Dandavats
Partha Das
Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 13 November 2019
Dear Sriman Partha,
Hare Krishna!
Yes, there are 2 ways of receiving knowledge – one is called the “arohapanthi” or the “ascending process”. The other is called “avarohapanthi” or “descending process”. The material scientists follow the ascending process (base one fact upon another that is proven), we follow the descending process. Our process is that there is the Creator and we get all our information from Him. In theory, both processes should reach the same conclusions, but in the ascending process, there are a lot of pitfalls, mistakes, etc., and the ascending process cannot discover information that is spiritual in nature.
It is important not to position the scripture and material science as competitors… Chaitanya Charan Prabhu makes that clear that both deal with different subject matters and have totally different perspectives, and he goes on to show how both are correct.
Here is an example from Chaitanya Charan Prabhu… if you mix charcoal powder with white chalk powder, you get a grey substance. Everyone can see that it is a grey substance. But when you look at the powder under the microscope there is no grey substance to be found, it is either white particles or black particles, no grey. The person looking with the naked eye says grey, the person with the microscope says black and white, and both argue – but both are right. He has numerous examples where the scripture and material science say different things but both are correct…
There is also a BBT book called “The Scientific Basis of Krishna Consciousness” by Bhakti Swarup Damodar Maharaja who was also a scientist before he took Sannyas and even after that he founded the Bhaktivedanta Institute. That book is a must-read for anyone who is interested in these sorts of subjects.
The structure of the Universe is vast, but still material, and yes, the ascending process could possibly discover the entire material truth, but it may take a long time, if at all.
Our mundane material textbooks are presently based on a big fat lie – that this Universe came from nothing. The Big Bang theory is just a theory with no conclusive evidence to support it, it is a fairy tale. Something cannot come from nothing, not even one little electron, or one nanometer of space can be created from nothing. So, the fact that we learned that in our textbooks means that the knowledge we studied there is imperfect.
When I was in school and university, I saw that with Maths and Physics, one little mistake in a proof or derivation can lead us to the wrong conclusion… in those cases, my mistakes were caught by my more expert classmates, seniors, or teachers. But in the realm of theoretical physics, as the field gets more and more specialized and sub-specialized, the reviewer pool gets very very small, to the extent that on a certain topic maybe 3 people in the world understand enough to be able to review the papers. Then, what those three people do is, collude and write papers that they each other review and approve – thus getting tenures and grants from various agencies. No one else can possibly know that they are making a mistake – the fields are too arcane. This was revealed to Srila Gurudeva when he was spreading Krishna consciousness in a small University town in America by a Post-doc researcher who was coming to the temple. I have also met many researchers who said the same thing… basically it is a closed club where nepotism and corruption exists. Sometimes the researcher does research and publishes it knowing it to be wrong, and then the following year, they just publish another paper saying they were wrong.
Our mundane material textbooks are consequently revised many times… this is true of medical texts, and many other fields of material knowledge.
But the Vedic scriptures are coming from Krishna, perfect, constant, not revised, no additions or subtractions, no errata, no addenda.
With regard to astronomy and so on, one of the disciples of Srila Prabhupada, Sadaputa Dasa (Richard Thompson) (who passed away recently) has written many books that help to understand the Vedic astronomy better. And also, the Temple of the Vedic Planetariaum being built in Mayapur will help with that. Also, books and writings by Drutakarma Prabhu (Michael Cremo) are helpful.
For example, Sadaputa Prabhu said that the “islands of earth” mentioned in the Bhagavatam are different planet in the earthly system of planets… and that the “flatness of the earth” describes “planetary rings”… To be honest the writings are so intricate that I didn’t invest my time and effort into understanding them.
Until then, we say what we need to say to pass exams, get jobs, etc., and it is also possible we don’t fully understand how the Bhagavatam could be correct. But, after reflecting on all these types of questions which I also had many of, I can decide how important this is to our spiritual progress to know the distance of the sun and moon etc.
