Goal of human life

Goal of human life

I had been to Bangalore ISKCON during  last week  and after the graceful  darshan , towards the exit , in a book shop , I purchased a small handbook titled “ Goal of human life “ , published by Friends of Lord Krishna ( FOLK ), contains few excerpts from the  teachings of Srila Prabhupada.  I read it again and again and I understood the meaning of the title , which  was totally different from my  understanding of goal of human life .

As for I am concerned , now aged 61 plus , had a common thought on the subject as below  till I read the book “ Goals of human life” , and many  others may too have the same thing in their minds, I believe , with exceptions of few.

Physical Goals
These are the goals that are related to your physical well being and health. If you need to loose weight, or improve your physical condition and health in some way, you will need to set these goals.
Career Goals
Where do you want to be in your career five years from now, ten years from! In what position you see yourself and what you will do to reach there, what kind of value addition you will do to your skills, both hard and soft, will fall under career goals.
Financial Goals
When are you planning your retirement, what kind of house you want to live in, what kind of car you want to drive, where you want to go for vacation, what kind of education do you want to afford for your children? Answer to all these will depend on you financial planning, and achievement of your financial Goal Setting.
Relationships & Family Goals
Relationships and your family are one of the biggest assets that you may have. How will you improve your old friendships, and make new ones? What will you do for your spouse, children, parents, greater family, so as to take these relationships to a greater depth? It is worth it to set goals in this area to have a fulfilled life.
Self Development & Spiritual Goals
A person is like a fruit. As long as you are green you are growing. If you stop growing you ripen and fall to ground. One of the greatest blessings of human life is the lifelong ability to learn. So, keep learning, keep growing internally. Set goals for improving your attitude, self image, faith etc. People those who are spiritually higher enjoy better self image, better relationships, and more financial success as they have stronger faith. Spiritual upliftment is an important purpose of all human life and one should set goals in this area of self development.
Pleasure Goals
As the children of God it is your right to enjoy and have pleasure. Set goals for your enjoyment and how you are going to spend time for yourself. Goals may be set for entertainment, learning new art or for taking up new hobbies.

Social Goals
More often your success will be measured by what you do for the society rather than your personal achievements. As a human being it is your responsibility to give back to society more than what you receive from it. Any goals that you set for this purpose are Social Goals.

But on reading the tiny booklet , I understood one thing  from the excerpts of Srila Prabhupada’s books and lectures– “ The tragedy of life does’nt lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in not knowing what goals to reach.”

“ If in the human form of life one misses the chance to understand his position, he is again placed in the cycle of birth and death in various types of bodies. The ultimate goal of life is to stop the cycle of birth and death.”

 “ As per Vedic injunctions, the ultimate goal of human life is to go back to home, back to Godhead. This material world is not our home…and our home is in the spiritual world. The opportunity is available in this human form of life. Therefore if we don’t take advantage of this information and prepare ourselves accordingly, then we are losing the opportunity. “

A study sponsored by the Ford Foundation that :

23% of the population has no idea what they want from life, and as a result, they do not have much.

67% of the population has a general idea of what they want, but they do not plan properly to get5 what they want.

Only 10% of the population has specific well-defined goals, but even almongst them, only seven out of ten reach their goals, only half the time.

It is astonishing that 90% of the population has no idea or plan for what they want out of life !

When you have no central purpose in your life, you fall an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self pity.

One must know the goal of life, and that knowledge will be revealed by the chanting of Hare Krishna. By this simple process, we can come to understand the spiritual kingdom, the self, the material world, God, liberation from material entanglement, and everything else. This is called ceto-darpana-marjanman [Cc.Antya 20.12], cleaning the dusty mirror of the impure mind.

To conclude … Please chant … “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare , Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama hare Hare “ ( minimum 108 times daily )

“ By chanting the holy name, when our hear gets cleansed, then everything will be revealed. Even if you have no inclination to study the scriptures, if you simply take to this chanting of hare Krishna, gradually everything will be revealed to you.”

It Happened Twice !

It Happened Twice !

Visiting Lord Krishna’s  temple is a blessing by His mercy only . We may attempt to visit or plan to visit many temples but  without His blessings we cannot make it and this would have been experienced by many. Tirupathi  Lord Sri Venkatesa  Perumal’s   darshan can happen  only by His invitation  - is a popular myth among all devotees.

