It has been a while since I posted something up here!

This is entirely my fault – think of it like when you get an idea into your head and you just ponder on it – sometimes for ages! – and you just stare out into space – well, that is what I have been doing until now!

The last couple of times at the Quaker House have been good.  Two times we had Silvan on the piano and Gurudas and myself sitting like Val Doonican on our chairs.  Last time of course, we had our guest speaker from Croatia, Prema Murti Das and we hope that you enjoyed what he had to say.  Future events will be of assorted mood and dynamic.  That is our way of best presenting the opportunity for you to absorb yourselves in the Holy Name when you come.  Please keep on coming.  it is nothing without you!

As for the Bhagavad Gita discourses, I can say that I have learned a lot and I hope that you have too!  

Friday 4th April will be the next installment which is chapter six – Sankhya Yoga

Just to recap a little on chapters four and five –  ‘Transcendental Knowledge’, chapter four, introduced us to the dynamics of the soul, God and the relationship between them.  Karma Yoga means that we give up the idea of us being the enjoyer and controller of everything and we offer everything to Krishna, the root of everything first, and we become happy, free from anxiety and self-realized.  We are used to getting instruction manuals with every gadget we buy right?, well, the Vedas are the instruction manual for life here on our dear Blue/Green planet!  and it has been passed down from an authorized line of great sages and souls to today!  completely unchanged other than small tweaks to make it relevant for the particular age in which it appears.  Krishna appeared as himself in Vrindavan, India just over 5000 years ago – he tells us that he appears whenever there is a decline in religious practice and a predominant rise in irreligion – that condition had started back then and of course it has got MUCH worse since then, but the beauty of the teachings are that by knowing the transcendental nature of the Lord and his pastimes, we can restore our lost relationship with him and return to the spiritual part of creation where life is full of eternity, knowledge and bliss and not have to take repeated births here in the material part of creation where life is temporary, full of ignorance and misery!  An offer not to be missed!  To really be successful on this path, we need to learn to love Krishna and surrender to him – be peaceful.  Three types of people can never do this – firstly, one who is ignorant – just like an animal, prefers to wallow in the dust and dirt of the world and suffer endlessly – the second type is one who is faithless – has decided that no truth exists simply because there are so many propositions offered and thirdly, the doubting soul – he can find no good in this world or in the next world and for him, there is no happiness whatsoever.  The solution is to understand our constitutional position as spirit souls – we can destroy our doubts with the weapon of knowledge and armed with yoga.

The fifth chapter, ‘Karma Yoga, action in Krishna Consciousness’, gives us many truths.  The secret of the wise man is given – he who outwardly performs all actions but inwardly renounces their fruits becomes purified by transcendental knowledge, he attains peace, detachment, forbearance, spiritual vision and bliss – think it over!  it is so simple, we can easily miss it!  There are three yogis – one has controlled his senses, one has controlled his mind and one has controlled his intelligence – who is the best situated? – he who has controlled his intelligence is the best – think it over!  We should know that happiness comes from within our hearts and not from external things – like an iceberg in the ocean – it may seem like it is huge and this can be compared to all the allurements of the world – money, sex, power and prestige, but look below the surface – it is even more gigantic!  and this is the happiness within the heart – just waiting to be discovered!   Is it not very difficult to find this happiness? – well, the fish brings up its offspring just by looking at them and the tortoise after laying its eggs in the sand, goes to the ocean and meditates on the eggs from there.  Similarly, the devotee in Krishna Consciousness, although far away from the Lord’s abode can elevate himself toward that abode simply by thinking of him constantly – think it over!

Looking forward to seeing you all on Friday! – be happy!