Does this help?
Sincerely,
Mahabhagavat Das
Sundar Gopal Das, 13 November 2019
Dear Bhakta Partha,
In addition to the wonderful reflection by HG Mahabhagavat Prabhuji, you can hear the answer from HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhuji by clicking the following link:
Yes Prabhuji. I guess Krsna will keep on revealing more things to us, as we progress in Krsna consciousness.
Thanks
Partha Das
Jayakrishna, 25 November 2019
Hare Krishna!
I think The following conversation is really addressing this question
“Dr. Singh. Because the scientists haven’t detected any water on the surface of the moon, they’ve concluded that no life could survive there.
Śrīla Prabhupāda. They haven’t seen the whole surface of the moon. Suppose someone were to come here from another planet, drop into the Arabian Desert and then return home. Could he come to a complete conclusion about the nature of the whole earth? His knowledge would not be complete”
(The First Morning Walk: April 18, 1973)
It is only recently the science proved the presence of water in moon surface!!
With humble obeisances,
Jayakrishna Ramanuja dasa
Partha Das, 26 November 2019
Yes. It seems scientists keep changing their statements too often. Difficult to believe their theories like big bang , Darwin theory etc.
Partha Das
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IS there life on the Moon? The Vedic scriptures talk about the Moon as a heavenly realm with celestial beings and soma drink, etc., we have had so many missions, why did they not find anyone there?
Partha Das, 7th October 2019
Hare Krsna,
Q) We heard of so many moon missions and the latest by India. So many satellites are orbiting the moon ? No life had ever been found till date on moon? However our scriptures talk of Chandra as a devta living with his associates on moon planet, drinking Soma rasa etc. How do we explain the contradictions?
Dandavats,
Partha Das
Anuradha, 8 October 2019
This is from Gurudev’s lesson. I have copied and pasted here , Think it answers.
—
Lesson Completed on 23 May 2016 in Kaunas, Lithuania
————————————————————–
Srila Prabhupada explains in his purport to Bhagavad-gita 8.25 that there is a higher class of living beings on the moon, although they may not be perceivable to our gross senses. He also mentions that Vedas teach a method of how one can go to the moon and get a moon body in his next birth. He points as well out the futility of this because eventually these moon beings have to come back to the earth. Considering all of these points we can easily see why doing austerities to get a moon body are not worth it. It is better we do austerities to attain the planet of Krishna because from that planet there is no coming back down to suffer once again on the earth planet or in any planet in this material world.
Thanks for the reply. Helpful. Dandavats, Hare Krsna.
Partha Das
Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 8 October, 2019
Dear Partha,
Hare Krishna!
In addition to this, we should think about situation on this planet… North America and Europe have very opulent countries, very rich and very different to many other countries in the world. But to enter into it someone needs a proper visa or permit. Without visa if someone even comes here (by hiding in some corner of an aircraft, for example, as one Indian man did some years ago), then they will only see the inside of a jail cell. Then they can come, be arrested, be sent back, and say “well, this Canada and USA and Norway and Germany, they are just jails, nothing more to it”. Our situation trying to go to the moon without authorization is somewhat like that.
Just like a smart adult can make a little child think that there is a monster behind the closet or the world ends at the front door (to prevent the child from harm or entering some unauthorized place), similarly, the higher beings led by Chandradeva and those entities can direct the spacecraft to the dark planets that are between us and the moon.
It is clear that one cannot enter the heavenly planets by mechanical means. Ravana tried to build a staircase to heaven, these are little Ravanas, they are not even as capable of that great demon. Happy Dussehra to everyone btw.
This Dussehra, I pray that just as Lord Ramachandra killed the demon Ravana on this day of Vijaya Dashami, similarly, Lord Rama may please kill this Ravana like mentality in our hearts, to enjoy God’s property separately from God. May Lord Ramachandra purify our consciousness.
