Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Rteacher]

This Saturday (August 27) is Janmastami: Millions of devotees celebrate Krishna's advent to this world (about 5000 years ago) by fasting, chanting and transcendental story-telling to midnight, then feasting on vegetarian preparations known to be pleasing to Krishna. There will be a relatively small gathering (probably six-or-seven including one-or-two couples from India...) somewhere in the Insa-dong area. Any - preferably sober - folks interested in participating can PM me...For some basic info concerning Krishna and His "birthday" check out the following sites:
www.krishna.com/main.php?id=452
www.krishna.com/main.php?id=425

[skinhead]

Is it a stoner or a pisshead ritual? I get so confused with the dual nature of man.

Anyway, happy birthday K-god. I'll be having one for ya, whatever it is.

[Rteacher]

The greatest Personality of all time made a personal appearance on this insignificant planet (admittedly a long time ago) but it seems the vast majority of people (outside of India) are almost completely ignorant of the fact. Really demonic types (including some big politicians, scientists, businessmen and religionists...) are very envious of God (by whatever name the Supreme Person is referred to) Their goal is to somehow replace (or imitate) God by becoming the ultimate controller and enjoyer of all they survey in this world. Because each of us is an individually conscious tiny part of God (Krishna) our true happiness is based on realizing our particular (eternal) relationship with the Absolute Sentient Being...Just as a hand cannot enjoy food without functioning as part of the whole body by supplying food to the stomach, we cannot be truly satisfied without serving the Complete Whole Spirit. Devotional service to the Supreme (bhakti yoga) begins with hearing and chanting transcendental Holy Names (and glorious pastimes) of God.

Taking birth in India is considered the highest spiritual birth - even if one is born in a poor family - because practically all Indians (including Moslems) become aware from an early age of Krishna's extraordinary pastimes of killing great demons and protecting His faithful devotees. Actually, Krishna's apparent killing of demons was usually just role-play. Whenever Krishna appears in the material world (on schedule - all incarnations are scripturally predicted...) He travels with an entourage of hundreds of thousands of liberated souls from the spiritual world. They take birth just to assist in exhibiting pastimes meant to attract us fallen conditioned souls back to our real home (in the transcendental realm) Because all our traits - even negative ones - are also present within the personality of the Supreme in their pure form, sometimes Krishna also desires to fight. Because fighting is conspicuously absent in the completely harmonious spiritual world (of never-ending pleasure pastimes revolving around the Original Person) Krishna indulges his fighting propensity only when appearing in the material world. To pull it off (amidst a lack of worthy opponents) he utilizes the service of liberated souls - fully empowered mystically to assume various gigantic, horrible forms - to play the role of big demons, who ultimately are spectacularly cut down by Krishna (to the delight of fight afficionados and fans of melodrama everywhere...) Whatever it takes to transfer our consciousness from the mundane world (of suffering, death and ignorance) to the sublime spiritual sky (of eternity, bliss and knowlege -[i]sac-cit-ananda /i])

[endo]

Hey Rteacher, just curious but do you ever smoke herb or drop schrooms. And if so, how does it influence your spirituality.

I ask this becuase i've read several books showing an association between certain drugs (Soma-fly agaric) with Hinduism, especially with the Arayans and Bhramans.

[Rteacher]

Materially, I'm an old man (56). When I was younger (in my early 20's) I "experimented" with various drugs. On one acid trip I experienced my consciousness to be localized in the heart region, and my body was like a remote-controlled vehicle...Another time, while looking in a mirror at my university dorm, I had a flashback where all kinds of colorful auras and spirits were emanating from my reflection like a spectacular light show...Later, I checked out the mirror again, and I started aging at an incredible rate, and I appeared hundreds of years old within a few seconds. I used to read some impersonalist yoga and Zen literature which reinforced the absurdly false notion that I was some kind of god. (I even came across a nonsensical pamphlet entitled "Manual for Gods"...)

Gradually, in Coconut Grove (Miami) I started getting attracted to chanting Hare Krishna with devotees who brought their free vegetarian "Love Feast" to Peacock Park every Sunday. The very catchy maha-mantra (Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare) would increasingly come to mind even while I went about my "normal" duties of selling underground (anti-war) papers and managing a prominent hippie boarding house (for a free room and couple ounces of Jamaican weed per week...) On one particular Sunday, I headed out to Peacock Park really looking forward to chanting (and muscially jamming) with the devotees when a carload of freaks stopped and handed me a strange mushroom, which I hesitantly ingested since I'd never done them before. When I got to the park in a weird intoxicated state I found that I couldn't get into the chanting at all - the devotees were on a much higher level without drugs...When I finally joined the Krishna temple a few months later (November of '73) I was ready to give up all my favorite drugs and a two pack-a-day cigarette habit, and I've never taken any intoxicants since then...

Although I may have gotten a few, fleeting "spiritual" insights from drugs - especially (pure) LSD - I think they are not at all necessary for spiritual realization, and - in addition to other harmful effects - they result in a more confused state of mind (in these already confused times...)

[Rteacher]

...As far as the "soma" drug is concerned, my understanding is that it is available only on higher (heavenly) planets...