Barsana Dham’s Bihar Relief Campaign for Flood Victims

http://www.barsanadham.org/2008-Bihar_Relief_Campaign.html

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release Contact: Janeshwari Devi
JKP, Barsana Dham
400 Barsana Rd.
Austin, TX 78737
(512) 288-7180

Bihar Relief Campaign Undertaken by Barsana Dham, the US Ashram of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati
September 5, 2008, Austin, TX – JKP Foundation at Barsana Dham, Austin, TX has begun the “Bihar Relief Campaign” to further the relief efforts in India of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat. Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj recently presented BJP President, Rajnath Singh with a check for Rs 2 crore ($448,000) to help those affected by the severe flooding that is devastating the northeastern Indian state of Bihar. Barsana Dham has an immediate fundraising goal of $150,000.

The urgent need for aid of all types continues to grow as many of the relief camps are already strained to the limit with more and more people streaming in by the hour. Though difficult to predict at this stage, the number could grow to 20 million in the days and weeks ahead as the full extent of the disaster is assessed by relief organizations.

The need for monetary aid represents a humanitarian opportunity to help for those who enjoy the abundance of modern life in America. Now is the time for each one of us to extend our support to those in Bihar who need it the most.

JKP, Barsana Dham, a non-profit, religious, educational and charitable organization established in Austin, TX by H.D. Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, regularly undertakes philanthropic causes for the benefit of the disadvantaged in India. Visit the website to contribute to this cause:
www.BarsanaDham.org .

For information on how you can expand this effort call Barsana Dham at (512) 288-7180 x307. Donations are fully tax deductible. 100% of funds collected will be sent to India to assist the people of Bihar.

More info: www.thetruehistoryandthereligionofindia.org/th_links.htm

Joyous Barsana Dham Krishna Janmashtmi Celebration

Krishn Janmashtmi at Barsana Dham, the Ashram of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj in Austin.

http://www.indoamerican-news.com/Stories/082908/Krishna.html

Barsana Dham Janmashtmi Discourse by Diwakari Devi Ji

AUSTIN: Krishna Janmashtami is
being celebrated with great enthusiasm
in India and around the world. Here’s
the first of our Janmashtami reports
begins with the celebrated at Barsana
Dham. Hindus all over the world every year celebrate Shree Krishna janmashtami, from simplest festivities with families and friends to large gatherings with thousands in attendance. Shree Raseshwari Radha Rani Temple, Barsana Dham in Austin is unique among them all. Barsana Dham, founded in 1995 by HD Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, has offered truly exceptional and ecstatic
Janmashtami celebrations for the past 13 years.

This year, families from all over Texas and beyond came to Barsana Dham. As usual for celebration times, the ashram was filled to capacity. A delicious dinner prashad was served ; mouth watering puries, chaval, dal, sabji, mithai filled everyone’s plat. Soon everywhere you looked people were eating and relaxing with friends and families in the marvelous and beautiful garden-like grounds.

After dinner, everyone rushed to the Temple to secure a front row seat for the evening program. Children were jumping and giggling, tugging at their parents begging to take them to their own special outdoor program, complete with a baby calf who was quickly named “Cowie”. Chanting soon began– “Mero Gopala Mero Nandlala” and“Govind Gokul Ayo”; jaikars filled the air, dholak, dhol, manjira, jhanch, the traditional instruments of India, enlivened the hearts of all.

A traditional and eloquent Janmashtmi message was delivered by Sushree Diwakari Devi, president of JKP, Barsana Dham. Diwakari devi (Didi) explained the importance of doing bhakti. Following the discourse, the leela presentation began; people mummered in expectant excitement, the prayer hall lights were lowered and conches heralded the first glimpse of 12 year old Shukdev entering the stage. Everyone delighted in receiving the darshan of baby Krishn – candy was thrown to all during the joyous jamn scene. Further, everyone enjoyed a delightfully charming bal leela performed by children from all over Austin.

The evening continued with chanting of Krishn name until midnight in the main prayer hall concluding with the arti of Bal Krishna.

www.BarsanaDham.org

www.jkpbd.org/live/aastha.html

The true definition of God

by H.D. Swami Prakashanand Saraswati:

There are two eternal powers involved in the creation of the universe: (1) The absolute supreme Gracious God and (2) the metaphysical universal energy, the cosmic power, called maya. Maya, being initially lifeless, receives its enlivenment from the supreme Gracious God and then manifests the entire universe.

