Srila Prabhupada explained how a Krishna Consciousness person sees the soul of everything: how actually the Lord is the Father , the Origin, the Absolute Truth, and the basis of everything. So they try to work for the welfare of the whole universe without any kind of prejudice or distinction or glory.
So whether we want to be under the care of Krishna or under the care of the illusory energy and the stringent lat of Karma, that's up to us to decide. When we are under the care of Krishna and we do devotional service, we feel very blissful. We just have to be a little careful. We have to go on learning and trying to practice responsibly, remaining humble. We have to be aware of what mistakes we are making and try to correct them, because we are responsible for them.
Your fallen servants Tom Brown, Monkey, and Piggy here. We just arrived in Radha-desa, Bhakti Vedanta College, Belgium, yesterday.
Prabhupada comments in one purport that one should not be too concerned about other peoples religious practices because this will only make the mind restless. One should focus more on his own standard. So, give the discussion a rest and work on your own advancement.
Washington, D.C.-Dr. Ravi Gupta, a professor of Hinduism at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, and an initiated brahmana priest of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), presented a gift of an elaborate OM symbol to Pope Benedict XVI at an interfaith gathering in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Hindu American community on Thursday, April 17.
The Pope, the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church including 65 million Americans, is in Washington as part of a North American tour that will include an address later in the week to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The interfaith meeting where Dr. Gupta met the Pope was organized by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and was held at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington. Approximately one hundred and fifty interfaith leaders attended the session, including representatives from the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain traditions.
"It was a great honor to meet His Holiness Pope Benedict on behalf of the Hindu community in America," said Dr. Gupta. "I was impressed by the intimacy of the gathering, and the Pope's genuine interest in meeting with us. It was my feeling that the Pope-as both a holy man and a scholar-wished he had more time to spend with his guests, and to be able to know us all better," Gupta said.
The meeting, entitled "Peace Our Hope-An Interreligious Gathering with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI" concluded a diverse and event-filled day for the pontiff including his celebrating Mass in the local sports stadium with 45,000 adherents and Washington elite.
Dr. Gupta, 26, whose devotional name is Radhika Raman Dasa, was one of five young representatives of religious traditions who were invited to greet the Pope and offer him a gift from their respective traditions. Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON's Minister of Communications and a Governing Body Commissioner (GBC), also attended the private event on behalf of the Hare Krishna society.
Due to tight security, attendees to the interfaith gathering were ushered into their meeting room two hours before the Pope. The Pontiff arrived at the John Paul II Center just after 6 PM in his 'Pope Mobile' escorted by security vehicles and limousines carrying an entourage of cardinals, bishops and priests. | The Pope Mobile approaches the John Paul II Center in Washington, D.C., where the head of the Roman Catholic Church will meet with religious leaders from five faiths, including ISKCON's Dr. Ravi Gupta. |
After brief welcoming remarks, the Pope spoke for twenty minutes on the importance of interfaith dialogue and cooperation. He quoted former President Franklin Roosevelt who said, "No greater thing could come to our land today than a revival of the spirit of faith."
The Pope invited the group to bear "witness to those moral truths which they hold in common with all men and women of goodwill" and thus, as religious people "exert a positive influence on the wider culture."
| | After speaking, the Pope stepped down from his elevated seat to greet his visitors more intimately, beginning with the youth representatives. Just minutes before he was to offer his gift to the Pope, Dr. Gupta, dressed in traditional dhoti, kurta, and tilak, was told he was welcome to also share some personal words with the Holy Fathe. |
"I greeted the Pope with our traditional Hare Krishna greeting," reported Gupta. "Then I said, 'Your Holiness, you are well aware of the richness within Hinduism, including a strong tradition of monotheism and religious tolerance. I hope these can be a foundation for a strong and continued dialogue with the [Catholic] Church."
The Pope responded positively, "Yes, our dialogue should continue to grow," accepted the OM symbol, and held Dr. Gupta's hand warmly before the next representative came forward.
"It was a historical occasion," said Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON GBC Member. "The tensions on the world stage call for religious leaders to understand each other better and to teach their respective congregations to not only respect, but to learn from one another. The Pope, while careful to not minimize his own tradition's values and faith commitments, opened the door wider for increased cooperation with the Church."
Both Gupta and Dasa are also in Washington this week to attend the 11th Annual Vaishnava-Christian dialogue, which coincided with the Pope's visit.
KTVB Idaho News did a feature on Radhika Ramana Dasa here and his visit to the pope here (includes video footage)
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But this concept of heaven fits in with the upper planetary systems in the (material) universe, where people are pious entities who follow the laws of God, and they have good material sense gratification.
So, the real goal of life is to go back to Godhead, back to the original Spiritual Kingdom of God. But in the Spiritual Kingdom of God, there is no material sense gratification. Everything is in relationship to the service of the Lord.To rejoice in the coming of spring and the victory of good over evil, natives of India, Hindus, Utah County residents and BYU students chucked bags of purple, green, pink, yellow, blue and silver chalk at each other.
"It was really intense," said Cristine Vallone, who moved to Provo nine months ago. "You couldn't breathe at all, but it was really fun though. It was just a blinding mess of color."
For 15 minutes the crowd was lost in a pink-tinged cloud after people began to toss colors.
The throwing of the colors "is to signify that people are the same," said Marish Bansal, a native of India. "Nobody is bigger or smaller. We are all children of God."
This symbolism of unity takes place after burning the effigy of an evil demoness, which represents the victory of good over evil. The religious meaning of the festival runs deep for Hindus.
The festival "is a very big part of the religion," said Rajnikant Shalma, a Hindu from India. "It's good for friendship. Even if you are enemies on that day you are friends."
Inside the upper room of the temple the religious side of the festival is more visible. On the south wall stands a miniature temple carved of wood with statues of Hindu gods inside. There members of the faith worship, bowing their heads and placing red paint on the center of their foreheads.
Heather Yates and husband David joined in the worship, although Yates said they didn't totally understand the meaning of it.
"I think it's really beautiful," Yates, a BYU student, said. "They were just worshipping at the shrine and you could tell it was really important for them. I think it is awesome that they are so open in allowing people to worship with them."
Another important expression of worship at the festival is dancing. An Indian woman with her hair plaited in a long tight braid moves deftly across the stage. She steps carefully with red-painted feet in time to the chiming of the music. Her red-tinged fingers flair fanlike and move swiftly to take another shape.
Dancer Puja Allepalli's movements are a prayer to God Krishna asking him to extend his mercy to his worshippers.
Allepalli is a native of India, who lives in Denver, and has been dancing since she was 4. This is her first year at the festival of colors in Spanish Fork.
"I was so excited to be here because in Denver there are not any holy celebrations," Allepalli said. "This is just like being back in India; people with color all over their faces and people rejoicing in the true spirit."
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