I too had such an experience of visiting THREE  Sri Krishna’s temple  in row of a week Twice , at different places of India. I feel this experience is by His mercy only and cannot happen for anyone  normally.

Year 2011

In the year 2011, on a bright Sunday , 5^th june , I had been to Vrindhavan , where Lord Krishna spent His  childhood past time and  also to Mathura , the Janma Bhumi of the God Head.  In the same week on 7^th June , I had visited Delhi ISKCON temple. All the places associated with Sri Krishna and only on His mercy I  had His darshan .   Colleagues  of mine accompanied me to all the three holy places.

A small narration about the places may be interesting to the readers:

Vrindavan ISKCON Temple – Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Temple – an absolute must visit temple.

Opened in 1975 by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Raman Reti, 3 km from the center of Vrindavan. The principal Deities of this temple are Krishna with His brother Balaram. Next to Them are Radha (Krishna's consort) with Syamasundara and Gaura-Nitai. The samadhi (cenotaph) of ISKCON's founder-acarya, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in pure white marble is within the complex in front of the temple. His private chambers have been converted into a museum. The temple is built in the Bengal Renaissance style with bright frescoes on Krishna's life. There is also a guesthouse, restaurant, gurukula and gosala. Hare Krishna devotees from all around the world come here, bringing a truly international flavor to this ancient holy city.

The 24 hour Kirtan singing,chanting and dancing made my heart explode with love and joy for the lords holy names. I recommend all visitors to come between 6 pm stay up to the evening arti at 7:30 pm. A visit to Vrindavan without going to this daily event would be a great lose. Like all other ISKCON Temple this is also one glamorous temple. But its quiet small in compared to other ISKCON temple in different parts of India.

I told Him that finally you made me come here!  Never miss this place. This is the actual adobe of Lord Krisha. Unknowingly you will chant and dance to the tunes of "Hare Rama, Hare Krishna". The evening AARTI is one such beautiful moment you need to experience for yourself.

Vrindhavan Baanke Bihari Temple

This temple is in the by lanes of Vrindavan. Always very crowded & packed with people from all around the place.

Baanke Bihari Mandir  is  one of the most sacred pilgrimages in India  situated at "Shri Vrindavan". The entire land of Vrindavan gives a feel of holiness. There are around 5500 Temples at Vrindavan but "Baanke Bihari Temple" is one of the main attraction of Vrindavan and daily thousands of devotees visit this place. The idols of Lord Krishna are worth watching.

Mathura – Sri Krishna Janmasthan – a must visit place

It has often been said that it is easier to count the number of dust particles on the surface of the earth  than to count the number of holy places in Mathura. Each of the ghats, for instance, has its own Krishna  story (like Visram-ghat where He rested after killing his evil and tyrannical uncle, King Kansa).

Belief is left to individual, but this place is awesome, fortified with lots of security as this carries a  significant importance for Indians. The place is so mesmerizing only if you believe the existence of Lord Krishna. A life time experience to stand in this place which is believed to be birth place of Lord Krishan (a jail in those days) .

Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir , Delhi ,  generally called as ISKCON Delhi temple is a famous Vaishnav temple of Lord Krishna and Radharani in the form of Radha Parthasarathi, Opened in 1998, it is located at Hare Krishna Hills, in the East of Kailash area of New Delhi, India.

In our house pooja , Sri Sri Radha parthasarathi of ISKCON Delhi, framed photograph , is kept for daily prayer  by my son-in-law and we do pooja daily.

Year 2013

Last week , on 5^th May 2013 , I had been to Chennai ISKCON temple, which  was  about to celebrate the first anniversary after the inauguration in Akkarai, in ECR Road.

ISKCON Temple Chennai is a Vaishnava temple dedicated to Lord Krishna. It is located on the East Coast Road at Akkarai, Sholinganallur in southern Chennai. Built on 1.5 acres of land, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Chennai is the largest Radha Krishna temple in Tamil Nadu. It was formally inaugurated on 26 April 2012.

It so happened to visit Bangalore ISKCON temple on 8^th May 2013 and on 10^th to Hyderabad ISKCON temple.