The true and absolute supreme God has four most important personal virtues. He is all-Gracious, He is all-kind, He is all-Blissful (and all-loving) and, with all of His virtues, He is omnipresent. Apart from that He is also almighty because the mighty power maya is under Him. He is the creator because He enlivens the power, maya, which manifests the universe, He is omniscient because He knows each and every action of the unlimited lives of all the unlimited souls of this universe; and so on.

One other question that has puzzled the theologians for millenniums is: whether God is He, or She, or it?

Bhartiya scriptures say that He is all. He is He as well as She, and Both forms She and He are absolutely one and synonymous. That’s how, being absolutely one, They always remain in two forms, She and He.

What about ‘it’? How does ‘He’ become ‘it’? The answer is, that He doesn’t become ‘it.’ ‘It,’ in fact, is an aspect of the personal form of God. ‘It’ is such an aspect where all of His powers and attributes are absolutely dormant. It’s like a person who is deeply sleeping in a dreamless state where all the dignity of his being, including his personal identity, is fully submerged into his totally inactive state. This aspect of God is called nirgun nirakar, which means virtueless and formless God; the other one is called sagun sakar (or sakar), which means the all-virtuous personified form of God. Thus, sakar is the main form of God, and, with His sakar form, He/She is omnipresent with all of the virtues: Graciousness, kindness, all-Blissfulness, all-lovingness and many more. These Divine situations and existences are the Divine miracles that are beyond the material logic because they are beyond the realm of ‘time’ and ‘space’ factors.

Now we know that unless the above mentioned attributes and virtues along with the prominence of the personal form of God are included in the general meaning of the word ‘God,’ it would not represent the true Gracious God, it would only represent the absolute metaphysical energy of the cosmos (and up till now these facts have not yet been incorporated into any of the English dictionaries).

www.jkp.org

www.encyclopediaofauthentichinduism.org/author.htm

Benefits of Chanting – Translation of a speech by Shree Maharajji

 

 (Above: Radhey Govind Chanting with Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj at Bhakti Mandir, Mangarh)

The greatest help for an aspiring devotee comes in the form of
chanting God’s names, forms, pastimes, attributes and abodes. Sing
in a loud voice the bhajans and keertans that glorify God. Numerous
saints have composed extremely sweet devotional songs that have been
set to haunting melodies. Choose the best from these songs and sing
them as you like. Some people ask whether it is not just as
effective to do a mental repetition of God’s name as it is to chant
in a loud voice. Whether you repeat God’s names in your mind or
repeat them loudly, it is one and the same thing. However, loud
chanting will enrich you in ways that silent meditation cannot.
There are four main advantages of sankeertan, i.e. loud chanting.

The first advantage of chanting is that it contains a lot of matter
within it. Devotional songs composed by saints such as Meera,
Soordas and Tulsidas describe God’s names, forms, pastimes and
glories. On the other hand, when you engage in mental repetition,
you are more or less restricted to only the name, and that too, only
one name You cannot do a mental repetition of God’s pastimes,
attributes and so on. Repeating the same name over and over again
will lead to boredom since the mind is at present not very attached
to God. You cannot experience bliss by mentally repeating only one
name of Shri Krishna, and as long as you are not feeling blissful,
your practice of devotion will not be considered effective. Loud
chanting provides the mind with much variety. If you get bored
chanting His name, you may move on to chanting His attributes. Then
you can chant His pastimes, which are unlimited. There is no
question of getting bored. If you get bored with one pastime, you
can move on to the next. When you get bored with even that, you can
think of still another. There are pastimes to suit every
relationship and depict every mood of the devotee.

The second advantage of loud chanting is that you are getting help
from music and musical instruments. You sing God’s glories, His
names and pastimes. When you do jap (mental repetition) there is no
music. You have the prayer beads, or just your mind. On the other
hand, the word sankeertan itself denotes music. Music is pleasing to
the ears. Beyond the ears is the mind that experiences happiness and
sorrow. The mind likes music. Through the medium of music, you can
engage the mind in the thoughts of Shri Krishna for a longer period
of time. If you take the help of some musical instrument to
accompany the chanting, it’s all the better for you.

The third advantage of sankeertan is that when you are mentally
repeating the name of God, there is no sound. Because of this
silence, you will be able to hear every little sound. The clock goes
tick tock-tick tock, and you will hear it. Because the mind is so
wild and impetuous, it runs to the world immediately. It leaves God
to go to the world. There are so many distractions around. A child
starts crying and you are disturbed. Someone drops something, and
the mind is again disturbed. One family member is scolding another,
and you are distracted. When you do sankeertan, you’re singing. You
are creating a sound. Moreover, you have some sort of a musical
instrument, which provides additional sound. In such a situation,
the mind concentrates on God much more easily. All the senses will
be involved in sankeertan, and therefore you will not even hear the
other sounds. As a result, the mind will stay put and will not be as
tempted to run to the world.