In this connection, it may be noted that the moon is one of the heavenly planets. From the Vedic literature we understand that one who goes to the moon receives a life with a duration of ten thousand years in which to enjoy the fruits of pious activities. If our so-called scientists are going to the moon, why should they come back here? We must conclude without a doubt that they have never gone to the moon. To go to the moon, one must have the qualification of pious activities. Then one may go there and live. If one has gone to the moon, why should he return to this planet, where life is of a very short duration?
with regards,
your servant,
Sundar Gopal Das
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God has a form. There are specific descriptions of His form. Meditation of His Lotus Feet, for example, dispels all the thick gloom of the heart.
Sometimes spiritualists imagine that since a material form is a limitation, therefore God cannot possibly have a form.
In some religious tradition, the form of God is not at all described.
Some imagine some form of God according to their own concoctions.
It is not that God does not have a form or that His form is imaginary. But it is that one needs to approach the form of God properly.
God’s form is called “saccidananda vigraha”, or that which is composed of sat (eternality), chit(purely conscious knowledge), and ananda(unmitigated bliss). This form of God is unlimited, not constrained by space or time, neither does God’s form deteriorate like material forms.
In a beautiful section of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Lord Kapila, an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, describes the process of devotional service.
Here is one beautiful text, an example for you to relish.
सञ्चिन्तयेद्भगवतश्चरणारविन्दं वज्राङ्कुशध्वजसरोरुहलाञ्छनाढ्यम् । उत्तुङ्गरक्तविलसन्नखचक्रवाल- ज्योत्स्नाभिराहतमहद्धृदयान्धकारम् ॥ २१ ॥
The devotee should first concentrate his mind on the Lord’s lotus feet, which are adorned with the marks of a thunderbolt, a goad, a banner and a lotus. The splendor of their beautiful ruby nails resembles the orb of the moon and dispels the thick gloom of one’s heart.
God has feet, which defeat the splendour of a lotus in full bloom. The soles of His lotus feet are adorned with specific marks.
Each and every mark has specific significance. Just the lustre of His beautiful red toenail can be compared to a full moon.
Meditating on the lotus feet of God dispels all gloom.
The sole of Sri Radha(right) Krishna(left)
Why can we not meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord?
I spend most of my time meditating on all sorts of things. I pray that all these useless meditations may be replaced by unbroken meditation on the lotus feet of Sri Radha Krishna.
The great saint Ramanuja once gave his disciples a mango each and ordered them to eat hidden from view… one disciple couldn’t find a place to hide! What about you? Do you think you can hide?
I heard this from my Gurumata, Srimati Vishnupriya Devi Dasi, one of my primary instructing spiritual masters.
Once upon a time, the great saint Ramanuja, who appeared on this planet more than 1000 years ago, called his disciples and gave them each a mango. He instructed them to eat the mango in a secluded place without being seen by anyone, and report back.
The disciples scrambled, some went to caves, some to forests, some locked themselves into a dark room, yet others hid behind buildings and trees. Some went under a blanket.
One of the disciples though, returned to his spiritual master and apologetically offered that he could find no place where he could be unseen.
Ramanuja heartily congratulated this disciple and was very pleased with him.
Indeed, for every single one of our thoughts, words, and deeds, there are witnesses.
Everywhere we go, we are witnessed by the light of the sun or the moon, the light of the stars, the earth, air, space, and other material elements. These material elements are merely manifestations of the controlling deities.
You may find that hard to accept, but just think about this – do you have a cellphone? Wherever you go, the cellphone network “sees” you, tracks you. If you ever connect to any network, anything you do on that network is seen by all the providers of that network, and if they wish to, they can easily reconstruct all your actions online. Every. Single. Action. Every. Single. Byte. It is all recorded in gigantic datacenters the size of mega cities, in servers and disks with blinking lights, whirring fans, and efficient cooling systems. You are not unseen.
