Giving thanks-Gratitude for God's Gifts

If we are at all aware of how dependent we are on God--for the air we
breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the very ability to eat
and drink and breathe, to think and feel and will, and to walk, talk, and
sense--we will feel grateful and want to reciprocate God's kindness. We will
want to do something for He (or She or They) who has done, and continues to
do, so much for us.

Often we take things for granted until we lose them. I use my right hand to
chant on meditation beads, and one morning I found that I had severe
arthritic pain in my hand and could no longer use it for chanting. I had
taken the use of my hand for granted, but when its use was lost, I resolved
to never take my hand for granted and to always use it in the best way in
God' service.

How, in a general sense, can we attempt to return some of God's favor, some
of God's care--and love--for us? In a talk, my spiritual master, Srila
Prabhupada, gave one answer:

"Whatever you have got by pious or impious activities, you cannot change.
But you can change your position, by Krsna consciousness. That you can
change. Other things you cannot change. If you are white, you cannot become
black, or if you are black, you cannot become white. That is not possible.
But you can become a first-class Krsna conscious person. Either you are
black or white, it doesn't matter. This is Krsna consciousness. Therefore
our endeavor should be how to become Krsna conscious. Other things we cannot
change. This is not possible.

tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovido
na labhyate yad bhramatam upary adhah
tal labhyate duhkhavad anyatah sukham
kalena sarvatra gabhira-ramhasa
[SB 1.5.18]

Kalena, by time, you will get whatever you are destined. Don't bother about
so-called economic development. So far as food is concerned, Krsna is
supplying. Eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. He is supplying even cats and
dogs and ants. Why not you? There is no need of bothering Krsna, 'God, give
us our daily bread.' He will give you. Don't bother. Try to become very
faithful servant of God. 'Oh, God has given me so many things. So let me
give my energy to serve Krsna.' This is required. This is Krsna
consciousness. 'I have taken so much, life after life, from Krsna. Now let
me dedicate this life to Krsna.' This is Krsna consciousness. 'I will not
let this life go uselessly like cats and dogs. Let me utilize it for Krsna
consciousness.'"

I pray that I will dedicate this life and everything that I have--everything
that God has given me--fully in God's service, following His pure devotees.

manasa, deho, geho, yo kichu mora
arpilun tuya pade, nanda-kisora

"Mind, body, and home, whatever may be mine, I surrender at Your lotus feet,
O youthful son of Nanda [Krsna]!" (Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Saranagati)

Marriage

I am not this Body

"I am not this Body." Easy to say...

The body is a machine, just like a motor car is a machine. I am within this body as the driver is within the motor car.
Now the motor car has many needs. It needs gas, it needs oil, it needs to have it’s tires pumped up and so on. But if one forgets the driver in the car and simply concentrates on the machine and the needs of the machine the driver will not be satisfied.

He will be sitting in the car starving. Because the food of the driver is different from the food of the car. You can not feed the driver gas. His food is different.

So we are the driver of this body. This body has so many needs, but these bodily needs are different from our needs, we are the driver of the body, the soul within the body, “the ghost in the machine…”

Therefore Krishna recommends in the Bhagavad Gita that we satisfy the bodily needs only as much as necessary to maintain the body in a healthy condition and spend the rest of our time and energy in spiritual activities which help us to reawaken our original spiritual consciousness. It is this spiritual consciousness which is a our real need, the needs of the soul.

Of course the needs of the body are there and we can not ignore that.

It is not that we do not eat, or sleep, or have sex or defend, but these things are done in a regulated way to maintain the body in a healthy condition. But as the motor car is simply a vehicle which is meant to transport the driver to his destination, we see this material body as a vehicle which can be used to transport the driver-–the soul-–to his ultimate destination: back home, back to Godhead. With this understand we can see that satisfaction of the body is not our goal, we simply need to maintain the body nicely so we can use it in the real mission of our life, advancing spiritually.

If we spend all our time trying to satisfy the senses of our body we will waste all our time and energy in this way and become completely distracted from the real purpose of life which is to get out of this material world and get back home to the spiritual world where we will get an eternally youthful spiritual body full of knowledge and full of pleasure… Then we will really be happy…

Ramayana - Scientific View

The Ramayana is geographically very correct. Every site on Rama’s route is still identifiable and has continuing traditions or temples to commemorate Rama’s visit. Around 1000 BC, no writer had the means to travel around the country inventing a story, fitting it into local folklore and building temples for greater credibility.

In 1975 the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) unearthed fourteen pillar bases of kasauti stone with Ram motifs near the Ram Janam Bhumi(Birth Place of Ram) at Ayodhya; reports of the excavations are available with the ASI. Rama was born in Ayodhya and married in Mithila, now in Nepal. Not far from Mithila is Sitamarhi, where Sita was found in a furrow, still revered as the Janaki kund constructed by her father Janaka. Rama and Sita left Mithila for Ayodhya via Lumbini. In 249 BC, Ashoka erected a pillar in Lumbini with an inscription referring to the visits by both Rama and Buddha to Lumbini. Ashoka was much nearer in time to Rama and would be well aware of his facts.