The fourth advantage is that many people fall asleep due to the
quiet atmosphere created by mental repetition. Sleep comes very
easily. This does not happen in sankeertan, since you are singing
with your mouth and clapping with your hands. Moreover, your ears
are listening to the music, and the mind is meditating on God. In
other words just about every sense-organ is involved in the chanting
process.

Thus, all these advantages are yours to benefit from in chanting,
which are not present in mental repetition of the name. Moreover,
thechantingprocess purifies the atmosphere, and anyone who hears the
chanting benefits from it. Loud chanting is much more beneficial for
us than silent repetition of God’s name, especially in the beginning
stages of devotional practice.

www.jkp.org/jagadguru_kripaluji/a_brief_life_history.htm

www.jkp.org

Hinduism at a glance

The original name of Hinduism is Sanatan Dharm. ‘Sanatan’ means eternal and ‘Dharm’ means those actions, thoughts and practices that promote physical and mental happiness in the world and ensure God realization. 

Sanatan Dharm eternally exists in God, is revealed by God, describes the names, forms, virtues and the abodes of God, and reveals the true path of God realization for the souls of the world. 
 

There are three eternal existences: soul, maya, and God. Souls are unlimited in number, infinitesimal in size, Divine in quality but eternally under the bondage of maya. Soul does not belong to maya or the mayic world. It has a natural and eternal relationship with God.

Maya is a lifeless power of God having three qualities: sattvic (pious), rajas (selfish) and tamas (impious) that represent its existence when it is evolved into the form of the universe. The universe has two dimensions – material and celestial. The Divine dimension of God lies beyond the field of maya. 

 Hinduism is monotheistic. There is one single God Who represents the various aspects of His unlimited Blissful charm through many forms such as Krishn, Vishnu, Shiv and Shakti and the impersonal aspect. Out of these Krishn is the absolute supreme form of God which includes all others. God is an eternal, omnipresent, all-Blissful, all-Gracious, all-kind and all-loving Divine personality.

Hinduism explains that the soul is eternally yearning for perfect, unlimited and everlasting happiness. But the soul is mistakenly searching for this happiness in the mayic world where one finds only transitory pleasures followed by disappointments.

The illusion of finding perfect happiness in the mayic world is the cause of soul’s reincarnation. The soul, since uncountable lifetimes, has been taking birth into the 8.4 million species of life where it undergoes the consequences of actions (karmas). Perfect happiness is neither a feature of the mind nor a nature or quality of the mayic world. It can only be attained by God realization.

The human form of life is the only chance for a soul to attain God realization, if one understands the disappointing nature of the illusive attractions and attachments of the world and sincerely proceeds on the path of God realization by completely trusting in the causeless kindness of God.

The aim of human life is to attain God realization. The means of God realization is bhakti and God’s Grace.
 Humble, loving and wholehearted submission to a personal form of God is called bhakti. Bhakti evokes the Grace of God and ensures God realization. Upon God realization the soul is released from the bondage of maya and achieves unlimited Divine Bliss forever.

Sattvic practices such as austerity, intellectual study of Vedant, practice of renunciation and meditation, on their own, can only evolve the sattvic quality of person’s mind to a certain extent. They can never be the means of God realization. When one begins to do bhakti, these practices, with the Divine uniting factor of bhakti, are then classified as karm yog or gyan yog. Only when these practices are performed with bhakti, can they become the means of God realization, because only bhakti unfolds God’s Grace.

A personality who has the Divine knowledge of all the scriptures and who is God realized is needed to guide, protect and Grace the souls on their path to God realization. Such a Divine personality is called Guru. It is the Guru who imparts the Divine vision or Divine love of God to a dedicated soul when they reach a stage of complete surrender through bhakti. Divine personalities are always present on the earth planet to guide the souls.

In addition to sending Divine personalities from His abode to the earth planet, God Himself descends on the earth planet from time to time to establish and protect Sanatan Dharm, to reveal His absolute Blissfulness through His Divine actions (leelas) and to show the path of bhakti to the souls. The descension of God into the material (mayic) realm is called avatar in Sanskrit.

The Divine scriptures of Hinduism include the Vedas, the Upvedas, the Vedangas, the Smritis, the Darshan Shastras, the Upnishads, the Puranas, the Itihas (Ramayan and Mahabharat), the Gita, the Bhagwatam and the writings of Jagadgurus, acharyas, and Saints. 