What to speak of man-made networks, there is the Original Network of this Material Nature, with all the material elements, the various gross and subtle manifestations and so on… do you think that the Creator and operators of this network cannot see your actions?
Very specifically, the agents of the personality in charge of death and the ultimate taxes, Yamaraja, such as Chitragupta, are tapped into this network and are recording all our actions. Not one single action goes unrecorded.
मुक्तलिङ्गं सदाभासमसति प्रतिपद्यते । सतो बन्धुमसच्चक्षु: सर्वानुस्यूतमद्वयम् ॥ ११ ॥
mukta-liṅgaṁ sad-ābhāsam asati pratipadyate sato bandhum asac-cakṣuḥ sarvānusyūtam advayam
A liberated soul realizes the Absolute Personality of Godhead, who is transcendental and who is manifest as a reflection even in the false ego. He is the support of the material cause and He enters into everything. He is absolute, one without a second, and He is the eyes of the illusory energy.
Even if we were to be able to escape the material elements somehow, we cannot escape the Super Soul, the Paramatma, who is expanded within our hearts and travels with ourselves, us, the spirit soul, Atma. The very same Paramatma is expanded inside every atom and within the space between atoms.
eko ‘py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiṁ yac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.
Do you want to see God? Who doesn’t! Do you know you already have? But you want to see Him up close and personal? Read on!
If there’s a God, I want to see Him.
George Harrison
It is a common refrain, everyone wants to see God.
One famous Indian monk went around asking many priests, monks, saints, etc., and his question was “Can you show me God?”. And the story goes that none could, except the person who then became his spiritual preceptor.
When that story got popularized, especially in India, and those connected with India in some way, people would ask any person of faith “Can you show me God?”, and then smirk as the poor soul stumbled for an answer.
Reporter 6: So, Your Divine Grace, have you realized God?
Srila Prabhupada: What do you think? What is your opinion?
Reporter 6: I can’t say.
Srila Prabhupada: Then if I say “Yes,”, what will you understand? If you are not yourself expert, then even if I say “Yes; I am God realized,” how will you take it as truth? If you do not know what God realization is. then how can you ask this question, and how will you be satisfied with the answer?
Reporter 6: Well. what is God realization?
Srila Prabhupada: First make sure you understand this idea.
Now, for instance, if one medical man asks another man, “Are you a medical man’.” and the other man says “Yes,” then the first man will understand by their exchange of technical terms whether the second man is truly a medical man. But unless one is himself a medical man, what is the use of asking another man, “Are you really a medical man?”
So for you it is useless to ask about my having realized God, unless you are prepared to accept my answer. Are you?
Reporter 6: Yes.
Srila Prabhupada: Then it is all right. I am God realized. I am seeing God at every moment.
O son of Kuntī, I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable oṁ in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.
Have you tasted water? Have you seen the light of the sun and the moon? Have you heard the syllable “Om”? Have you ever heard any sound? Have you seen anyone with any ability?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you have seen God. Of course, you may not realize that, but you have.
Now, you may say, “Hey Das, you say God is a Person“, so where is that God as a Person?
Ah, now, here comes the crux – what is your qualification to see God?
If you want to meet some famous actor personally, then she should want to meet you. If you want to meet a big businessman, he should want to meet you. If you want to meet a politician, the politician should want to see you. Is this not true?
Doesn’t matter if someone is a lawyer, teacher, scientist, doctor, whatever – you need to be qualified to see them!
The greater the personality, the more qualified someone needs to be!
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.
“eyes tinged with the salve of love”, in other words, you love God purely, that is your qualification. And love means you love God without expecting anything in return. And there’s infinite variety in how you can love God!
Krishna, Govinda, Shyamasundara, Lotus Eyed, Effulgent, Love of Love, Lord of Lords, God of All!
So, would you like to see God? Face-to-face? In person? What are you prepared to do to qualify yourself? I’d love to serve you on your way! Please comment, or contact me!
Freedom through Genuine Spiritual Progress 