A friend shared this with me. It is a very beautiful documentary on a place I have always wanted to visit; Angkor Wat, is Cambodia. It also explores the Island Nations of Bali and Java.
Prajna Earth
03 Dec 2022 Leave a comment
in Buddha, Holy Places of Pilgrimage, India Tags: Angkor Wat, bali, Cambodia, Java, PBS America, Prajna Earth
Happiness and Suffering
24 Jun 2020 1 Comment
in Buddha, Four Nobel Truths Tags: authority of the vedas, dukkha, four noble truths, happiness, live is suffering, Lord Buddha, magga, nirhodha, samudaya, suffering, the eightfold path
Ever since I was a small child, I have been attracted to the statue of Buddha. Don’t know why, but I had a statue of Buddha in my bedroom, and it was a Christian home. I didn’t really know about Krishna then or who the Buddha was…but I was so attracted to everything Eastern. As I learned latter in life Buddha was actually an incarnation of Krsna. “From the Bhāgavatam we understand that Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa who appeared when materialism was rampant and materialists were using the pretext of the authority of the Vedas.” (from purport Bg 4.7)
The Four Noble Truths & The Eightfold Path More
Happiness & Suffering
15 Jan 2020 Leave a comment
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, ahimsa, Buddha Tags: A. c. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, ahimsa, animal slaughter, animal-killing, Bhagavad-gita, ego, Eightfold Path, four noble truths, Lord Buddha, nonviolence, Srimad Bhagavatam
Ever since I was a small child, I have been attracted to the statue of Buddha. Don’t know why, but I had a statue of Buddha in my bedroom, and it was a Christian home. I didn’t really know about Krishna then or who the Buddha was…but I was so attracted to everything Eastern. As I learned latter in life, Buddha was actually an incarnation of Krsna.
“From the Bhāgavatam we understand that Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa who appeared when materialism was rampant and materialists were using the pretext of the authority of the Vedas. Although there are certain restrictive rules and regulations regarding animal sacrifice for particular purposes in the Vedas, people of demonic tendency still took to animal sacrifice without reference to the Vedic principles. Lord Buddha appeared to stop this nonsense and to establish the Vedic principles of nonviolence. Therefore each and every avatāra, or incarnation of the Lord, has a particular mission, and they are all described in the revealed scriptures. No one should be accepted as an avatāra unless he is referred to by scriptures. It is not a fact that the Lord appears only on Indian soil. He can advent Himself anywhere and everywhere, and whenever He desires to appear. In each and every incarnation, He speaks as much about religion as can be understood by the particular people under their particular circumstances. But the mission is the same—to lead people to God consciousness and obedience to the principles of religion. Sometimes He descends personally, and sometimes He sends His bona fide representative in the form of His son, or servant, or Himself in some disguised form.” (from purport Bg 4.7)
I have included a short summary of the Four Noble Truths & The Eightfold Path, along with some references from the Vedic Perspective
Happiness and Suffering
28 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Buddha, Eightfold Path, Four Nobel Truths, Srimad Bhagavatam Tags: A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, buddha, cause of suffering, Eightfold Path, end of suffering, Four Nobel Truths, happiness, Lord Buddha, nonviolence, province of Gaya, SB 1.3.24, son of Anjana, Srimad Bhagavatam, truth of suffering
Ever since I was a small child, I have been attracted to the statue of Buddha. Don’t know why, but I had a statue of Buddha in my bedroom, and it was a Christian home. I didn’t really know about Krishna then or who the Buddha was…but I was so attracted to everything Eastern. As I learned latter in life Buddha was actually an incarnation of Krsna. “From the Bhāgavatam we understand that Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa who appeared when materialism was rampant and materialists were using the pretext of the authority of the Vedas.” (from purport Bg 4.7)
The Four Noble Truths & The Eightfold Path More
Protectors of the Cow
02 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in Buddha, Cow Protection, Jahnava Nitai das, Vegetarianism Tags: buddha, Buddhism, cow is revered, cow protection, Jahnava Nitai das, Japan, meat-eating, protectors of the cow, samurai, vegetarian, vegetarianism
The following article I found very interesting. It was circulating on Face book before I saw it on the Sampradaya Sun this morning. It is very informative, and is worth reprinting here.
The Samurai: Protectors of the Cow
by Jahnava Nitai das
Mar 01, 2015 — ORISSA (SUN)
If I were to tell you, that once, no other country, save India, revered the cow as much as Japan, I could understand your disbelief. Today, we think of Japan as a meat-eating culture. However, this image is a product of the last 150 years of American influence. The traditional Japanese culture held the cow as the most sacred animal. What follows next is the true story of among the greatest protectors of the cow – the Samurai.
Adhokṣaja
21 Nov 2014 Leave a comment
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Adhoksaja, Buddha, Maitreya Tags: A. C. Bhaktivedant, adhoksaja, adhoksaja means knowledge perceived by material senses, aksaja, buddha, club, conch, disk, incarnations, Krsna Is The Source of All Incarnations, Lord Adhoksaja, Lord Visnu, lotus, Maitreya, Maitreya Buddha, science of transcendence, Srimad Bhagavatam, twinty-four forms, Vidura, Vidura talks with Maitreya, Visnu
Adhokṣaja
If one were to do an image search on the Internet, of Maitreya; who is a character in the Srimad Bhagavatam, and the main person in our Previous post entitled “Vidura’s Talks with Maitreya”, the images that come up are of the Maitreya Buddha. It is interesting to note that In the Vedas, Adhokṣaja is one of the twenty-four forms of Lord Viṣṇu. Also in the Srimad Bhagavatam in the First Canto, Chapter Three, entitled “Kṛṣṇa Is the Source of All Incarnations”, Buddha is one of the incarnations to appear in this age. I thought it interesting to do a post on Adhokṣaja with some selected text from Srila Prabhupada’s books.