Sri Radha Krishna-Chandra Temple , Bangalore,  has deities of Krishna and Radha located at Rajajinagar, in the North Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It is one of the largest ISKCON temples in the world.^[4] The temple is a huge cultural complex that was inaugurated in 1997 to carry out the vision of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON to promote Vedic culture and spiritual learning.

Birth of The Akshaya Patra Foundation @ ISKCON Bangalore

The history of Akshaya Patra Foundation starts with a story of compassion.

Looking out of a window one day in Mayapur, a village near Calcutta, His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada saw a group of children fighting with street dogs over scraps of food. From this simple, yet heart breaking incident, came the determination that:  No one within a ten mile radius of our center should go hungry.

It is his inspiration which helped us to create The Akshaya Patra Foundation as it is today. 

We began this initiative with the vision that “No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger.”

In June 2000, they started the  mid-day meal program in Bangalore by feeding 1500 children in 5 schools. At that time there was no State run school meal program in Karnataka. Within a few short weeks we had received hundreds of requests from teachers who expressed the dire need of such a scheme.

This over whelming response was the impetus for the growth of The Akshaya Patra Foundation

Sri Sri Radha Madana Mohana Temple , ISKCON , Hyderabad

Hyderabad is the South Indian headquarters for ISKCON in India. The magnificent Sri Sri Radha-Madana-mohana temple at Nampally Station Road, inaugurated by Swami Prabhupada, will serve as a center of the cultural, spiritual, educational and social activities given to uplift the lives of people here.

ISKCON Hyderabad is introducing for the first time in South India its major 600 acre community farming project, 40 kilometers from Hyderabad, to benefit about 20,000 villages. Besides regular free nutritional food distribution program, ISKCON is also planning to set up a model high-yielding 600-cow dairy farm, handloom centers, nature-cure hospital, and gurukula school project.

So in a row of a week  Lord Krishna made me to visit three of His temples  TWICE  after a  span of  TWO years.

This year on February 18th,  I had been to Ahmedabad ISKCON temple , on March 30th to Mayapur ISKCON Chandrodaya Mandir and on April 18th visited Sri Jagannath Mandir in Coimbatore by the blessings of Sri Krishna.  My official visits are clubbed with a pilgrimage to ISKCON temples at that locations in  India.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Astronomy – a subject of interest

Astronomy – a subject of interest

 **Celestial events lined up for sky enthusiasts – A news in THE HINDU news paper today ( 26.4.2013 )

This news takes my memories  43 years before , when I was a student of Astronomy Club in Vivekananda College, Mylapore.

As I was about to write a blog on the topic of  my  interest linked to the past my site “ Chander’s Memory lane “ , a above  topic or title came to my mind . This was and is an interesting subject since 1969 soon after I joined B.Sc,Mathematics , under graduate course , in SRM Vivekananda College , Mylapore.  Astronomy is a subject  taught to us  as a part of major subject and in examination, we have to write a separate paper for this subject. As a science student I am deeply interested in Astronomy and I was a student member of Astronomy Club of our college.

In weekends we go to the terrace of our Math dept. by twilight , where a large Reflecting Telescope was installed to observe the celestial objects.



Pirate's Telescope



I have seen the planet Mars ,  Jupitor and its few moons, Saturn’s ring , Moon at the closest range  with the craters  so close to our eyes , and the different  planets  of Zodiac signs. It was  also a great experience to  see the starry night sky from our Mylapore home terrace  after midnight. Falling star is a daily phenomenon and watching it was linked with a myth !

In our scouting days also we do star watch and  plot the  night sky with zodiac signs.



Moon



Moon's craters

Saturn's ring



Jupitor through the lens of an ordinary telescope



**”The coming one month will be marked by interesting celestial events, starting with a lunar eclipse on April 25 and 26, and a daily meteor shower that will last through the month of May.

The planet Saturn will be at opposition with the Sun, and visible at its closest, biggest and brightest from the Earth on April 28. One can see the planet rising from East or South-East, after the Sun sets in the west.

At midnight, one can see it overhead while in the morning it can be spotted between West and South-West. People can also witness the annual meteor shower of Eta Aquarids between April 19 and May 28. Meteors have their origin in flakes of dust left by Comet Halley during its 1986 visit into the solar system.

This year, the shower will peak on May 6 at 6.30 a.m., and continue to be brightly visible in pollution-free skies up to May 12. It can be spotted up to May 28, the PSI informed.

