Lord Rams Arrows for Kali Yuga

Iskcon Silicon Valley launched its latest project for annual december book distribution marathon.

This time the target to achieve is 25000 books by december end.

We call it "The MSF of 25k" :)

I went with some devotees to 2 places for last 2 weekends

1) Festival of Diwali celebration in Cupertino by bay area Indian

A lot of indian families with their kids came to the festival. It consisted of a main big pandal or tent for cultural dance & drama show & surrounded by a number of small tents selling food,mehendi,indian dresses, etc .... environment similar to an INDIAN mela.

Early afternoon was the most crowd expected & we were there on time .

At first it was difficult to stop indians & show bhagavad gita & other books. I heard similar comments " we have this!" "I donot have time" "I am not interested"

Sri Krishna purushottam Pr,a leading book distributor, heard this comment from an indian gentleman " I Know this"

Sri Krishnapurushottam pr replied "What do you know ?"

The indian face shot with anger but he did not reply & simply continued walking & then after few steps he turned back & said " I know better than You"

I took a break ,read a chapter of Krishna book & rested for some time looking at the eager indian faces who had come to the festival looking for some Pleasure.------- Pleasure seeking souls.

I thought in every thought , word & action a soul is seeking pleasure

as the evening started to set in i stood up & joined the book distribution again.

Then i saw a different scenario set in

As the indians were retreating back to their home with their children lagging behind they had faces of profound despondent. I approached them with Bhagavat gita in hand & they seemed to reply "Lets try this "

It was then when i was able to distribute many books to the retreating indians.

Their enjoyment had failed & they were experiencing "chewing the chewed " phenomenon.

Finally they saw with Hope on Lord Krishna & his timeless message "The Bhagavad Gita"

Finally i could happily do my part of book distribution as the sun set in.

2) Foster city apartment

Foster city is where Big companies like IBM & Oracle have their huge offices.

The city is very clean & every effort is made to make it look very green & clean.

It was a door to door book distribution .So we knocked every door of the 200 apartment village.

I was simply amazed at power of Lord Caitanyas sankirtan movement.

In door to door book distribution we would be easy be looked as a similar salesperson selling soap or carpets.

But i found that when devotees stand at the door , the person in the house somehow comes to know(maybe through param-atma) that this person is different from the normal salesperson.

I was shown respect for the cause that i supported. I said " We are from the local yoga institute distributing these books on Yoga & meditation which tells you how to get free from stress & get an inner purpose for life" & People responded well .

Many took books & gave donations. I thought myself to be "the Transcendental Salesperson"

I saw 2 american born teenage indian girls playing & i showed them the Krishna book .

They were very happy seeing the photos of Krishnas pastime .

I said " who would buy the book ?"

The girl named Sri said " I shall buy" , The other one named manu said " Sri you buy & i shall borrow the book from you " :)

Just then one lady came out to see their girls & I said to her " She wants that book "

She then replied to her child " We have this , we have mahabharat "

I said " This is not mahabharat it is Krishna stories from Srimad Bhagavatam "

She some how resisted & girl returned her book. I gave her the temple card & mahamantra magnet sticker to her .She looked at the mahamantra & said " I know THIS"

As i was walking back I thought they didnot take the books & it is Dusshera today

Lord Ram killed Ravana it is victory over Evil.

These books i compared them to as Lord Rams arrows which are loving placed in our hands to distribute to the lost souls of this world.

Lord Rams arrows once shot never fail

how is it that the book didnot go?

Well the arrow was shot & it is only a matter of time for that girl to become a devotee.

Any soul who appreciates the Lord & his pastimes & get attracted to it has started his journey back , Back home back to Godhead.

The spiritual science works seemingly on small sukrutis -- a small gesture of spiritual affinity.

When they are filled up to a critical threshold Lord Rams arrow of love hit the soul & afflicts him with love & longing for Lord Ram.

Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram ......

Lord Ram & his story

Dear all,

Wish you all a very Happy Ram Navami

The great sage Sukadeva explains: "Lord Ramachandra's spotless name and fame, which vanquish all sinful reactions, are celebrated in all directions ... all the saintly kings and all the demigods, including Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma, worship the Lord by bowing down with their helmets. Let me offer my obeisances unto His lotus feet."

Jai sri ram

"/Probably no other work of world literature has produced so profound an

influence in the life and thought of a people as the Ramayana/."
*(A.A.Macdonell, Literary Historian)*

pictures from

http://www.glimpseofkrishna.com/

www.krishna.com

Internal reason for Banishing Sita by Lord Ram

"There is a place called Chitrakuta, a beautiful forest on the banks of theMandakini River. I once met a great saint there named Balarama Maharaja. He was a devotee of Rama. I happened to ask him this question, "What is the justification for Rama banning Sita to the forest?" He told me something that was so deep and so esoteric that it can not be fully appreciated by those who are looking at things merely at an external, superficial level. So one may or may not appreciate this answer but it completely fulfilled my heart."

