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An obituary I don’t have to write

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On October 23, while I was stopping briefly at the ISKCON center in New Delhi on the way from Govardhana to Mumbai, an anguished disciple of my godbrother Jayapataka Swami told me that Jayapataka Swami had fallen unconscious while in Mumbai to attend a meeting and had been rushed to the hospital, where he lay still unconscious and in critical condition. When I reached Mumbai I got a fuller story. He had suffered a major stroke, with hemorrhaging in two locations in the brain, one of them in the brain stem, an area so neurologically delicate and so hard to reach that no direct intervention … [Read more...] about An obituary I don’t have to write

Don’t badmouth sadhus

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Here is a class I gave in India last January for a course at the Mayapur Institute for Higher Education. I spoke on this verse from the Bhagavad-gita (9.30): api cet su-duracaro bhajate mam ananya-bhak sadhur eva sa mantavyah samyag vyavasito hi sah "Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination." Cannot see the audio below? Click here... https://archive.org/download/JAS_Classes_2008/JAS_Dont-badmouth-sadhus_Jan-2008_MIHE_mayapur.mp3 The class was held on a lawn … [Read more...] about Don’t badmouth sadhus

A quantum loss

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On Thursday, six days ago, I'd been thinking of a book to send to a cousin, Bill, a semi-retired pediatrician. In response to some points I'd made in talking about the spiritual nature of consciousness, he had asked me if I'd ever read anything by Stephen J. Gould, the Harvard paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, historian of science, and author of popular scientific articles and books. The unstated message: I doubt whether your ideas about consciousness can stand up in the face of what we know from science. I haven't read more than a few brief essays by Gould, so I later wrote to ask … [Read more...] about A quantum loss

9/11: “A distant view” revisited

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Three years ago, I published here the article A distant view of 9/11. Its theme, in brief, was that when freedom-hating Islamic terrorists struck on 9/11/2001 and the armies of American democracy struck back, the events rolled out in patterns so exquisitely neat and familiar as to suggest that the entire show had likely been scripted and staged by powerful hands within (and beyond) the United States government itself. Oh, paranoid conspiracy theories! The article further discussed the idea of divine and demonic traits of human character, a topic to which Lord Krishna devotes an entire … [Read more...] about 9/11: “A distant view” revisited

BBT turns down GBC recommendation, will not add “explanations” to Prabhupada’s books

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Today the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust released this statement. The ISKCON Governing Body Commission has recommended to the BBT trustees that we insert endnotes or appendices into Srila Prabhupada's books to explain statements Srila Prabhupada makes in Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.25.41, 4.25.42, and 4.26.26 concerning a woman's attitude towards the aggressive advances of a man who is "expert at rape." The GBC has also recommended that the endnotes or appendices explain "other such statements." The BBT directors, at their annual meeting in June of 2008, considered these recommendations and decided to … [Read more...] about BBT turns down GBC recommendation, will not add “explanations” to Prabhupada’s books

Is this Madhudvisa that Madhudvisa?

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You may have seen things on the internet written by "Madhudvisa Dasa." And you may have wondered, Is this the Madhudvisa, the senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada? Or perhaps you assumed it was. In fact, there are two Madhudvisas, two entirely different people. The senior Madhudvisa Dasa The junior Madhudvisa Dasa Age: 61 Nationality: American Civil name: Michael Morrissey Initiation: First and second initiation in 1968, both ceremonies performed directly by Srila Prabhupada. First initiation in San Francisco, … [Read more...] about Is this Madhudvisa that Madhudvisa?

Mr. Ginsberg and Mr. Buckley

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Mr. William F. Buckley, Jr., the politically conservative founder of the magazine National Review, an opinionated intellectual whose views I have sometimes agreed with, sometimes disagreed with, and often not known or cared about but whose skill as a writer I have often admired, died on Wednesday at 82. Among his other roles, for thirty-three years he served as host and combatant on "Firing Line," a television program of highbrow discussion and debate. An article today in The New York Times about Mr. Buckley and his program relates an anecdote told by Richard Brookhiser, a conservative … [Read more...] about Mr. Ginsberg and Mr. Buckley

Avoiding bad association

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I subscribe to a free e-mail newsletter that arrives twice a month with brief extracts from valuable Krishna conscious writings. In the latest issue I found these instructions from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, which I thought I'd share: varjile e saba sanga sadhu ninda naya ihake ye ninda bale sei varjya haya One should avoid the association of persons who criticize saintly devotees. ei saba sanga chadi ananya-sarana krsna-nama kari paya krsna-prema-dhana Anyone who avoids these persons, chants Krishna's holy name, and takes shelter of Krishna and no one else attains … [Read more...] about Avoiding bad association