To have a glimpse of the shower, one must look at the constellation of Aquarius above East, starting from 4.30 a.m.

These apart, the conjunction of Planet Saturn with Moon will occur on April 26, when both the celestial bodies will be visible very close to each other. This can be spotted by the naked eye.

People can also witness the annual meteor shower of Eta Aquarids between April 19 and May 28. Meteors have their origin in flakes of dust left by Comet Halley during its 1986 visit into the solar system.”

 In the subject of Astronomy , we used to solve mathematical problems by finding the dates of future Solar Eclipse or Lunar Eclipse. Distance between planets , speed of the celestial body and so on were topics in Astronomy. No one in our batch  miss Astronomy class, because of the interest in that subject and the practical sessions.

It was my long time wish to have a small telescope like the one we see in sea pirate movies. I found many such in the Antique Stores in Spencer Plaza and old Moore Market ( now no more Moore … “

But still today I could not own one such telescope. May be I have not tried to own or the loss of interest in getting one or lack of funds to acquire a new one costing beyond capacity.

When my son was in schooling at San Thome,  I made a SPUTNIK model  with open solar panel wings , for his school science fair and of course his model won a prize.

When Neil Armstrong put his first step on the moon in July 1969, the entire world was listening to Voice of America and I was one with great interest on the achievement of mankind , and the live talk of the first man on the moon – “"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."  Is an inspirational sentence for achievers.

In the same year , in  Madras , US Consulate and the American Library displayed a life size Lunar Module's model , which landed  on the Moon and allowed the visitors to go up in the ladder from one side and get down on the other. The inside is a replica of the original Lunar module with control panels. Many photographs and miniature models of the Apollo Mission were in display.  An exhibition, which I cannot forget. The feeling of  mine when I entered the Lunar Module cannot be expressed  in words.The stone pieces brought from the moon , in original were in display.

Apollo 11 Lunar Module " Eagle "

My eye sight is deteriorating with cataract and I do not know when I will have my own telescope to see the starry night’s celestial bodies!!! Let people who are interested to see the celestial bodies may try  with a telescope and do not delay to regret at later days like me !!!

World Book & Copyright Day

World Book Day & World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days) is a yearly event on 23 April, organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright. In the United Kingdom, the day is instead recognized on the first Thursday in March.

World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on 23 April 1995.

Books may also refer to works of literature, or a main division of such a work. In library and information science, a book is called a monograph, to distinguish it from serial periodicals such as magazines, journals or newspapers. The body of all written works including books is literature. In novels and sometimes other types of books (for example, biographies), a book may be divided into several large sections, also called books (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, and so on).
An avid reader of books is a bibliophile or colloquially, bookworm. I think I belong to that WORM community.

I wrote already in my blog about my love towards book and shared on how I was attracted towards books and how I created my own library  and the collections of mine .

Why people are attracted towards books  and what are the benefits of reading ?

For me , being an avid reader already, many times the cover of a book in display at any book stores attracts me. Then the title, the synopsis of the book in the back cover , then comes the author and last, the number of pages . I look for the price tag after my decision to buy it. Some times the price may not be affordable and skipped the idea of owning one. At last I look for the same title in e-book community forum for a quick free download . My son gave me an e-book reader and  recommended me to go for e-reading habits than covering our small home’s wall with books. Another distant daughter from Bangaluru  shared lot of e- books of my taste through mail attachment and gave some links to download freely. But as a reader for the past five decades , habits never dies, and so the hard copy  book reading never dies for me. Still I buy books and my catalog for sharing gets updated dynamically. Being a reader , my daughter in US  gifted me a sketch book to write while travelling and she feels a reader can become a writer one day and that writing live past the reader.

I do respect the copyrights of the author and never go for piracy book prints irrespective of the cheap price . They spoil the quality of the book  and the quality of book reading. Of course I know a book seller who gets imported books, one-time read and imported to India from U.S and Europe. The original one-time read and disposed books are always lovable to buy as  the good condition of books attracts bookworms’ like me.

I came across a page in FB called “Rare books Society of India”. Their services is very good for people like me, who are interested in keeping rare books in their possession and would like to share also  sometimes.