"Vipralambha means separation, and separation intensifies the experience of love. Just like in music, compare how many songs there are about being happy together to the number of songs about having a broken heart. Which are there more of? Why is it that there are so many songs about the pain of separation? Because music is an art, and art is an expression, and the expression of love in separation is a very deep absorption. When somebody is with us we are absorbed in a certain way, but when our loved one is away it increases our remembrance, thoughts and absorption in that person. It is true that when ones beloved is away one is always thinking of their beloved and searching for them. When Rama was with Sita he was seeing her in one place. But when Rama was away from Sita and Sita was away from Rama he would see Sita in the trees and she would see Rama in the clouds, everywhere. When we are together the love of our heart goes out towards the beloved. In separation that love goes deeper and deeper and deeper into the very core of our heart. And it is intensified. On the spiritual platform love is not determined by our physical proximity. Our connection to God or Rama is to the degree that we are internally absorbed in the thought of Rama. And when our love is intense, the Lord accepts it from within our heart. That love may be intense when the Lord stands before us, but it is even more intense when the Lord is not standing before us. When there is that longing, that deep deep absorption, then the Lord is embracing us and reciprocating with us from within."

"So we read from the Vedas, Puranas and Bhagavatam that this love in separation is very special and deep and that it's a direct personal relationship with God. If you have readSrimad Bhagavatam, the Gopis, they are considered the highest devotees of the Srimad Bhagavatam as their love for Krishna was so deep. Krishna lived with them for about twelve years. And then he left and went to another place. The Gopis were in deep separation as Krishna was living in Dwarka and they couldn't see him for a long time. Krishna revealed His heart and said that the reason I am separate from them is because their love in separation for me it is so intense, so internalized, that their love and my reciprocation with that love in their hearts cannot be any more. If I were to stand before them it would only interrupt the intensity of that love that we are having within the hearts of each other. Still he went, but after some time."

"So Sita is God. We have to understand the philosophical principle that according to Vedic sidhanta (conclusion) God is both female and male equally. There is the sakti (energy) and the saktiman (energetic source). Gods female aspect as Laxmi, Sita, Radha, or Parvati is the compassionate side of God. Krishna, Rama, Narayana, and Shiva are very powerful, lordly manifestations of God. The feminine aspect of God is the reservoir of love. And the masculine side of God is the ultimate object of love. And those two aspects together are God. Perhaps in western religion, because there is so much emphasis on the masculine side of God, religious people can sometimes become very egoistic and attached to power and control. They can lose their compassionate essence.

So this is the one God. God is never separate. Sita and Rama can never be separate in essence. In their lila in this world they lived together and enjoyed love in union. But Rama wanted to experience for himself, as well as have Sita experience, that even deeper, intensified experience of love in separation. In their hearts of hearts they could never be separated. So therefore Rama banished Sita, but really he was blessing her by giving her a higher experience of internal union and he also experienced that union. So the great devotees of Rama, the great yogis, they understand it in this way."

"Externally the lesson that a king should be beyond suspicion, and that a leader should be willing to make sacrifices even of him or herself for the sake of the people, is taught through this lila. Rama banished Sita in order to remove all doubts in him as a leader with integrity, by proving that he was willing to make the greatest sacrifice, the sacrifice of the person he loved most. Sita, being very much an integral part of everything Rama was doing for the citizens, shared in that sacrifice for the welfare of others. This is the superficial lesson from this story. It's what most people talk about when discussing thislila, but it is only the external reason for Sita's banishment. Internally Rama and Sita wanted to share a deeper and deeper experience of love for each other from the core of their hearts."

"This banishment of Sita, amongst people who have gone deep into the subject, is a very profound meditation on the loving exchange between her and Rama. This conclusion that I am speaking has been passed down for millennia. And how God and Goddess, male and female aspects, how they shared the ecstasy of love for each other is not limited by our ability to comprehend it. This is what they choose to do and we understand that is what they really want to do. They go through the whole lila in such a way that is very traumatic and brings about such emotions in all of us. But there is a beautiful verse in theUpanishads."

Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet

"To learn that transcendental subject matter, one must approach a spiritual master." (Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12)

"To understand the essence of the scriptures we really need to have a teacher to explain them. Otherwise we can so easily become confused or bewildered by apparent contradictions based on how we feel it should be and all of that. So I am repeating the words of one great guru who spoke these words to me."

Radhanath Swami