Terrorist Attack at ISKCON Center in Manipur, India
On the evening of 16 August 2006 at our ISKCON center in Imphal, Manipur, India terrorists wreaked havoc upon the appearance celebration of Lord Krishna by exploding a hand grenade during a dramatic presentation of Lord Krishna's Rasa Lisa, killing four devotees and injuring 36 others, including His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodar Maharaja, one of ISKCON's spiritual masters. Such actions are sickening and deplorable and are unfortunately becoming more and more common in today's rapidly deteriorating so-called world society.
It is intolerable to see so much cruelty and suffering going on all over the world. Senseless violence and terror are being unleashed more and more upon the poor souls of this age. A thoughtful person will naturally question why such things are going on and what can be done to stop them from happening.
In an animal-filled jungle we can always expect to find ferocious, dangerous animals like lions and tigers. Similarly in a world where 99.99% of the world population is focused on the animalistic activities of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, we can always expect to find ferocious terroristically-minded men tormenting others. The only way to stop such terrorism is to elevate the society in general beyond the animalistic platform to the platform of self-realization. In other words, everyone needs to realize that life is meant for perfecting our existence, not for simply carrying on like animals totally absorbed in eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. If human beings can simply realize the importance of self-realization, naturally terrorism will come to an end.
The solution is very simple. If the government leaders would simply agree to follow our instructions, we can stop terrorism and solve all the world's problems. But what can be done? They refuse to hear us.
If I may ask another question, Is there another sense that we have that we are not aware of? Is love the sense of the soul? One that can lead the other senses to a common goal? I apologize for my ignorance.
Thank you so much,
Your student
You have asked, "Is there another sense that we have that we are not aware of? Is love the sense of the soul? One that can lead the other senses to a common goal?" The sense of love is the key that solves all problems. The difficulty is that in this material world what we call love is in fact more or less simply lust. In other words our so-called love in this world is very self-serving. Our so-called love is practically speaking a business deal. I'll scratch your back, if you scratch mine. But this is not real love. This is simply another form of sense gratification masquerading as love.
Love becomes the solution to all problems when we perfect our love by freeing it from all tinges of selfishness. This perfection of love is known as Krishna consciousness. Until love becomes all-inclusive it remains limited and to varying degrees self-serving. This is why we must expand love to its ultimate level. When we water the root of the tree, all the leaves and branches are nourished. When we fully give our love to the root of existence, it becomes purely distributed to all living beings.
When we develop a strong sense of love, a mood of selfless service, for the Supreme Lord then we execute all activities both spiritual and mundane absorbed in remembrance of Him. The challenge is to develop the actual loving sense. Modern man has struggled very hard to reach the moon, but he has not struggled very hard to develop his love for God. This sense of love of God can be awakened if we engage in the nine activities of devotional service as listed by Sri Prahlada Maharaja in the Srimad Bhagavatam as follows:
sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
"Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Vishnu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)." --Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.23
Out of these nine processes the easiest is hearing the Bhagavad-gita from a realized person. This hearing will turn one's thoughts to the Supreme Being. By becoming absorbed in Lord's remembrance naturally one's dormant sense of love for the Lord will be awakened. To remember Him is to love Him.
This process of Krishna consciousness is not difficult. However, one must learn it from an experienced person. This is described in the Mundaka Upanisad:
Tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
"To realize the transcendental science one must approach a person who is already fixed in the practice of Krishna consciousness."---Mundaka Upanisad 1.1.12
By doing this a strong sense of love of God will awaken in your heart and all of your senses will be satisfied only when they are engaged in Krishna consciousness. You will no longer be attracted to the cheap temporary thrills of this material existence.
This matter is summarized in this wonderful verse from the Narada Pancaratna:
sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hrsikena hrsikesa-
sevanam bhaktir ucyate
"One should be free from all material designations and cleansed of all material contamination. He should be restored to his pure identity, in which he engages his senses in the service of the proprietor of the senses. That is called pure devotional service."
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
It is intolerable to see so much cruelty and suffering going on all over the world. Senseless violence and terror are being unleashed more and more upon the poor souls of this age. A thoughtful person will naturally question why such things are going on and what can be done to stop them from happening.