The Society says :  In spite of India being an ancient literary civilization and having one of the largest literary treasures of hand-written and printed material, we do not have a single Society for rare book collectors. This is an attempt to create a forum and bring those elusive connoisseurs to discuss and share their knowledge on Indian rare books.

Benefits of reading is a lot but to say a few I wish to give here eight different benefits.

Enhanced Smarts

In Anne E. Cunningham’s paper What Reading Does for the Mind , she found that reading, in general, makes you smarter, and it keeps you sharp as you age.

Reading reduces stress

When I’m reading a book, my mind shifts gears. Where I might have a had a stressful day, a book can easily distract me.

 Greater tranquility

Reading can soothe like no other.

 Improved analytical thinking

Cunningham’s studies have found that analytical thinking is boosted by reading. Readers improve their general knowledge, and more importantly are able to spot patterns quicker.

 Increased vocabulary

All successful writers will tell you that in order to write well, you need to read. Every day. You’ll be surprised at the words you start incorporating into your writing. It’s no secret that reading increases your vocabulary and improves your spelling,

 Improved memory

Ihave been finding that I can remember stuff much easier when I have been reading consistently.

 Improved writing skills

The more you read, the better of a writer you’ll become.

 Helps prioritize goals

When you remove yourself from your work environment, you’ll start to see things that you might really want to do, that you’re not doing yet. Reading gives you a chance for your to wander.

 I wish on this World Book and I Copyright Day , to  all the book lovers , book worms , book publishers , book sellers and in particular pavement sellers who contributes many to become scholars abroad , a  VERY HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY .

Healing Power of Hare Krishna Maha Mantra

Healing Power  of Hare Krishna Maha Mantra

This is a personal realization experienced  with  our pet dog , fondly christened by my children  as FRIENDU , when it was too young and now it is almost 10 years old.

During last month , on my return from a trip to western region, I was very much worried to see our pet dog with a deep  big open wound at two places on its back.  The wound seems to be incurable and blood was  oozing always. My wife  only broke the news ,as Friendu was always outside and not staying in our house for some time.  I presume that the wound would have caused by a metal object , probably when it was sleeping under a two wheeler and suddenly came out with a  deep cut wound . We could feel the pain it suffers and no way we can go near as it was little abnormal with pain. 


Our pet Friendu with two deep cut wound on his back

We have decided to call our veterinary doctor , Dr.Subramanian , staying in next block but could not reach him over phone. At last when he got connected , We came to know that he  himself  was not well . He had a mild stroke and stays at home , not attending college. But the greatness of him is that he asked me whether I can pick him by any mode so that he can attend my dog. He is a great soul  to do service when he  himself was under  treatment.  The day I planned to call him failed as our dog was not seen around in the street in the early morning at 6 am , at which time doctor asked me to pick him. The next day I contacted him again by visiting his home and he immediately changed his dress and came in my scooter to my place. In the mean time my wife kept our pet inside the gate and doctor seen it from outside. He  tried to spray a medicine but the dog reacted very fast and he could not succeed . He gave the powder to us and try to apply if possible. The infection is so big and deep, he could not give a solution , it being a street dog and out of control .

My younger sister  was ready to spare her car but we cannot take to Veterinary College Hospital due the blood oozing wound and the  ferocious  act of it.  I dropped back our doctor and he also suggested for a spray to apply from distance due to its aggressiveness.  So  myself and my wife decided that praying for its recovery by chanting is the only solution left with us and we started praying for it daily.  I have also prayed Sri Krishna to take back to his abode, as the  recovery  seems to be out of question.

Our pet dog Friendu - wound vanished

The power of chanting proved  that prayer could heal any illness whether a human being or an animal.  The wound  got fully healed and a dry skin appeared within a week’s time though we could apply the powder very little when it was sleeping on the road.

 Lord Krishna came  in disguise  as our Veterinary Doctor and seen once the dog.  Our prayer  by  chanting at his ears proved that chanting ‘Hare Krishna’ maha mantra  could make miracles in the life of our pet animal, Friendu. Now it plays around well and stays all the day  inside our house and  takes diet correctly. 
 



A sound sleep inside our house

We thank our vet doctor for his humble and noble service rendered to our pet . He never accepts service charges from us.

Miracles can happen. But realizing one  such in our daily life is rare.  Let us chant Hare Krishna   ,not only for us but for all living beings around us. Hari Bol.