Rama, Lakshmana and Sita left Ayodhya and went to Sringaverapura — modern Sringverpur in Uttar Pradesh — where they crossed the River Ganga. They lived on Chitrakoot hill where Bharata and Shatrughna met them and the brothers performed the last rites for their father. Thereafter, the three wandered through Dandakaranya in Central India, described as a land of Rakshasas, obviously tribes inimical to the brothers’ habitation of their land. Tribals are still found in these forests. The trio reached Nasik, on the River Godavari, which throbs with sites and events of Rama’s sojourn, such as Tapovan where they lived, Ramkund where Rama and Sita used to bathe, Lakshmankund, Lakshmana’s bathing area, and several caves in the area associated with their lives in the forest.

Rama then moved to Panchavati near Bhadrachalam (AP), where Ravana abducted Sita. The dying Jatayu told them of the abduction, so they left in search of Sita. Kishkinda, near Hampi, where Rama first met Sugriva and Hanuman, is a major Ramayana site, where every rock and river is associated with Rama. Anjanadri, near Hospet, was the birthplace of Hanuman (Anjaneya); Sugriva lived in Rishyamukha on the banks of the Pampa (Tungabhadra); Sabari probably also lived a hermitage there. Rama and the Vanara army left Kishkinda to reach Rameshwaram, where the Vanaras built a bridge to Lanka from Dhanushkodi on Rameshwaram Island to Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. While parts of the bridge — known as Adam’s Bridge — are still visible, NASA’s satellite has photographed an underwater man-made bridge of shoals in the Palk Straits, connecting Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar. On his return from Sri Lanka, Rama worshiped Shiva at Rameshwaram, where Sita prepared a Linga out of sand. It is still one of the most sacred sites of Hinduism.

Sri Lanka also has relics of the Ramayana. There are several caves, such as Ravana Ella Falls, where Ravana is believed to have hidden Sita to prevent Rama from finding her. The Sitai Amman Temple at Numara Eliya is situated near the ashokavana where Ravana once kept her prisoner.

The presence of the Vanaras or monkeys, including Hanuman, has made the authenticity of the epic suspect. But this is the most plausible part of the story. The Vanaras were obviously tribes with the monkey totem: after all, the Ramayana belongs to a period when most of India was jungle with tribal forest-dwellers. India still contains several tribes with animal totems. An early issue of the Bellary District (now in Karnataka) Gazetteer gives us the interesting information that the place was inhabited by the Vanara people. The Jaina Ramayana mentions that the banner of the Vanaras was the vanaradhvaja (monkey flag), thereby reinforcing the totemic theory. Similarly, Jatayu would have been the king of the vulture-totem tribe and Jambavan of the bear-totem tribe.

Was Lanka the modern Sri Lanka? One school of thought places Lanka on the Godavari in Central India, citing the limited descriptions of the South in the latter half of the epic. Narada does not mention Panchavati or Rameshwaram, but refers to Kishkinda and Lanka. Living in the north, it is unlikely that Valmiki knew the south. But Valmiki would know the difference between a sea and a river. Lanka, says the author definitively, was across the sea.

All the places visited by Rama still retain memories of his visit, as if it happened yesterday. Time, in India, is relative. Some places have commemorative temples; others commemorate the visit in local folklore. But all agree that Rama was going from or to Ayodhya. Why doubt connections when literature, archaeology and local tradition meet? Why doubt the connection between Adam’s Bridge and Rama, when nobody else in Indian history has claimed its construction? Why doubt that Rama traveled through Dandakaranya or Kishkinda, where local non-Vedic tribes still narrate tales of Rama? Why doubt that he was born in and ruled over Ayodhya?

Major settlements, including temples, were renovated several times: restoration is a 20th century development. When the main image was made of perishable materials, it was replaced by stone. For example, we know that the wooden image of Varadaraja Perumal of Kanchipuram was replaced by a stone image, for the earlier image is still preserved in a water tank. The present architecture belongs to the sixteenth century Vijayanagara style. Yet the temple was known to have existed before the Pallava period (seventh century). This is the story of many sacred sites in India. This happened to several Rama temples too.

Rama’s memory lives on because of his extraordinary life and his reign, which was obviously a period of great peace and prosperity, making Ramarajya a reference point. People only remember the very good or the very bad.

The Ravana Palace which was burnt by Hanuman, Ashok vatika where Ravana kept Sita, Sugriva Cave, Sanjivani Mountain from where Sanjivani Booti was acquired to save Lakshman which has many exotic herbs even now

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