In an animal-filled jungle we can always expect to find ferocious, dangerous animals like lions and tigers. Similarly in a world where 99.99% of the world population is focused on the animalistic activities of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, we can always expect to find ferocious terroristically-minded men tormenting others. The only way to stop such terrorism is to elevate the society in general beyond the animalistic platform to the platform of self-realization. In other words, everyone needs to realize that life is meant for perfecting our existence, not for simply carrying on like animals totally absorbed in eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. If human beings can simply realize the importance of self-realization, naturally terrorism will come to an end.
The solution is very simple. If the government leaders would simply agree to follow our instructions, we can stop terrorism and solve all the world's problems. But what can be done? They refuse to hear us.
Questions and Answers
How Can I Become Truly Satisfied?...
I recently read that we can not give up desire, but rather change what we desire after. I have been falling into a depression because I see the effects of my material choices. Each time I please any of my senses with material things I am left with a temporary satisfaction and feel empty thereafter. However, I find myself making the same decisions. How can I get over this?If I may ask another question, Is there another sense that we have that we are not aware of? Is love the sense of the soul? One that can lead the other senses to a common goal? I apologize for my ignorance.
Thank you so much,
Your student
Engage Your Senses in the Service of the Proprietor of the Senses...
The way to conquer over being a foolish slave of our senses to engage them in the loving service of the Lord. The senses desire satisfaction. We cannot deny them. Therefore we must give them the satisfaction they desire by engaging them in the service of the Lord. The eyes hanker to absorb themselves in the form of the opposite sex. But such meditation simply increases our lusty desires and our sense of frustration. If these same eyes are engaged in gazing upon the beautiful form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we then become completely, fully satisfied without any sense of guilt or frustration.You have asked, "Is there another sense that we have that we are not aware of? Is love the sense of the soul? One that can lead the other senses to a common goal?" The sense of love is the key that solves all problems. The difficulty is that in this material world what we call love is in fact more or less simply lust. In other words our so-called love in this world is very self-serving. Our so-called love is practically speaking a business deal. I'll scratch your back, if you scratch mine. But this is not real love. This is simply another form of sense gratification masquerading as love.
Love becomes the solution to all problems when we perfect our love by freeing it from all tinges of selfishness. This perfection of love is known as Krishna consciousness. Until love becomes all-inclusive it remains limited and to varying degrees self-serving. This is why we must expand love to its ultimate level. When we water the root of the tree, all the leaves and branches are nourished. When we fully give our love to the root of existence, it becomes purely distributed to all living beings.
When we develop a strong sense of love, a mood of selfless service, for the Supreme Lord then we execute all activities both spiritual and mundane absorbed in remembrance of Him. The challenge is to develop the actual loving sense. Modern man has struggled very hard to reach the moon, but he has not struggled very hard to develop his love for God. This sense of love of God can be awakened if we engage in the nine activities of devotional service as listed by Sri Prahlada Maharaja in the Srimad Bhagavatam as follows:
sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
"Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Vishnu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)." --Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.23
Out of these nine processes the easiest is hearing the Bhagavad-gita from a realized person. This hearing will turn one's thoughts to the Supreme Being. By becoming absorbed in Lord's remembrance naturally one's dormant sense of love for the Lord will be awakened. To remember Him is to love Him.
This process of Krishna consciousness is not difficult. However, one must learn it from an experienced person. This is described in the Mundaka Upanisad:
Tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
"To realize the transcendental science one must approach a person who is already fixed in the practice of Krishna consciousness."---Mundaka Upanisad 1.1.12
By doing this a strong sense of love of God will awaken in your heart and all of your senses will be satisfied only when they are engaged in Krishna consciousness. You will no longer be attracted to the cheap temporary thrills of this material existence.
This matter is summarized in this wonderful verse from the Narada Pancaratna:
sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hrsikena hrsikesa-
sevanam bhaktir ucyate
"One should be free from all material designations and cleansed of all material contamination. He should be restored to his pure identity, in which he engages his senses in the service of the proprietor of the senses. That is called pure devotional service."
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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