Krsna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.
Brahma Samhita Text 1
Printable View
Krsna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.
Brahma Samhita Text 1
SB Canto 1, Chapter 1, Text 1
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi
Translation
O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.
Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 8, Chapter 14, Text 8
jñānaḿ cānuyugaḿ brūte
hariḥ siddha-svarūpa-dhṛk
ṛṣi-rūpa-dharaḥ karma
yogaḿ yogeśa-rūpa-dhṛk
TRANSLATION
In every yuga, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, assumes the form of Siddhas such as Sanaka to preach transcendental knowledge, He assumes the form of great saintly persons such as Yājñavalkya to teach the way of karma, and He assumes the form of great yogīs such as Dattātreya to teach the system of mystic yoga.
PURPORT
(by Srila Prabhupada.. http://srimadbhagavatam.com/8/14/8/en)
For the benefit of all human society, not only does the Lord assume the form of Manu as an incarnation to rule the universe properly, but He also assumes the forms of a teacher, yogī, jñānī and so on, for the benefit of human society. The duty of human society, therefore, is to accept the path of action enunciated by the Supreme Lord. In the present age, the sum and substance of all Vedic knowledge is to be found in Bhagavad-gītā, which is personally taught by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the same Supreme Godhead, assuming the form of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, expands the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā all over the world. In other words, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is so kind and merciful to human society that He is always anxious to take the fallen souls back home, back to Godhead.
Cool!:D We took up Bhagavad-Gita in Lit class once... But it was such a short discussion that I wasn't able to appreciate it much...
Well, it looks like the discussion on here may pick up a little. :)
daily quote... :)
Volume 46: Inconceivable Qualities of Buddhas, the 1st section
Buddha's Child, all Buddhas, the Bhagavans, have ten things that pervade the infinite and boundless Dharma-Realm. What are these ten? All Buddhas have unbounded bodies, with pure forms, entering into all categories of beings without defilement or attachment. All Buddhas have unbounded, unobstructed eyes that can clearly see all things. All Buddhas have unbounded, unobstructed ears that can understand all sounds and utterances. All Buddhas have unbounded, unobstructed noses that can reach the other shore of freedom of the Buddhas. All Buddhas have universal tongues that utter sublime sounds pervading the Dharma-Realm. All Buddhas have unbounded bodies that appear to sentient beings in accord with their Hearts. All Buddhas have unbounded minds that dwell on the unobstructed impartial body of reality. All Buddhas have unbounded, unobstructed liberation, manifesting inexhaustible great sacrosanct supernatural powers. All Buddhas have unbounded pure worlds, manifesting Buddha-lands according to the pleasures of sentient beings, replete with infinite adornments, yet without giving rise to any obsession or attachment to them. All Buddhas have unbounded practices and vows of Bodhisattvas, having perfect wisdom, freedom of playing [in all worlds], and ability to master all Buddha-Dharmas. Buddha's child, these are the ten phenomena of Buddhahood that pervade the Dharma-Realm without bound, which the Thus Come Ones, Worthy of Offerings, Correctly Awakened Ones have.
http://www2.fodian.net/old/English/0279_46.html
dehas tu sarva-sańghāto
jagat tasthur iti dvidhā
atraiva mṛgyaḥ puruṣo
neti netīty atat tyajan
"There are two kinds of bodies for every individual soul — a gross body made of five gross elements and a subtle body made of three subtle elements. Within these bodies, however, is the spirit soul. One must find the soul by analysis, saying, "This is not it. This is not it." Thus one must separate spirit from matter."
SB 7.7.23
The light of one candle being communicated to other candles, although it burns separately in them, is the same in its quality. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who exhibits Himself equally in the same mobile manner in His various manifestations.
Brahma Samhita 5.46
Just as the fruits and flowers of a tree in due course of time undergo six changes — birth, existence, growth, transformation, dwindling and then death — the material body, which is obtained by the spirit soul under different circumstances, undergoes similar changes. However, there are no such changes for the spirit soul.