Maitreya Muni, who was experienced in the science of Transcendence, could understand that Vidura’s mind was fully absorbed in Transcendence. Adhokṣaja means that which transcends the limits of sense perception or sensuous experience. The Lord is transcendental to our sense experience, but He reveals Himself to the sincere devotee. Because Vidura was always absorbed in thought of the Lord, Maitreya could estimate Vidura’s transcendental value. He appreciated the valuable inquiries of Vidura and thus thanked him with great honor. (SB 3.5.18, Purport)
The Lord is explained here to be adhokṣaja, beyond the reach of all material calculation. Akṣaja means “the measurement of our senses,” and adhokṣaja means “that which is beyond the measurement of our senses.” (SB 3.19.25, Purport)
The Mission of Lord Buddha
21 Sep 2013 1 Comment
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Buddha, Srimad Bhagavatam, Vegetarianism Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, animal sacrifices, Anjana, buddha, Gaya, God, incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, Lord Buddha, moral discipline, nonviolence, prabhupada, Vedas
click on image to enlarge
For some reason, I have always been attracted to Buddha since my early childhood. Later in my life as I turned 18, I also became interested in vegetarianism, which peaked my interest in spiritual life as well. So it was, I began the practice of yoga and meditation. It is interesting to note that later (age 21) when I became a Hare Krishna devotee, was when my actual education in Lord Buddha began. We share with you two select verses from the Srimad Bhagavatam describing the mission of Lord Buddha.
The mission of Lord Buddha was to save people from the abominable activity of animal killing and to save the poor animals from being unnecessarily killed.
Lord Buddha, a powerful incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, appeared in the province of Gayā (Bihar) as the son of Añjana, and he preached his own conception of nonviolence and deprecated even the animal sacrifices sanctioned in the Vedas. At the time when Lord Buddha appeared, the people in general were atheistic and preferred animal flesh to anything else. On the plea of Vedic sacrifice, every place was practically turned into a slaughterhouse, and animal killing was indulged in unrestrictedly. Lord Buddha preached nonviolence, taking pity on the poor animals. He preached that he did not believe in the tenets of the Vedas and stressed the adverse psychological effects incurred by animal killing. Less intelligent men of the age of Kali, who had no faith in God, followed his principle, and for the time being they were trained in moral discipline and nonviolence, the preliminary steps for proceeding further on the path of God realization. He deluded the atheists because such atheists who followed his principles did not believe in God, but they kept their absolute faith in Lord Buddha, who himself was the incarnation of God. Thus the faithless people were made to believe in God in the form of Lord Buddha. That was the mercy of Lord Buddha: he made the faithless faithful to him.
Select verses: More
Krishna Is the Source of All Incarnations
06 May 2011 1 Comment
in Buddha, Krsna is the Source of All Incarnations Tags: ahimsa, animal sacrifice, buddha, Gaya, Kali-yuga, Lord Buddha, nonviolence, Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam, Vedas, vedic sacrifice
Krsna Is the Source of All Incarnations
Srimad Bhagavatam; Canto 1, Chapter 3, Text 24
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Lord Buddha
TEXT 24
tataḥ kalau sampravṛtte
sammohāya sura-dviṣām
buddho nāmnāñjana-sutaḥ
kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati
SYNONYMS
tataḥ—thereafter; kalau—the age of Kali; sampravṛtte—having ensued; sammohāya—for the purpose of deluding; sura—the theists; dviṣām—those who are envious; buddhaḥ—Lord Buddha; nāmnā—of the name; añjana-sutaḥ—the son of Añjana; kīkaṭeṣu—in the province of Gayā (Bihar);bhaviṣyati—will take place.
TRANSLATION
Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Añjana, in the province of Gayā, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist.
PURPORT
Lord Buddha, a powerful incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, appeared in the province of Gayā (Bihar) as the son of Añjana, and he preached his own conception of nonviolence and deprecated even the animal sacrifices sanctioned in the Vedas. At the time when Lord Buddha appeared, the people in general were atheistic and preferred animal flesh to anything else. On the plea of Vedic sacrifice, every place was practically turned into a slaughterhouse, and animal killing was indulged in unrestrictedly.
Lord Buddha preached nonviolence, taking pity on the poor animals. He preached that he did not believe in the tenets of the Vedas and stressed the adverse psychological effects incurred by animal killing. Less intelligent men of the age of Kali, who had no faith in God, followed his principle, and for the time being they were trained in moral discipline and nonviolence, the preliminary steps for proceeding further on the path of God realization. He deluded the atheists because such atheists who followed his principles did not believe in God, but they kept their absolute faith in Lord Buddha, who himself was the incarnation of God. Thus the faithless people were made to believe in God in the form of Lord Buddha. That was the mercy of Lord Buddha: he made the faithless faithful to him.
The Hare Krishna Movement 