The vast collection of Bhartiya scriptures are a systematic line of teachings. They provide the guidelines for all kinds of people, having varying levels of purity of mind and receptivity for God, and lead them towards God realization.

The Bhartiya (Hindu) scriptures also reveal the scientific axioms that are valuable in the research and development of modern science. They reveal the sequence of the procedure of creation of the universe, the exact model and working of the universe, as well as the science of defense, medicine and aviation, whatever is required by the society for daily living.

Compiled from “The True History and the Religion of India” by H.D. Dharm Chakravarty Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, formost disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

© 2004 The Vedic Foundation May be reprinted with permission in writing from The Vedic Foundation.

 

www.encyclopediaofauthentichinduism.org/author.htm

www.jkpbd.org/live/aastha.html

The Search for Happiness by Kripaluji Maharaj

Every soul in the world desires happiness. Happiness is synonymous with God. Whether one says ‘happiness’ or ‘Bhagwan’ or ‘God’, all these have one meaning. The Ved says that God is happiness, anand. As souls, we are a fraction of God who is the form of happiness, and that is why we naturally desire happiness. Every fraction naturally desires its source, and by attaining that, becomes complete. This is the law of nature. In fact, we could never desire unhappiness. Even if we were to try, it is impossible because everyone naturally desires happiness.

Can we determine if there happiness in this world? The Ved defines happiness as, Yo vai bhuma tatsukham. True happiness is of an unlimited limit and it remains forever. What are the qualities of worldly happiness? First, it is limited, because a greater happiness always exists. In our world, those who are millionaires are superceded by multi-millionaires, and ahead of them are billionaires, and ahead of them are multi-billionaires, and the richest is Kuber, the god of wealth. This means that worldly happiness is not of an unlimited limit, and what does exist, keeps on changing and ultimately comes to an end.

Just like you hugged your mother. From the first hug you got a lot of happiness, from the second hug, it was less, from the third, it decreased further, and by the fourth, it was finished. We experience this daily in this world. So there are two problems in the happiness of this world. First, it is not of an unlimited limit, and second, it is not for an unlimited time. The happiness we truly desire is with the unlimited ocean of Divine happiness, Krishn, or you can say we desire Krishn, Who is the form of happiness. But He is not visible to us, so how will we receive His happiness?

If we want something from someone, how do we get that? One way is to grab the person, tie him up and snatch it. Another way is to steal it from him. Another way is to beg. These are the three ways. God is all-powerful and the soul has very limited powers, so it is impossible for a soul to forcibly take anything from God. God is also omniscient, omnipresent and knows what is in everyone’s heart, so stealing from Him is also impossible. So there is only one way left: request God for alms of His happiness. Beg Him. It is God’s rule, “If you ask, I will give.” But you have to request properly. There shouldn’t be any craftiness or deceit in your heart.

How long does a newborn baby have all his desires fulfilled by his mother just by crying? If he feels cold or hungry or if he has pain anywhere, he cries. There is one remedy for all his demands: crying. That is called complete surrender. In the same way, shedding tears before Krishn with a pure and sincere heart, we can ask for Divine happiness. When will this happen? When we have complete confidence. Our present confidence is that perfect happiness is in the world, and one day we will attain it. We have to change this decision. This is done by detaching the mind from this world (vairagya) and attaching the mind to Krishn, (abhyas) and tearfully requesting His Divine Vision, Divine Love, and Divine happiness. Devotional love is the practice and Divine love is the attainment.

The scriptures say that with the Grace of Guru and God everything is possible, but where do the Guru and God bestow their Grace? Grace is received in the heart and the heart is mayic, material. On one side, the heart is occupied by the commanders of maya like lust, anger, greed, attachment, passion, and jealousy. On the other side, all our worldly attachments are seated there. God asks, “Is there any space for Me?” So He says, “Purify your heart first through your tears of love, than I will give My Divine happiness.”

TV Asia airs the discourses of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj (Shree Maharajji) daily

Weekdays at 8:00 am & Weekends at 10:00 am EST.

Shree Maharajji was offered to become Jagadguru by the Kashi Vidvat Parishad of Varanasi, India in 1957. Thus, he became the fifth original Jagadguru in the last 5,000 years. Shree Maharajji founded a worldwide non-profit, educational and charitable organization, Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat which has five main ashrams. Four in India and the fifth, Barsana Dham located in Austin, TX. For further information visit www.BarsanaDham.org or call (512) 288-7180.

www.jkpbd.org/live/aastha.html

www.thetruehistoryandthereligionofindia.org/th_links.htm