SB 7.7.18
"When the mind begins to become still, we then begin to truly see it. When you first try to stabilize and pacify the mind, initially it will become very busy because it’s not accustomed to being still. In fact, it doesn’t even necessarily want to become still, but it is essential to get a hold of the mind to recognize its nature. This practice is extremely important. ... Eventually you will find yourself in a state where your mind is clear and open all the time. It is just like when the clouds are removed from the sky and the sun can clearly be seen, shining all the time. This is coming close to the state of liberation, liberation from all traces of suffering. ... The truth of this practice is universal. It isn’t necessary to call it a religion to practice it. Whether one is a Hindu or a Moslem or a Christian or a Buddhist simply doesn’t matter. Anyone can practice this because this is the nature of the mind, the nature of everyone’s mind. If you can get a handle on your mind, and pacify it in this way, you will definitely experience these results, and you will see them in your daily life situation. There is no need to put this into any kind of category, any kind of "ism." Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche
The Prajna Paramitam Sutra, or Heart of Perfect Wisdom Sutra
When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty. Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, formation, and consciousness.
Shariputra, all Dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure; and they neither increase nor diminish. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, formation, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch, or Dharmas; no field of the eyes up to and including no field of mind consciousness; and no ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no old age and death or ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, no accumulating, no extinction, and no Way, and no understanding and no attaining.
Because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva through reliance on Prajna Paramita is unimpeded in his mind. Because there is no impediment, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind. Ultimately Nirvana! All Buddhas of the three periods of time attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi through reliance on Prajna Paramita. Therefore know that Prajna Paramita is a Great Spiritual Mantra, a Great Bright Mantra, a Supreme Mantra, an Unequalled Mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false. That is why the Mantra of Prajna Paramita was spoken. Recite it like this:
Gaté Gaté Paragaté Parasamgaté
Bodhi Svaha!
Thanissaro Bhikkhu taught:
"If you think of goodwill
as a billowing pink cloud of cotton candy
covering the world in all directions,
what you're really doing
is covering up your actual attitudes,
which is of no help at all in gaining insight into the mind.
Goodwill is meant as a challenge,
as a way of searching out and working through
your small-hearted attitudes
one by one
so that you can examine them,
uproot them,
and really let them go.
Only when you work through the particulars like this
can goodwill become more and more limitless."
(metta means kindness)
Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi:
"You see, we've got to make metta grow.
We've got to make people see
that love is a strong, positive force
for the happiness of oneself, not just for others.
A journalist said to me,
"When you speak to the people you talk a lot about religion, why is that?"
I said, "Because politics is about people, and you can't separate people from their spiritual values."
And he said that he had asked a young student
who had come to the weekend talks about this
"Why are they talking about religion?"
The student replied, "Well, that's politics."
Our people understand what we are talking about.
Some people might think it is either idealistic or naive
to talk about metta in terms of politics,
but to me it makes a lot of practical good sense.
I've always said to the NLD (National League for Democracy)
that we've got to help each other.
If people see how much we support each other
and how much happiness we manage to generate among ourselves,
in spite of being surrounded by weapons, threats and repression,
they will want to be like us.
They might say, well, there's something in their attitude —
we want to be happy too."
O Living Lord, help me train the truant children of my senses not to wander away from perceptions of Thee.
Direct my gaze to Thy wondrous world within, to watch Thine ever changing beauty.
May I hear the lilt of Thy secret lyre.
Teach me to feel Thy presence in me, above me, beneath me, and around me.
Bless me, that I catch the scent of Thy breath of bliss.
Let me drink forever from the sourceless river of Thine inexhaustibility.
Orientwise, with sacred rites I offer at Thine altar the candles of my senses. May their spiritualized light mingle with Thine in the first pale shaft of dawn, the brash noon brightness, the muted glow of dusk, and the night's moon silver.
O Guardian of my being, keep ever burning before Thee the fivefold taper of my love.
Quoted from Whispers From Eternity.
Evolution, by Sri Aurobindo, written in 1944.
I PASSED into a lucent still abode
And saw as in a mirror crystalline
An ancient force ascending serpentine
Of the ascending spirals of the aeonic road.
Earth was a cradle for the arriving God
And man but a half-dark half-illuminous sign
Of the transition of the veiled Divine
From Matter's sleep and the tormented load
Of ignorant life and death to the spirit's light.
Mind liberated swam Light's ocean-vast,
And life escaped from its grey tortured line
I saw matter illumining its parent Night.
The soul could feel into infinity cast,
Timeless God-bliss the heart incarnadine.
The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms - this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.
( Albert Einstein - The Merging of Spirit and Science)
"Like the bee, gathering honey from different flowers, the wise man accepts the essence of different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions."
Srimad Bhagavatam