Thursday, January 29, 2009

Annoyed by the cat

How would religiosity be a problem? The following illustrates one possible answer.

Once upon a time in a certain village in India there lived a guru. Every evening the guru would sit on his seat and deliver a lecture to the public. It so happened that the guru had a cat, and just at the time of giving the lecture the cat would create a big disturbance.

Being greatly annoyed by the cat, the guru decided to tie the cat to a tree before starting his lecture. So doing, the guru then delivered the lecture without disturbance. It worked so well that the guru regularly tied the cat to the tree before beginning his discourse.

After some years the guru died. His disciples carried on the guru’s program. They also continued tying the cat to the tree. When the cat died, they bought another cat and thus the ritual of tying a cat to a tree continued generation after generation.

In the fifth generation that followed the guru, one of the renowned followers wrote an elaborate treatise on the spiritual significance of tying a cat to a tree before beginning one’s studies of the scriptures.

“For the current of our spiritual life creeds, rituals and channels that may thwart or help, according to their fixity or openness. When a symbol or spiritual idea becomes rigidly elaborate in its construction, it supplants the idea which it should support.” - R.T.

***

This is a good example as to why Sri Krishna instructs: ” Abandon all varieties of religiosity and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” Bg 18.66 ... AGD

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Shooting blanks

Krsna will appear of His own accord. He will descend upon your tongue, and then your tongue will be able to chant the name of Krsna. A gun that has no bullet, but only a blank, may make some sound, but no bullet is actually fired. Similarly, chanting the name of Krsna without an attitude of service produces sound, but that is only tongue deep.
- B. R. Sridhar Maharaj

Our common quest

Q. Why is happiness eluding us?
A. Because we are never satisfied.

No matter how much we get, we always hanker for more. Such is the nature of every one of us in all fields and walks of life. How then could finite material objects and flickering bodily or intellectual pleasures satiate our infinite hankerings? For as long as we go on searching for happiness within the material plane, our efforts and endeavours are destined to be irrevocably frustrated. Due to their natural limitations, material objects and goals simply cannot satisfy our limitless hankerings. Only by seeking out the beauty and love of the unlimited spiritual realm can we hope to be successful in our common quest for lasting happiness. - Srila B. R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

Monday, January 26, 2009

Terrorism in Mathura


A little History

Prior to Sri Krishna's appearance on this earth (5,000 yrs ago)there was a king named Ugrasena who ruled over Mathura. Once Ugrasena and his wife were taking a walk in the gardens when a demon saw the queen and fell in love with her. In his lust for her he diverted Ugrasena, assumed his form and the child born of this union was Kansa. Kansa grew up to dethrone his father and imprison his cousin, Devaki. While driving Devaki and her husband Vasudeva in his chariot, Kansa heard a voice in the sky telling him that he was carrying a woman whose eighth child would kill him. Kansa immediately prepared to kill Devaki. But Vasudeva intervened and begged for her life with the promise that they would hand over all their children to him soon after their birth. So Kansa imprisoned them and killed seven of their children.

The land of Braj starts from Kotban near Hodel about 95 km from Delhi and ends at Runakuta which is known specially for its association with the poet Surdas, an ardent Krishna devotee . A long line of picturesque ghats - with their steps leading to the water's edge, arched gateways and temple spires extending along the right bank of the River Yamuna, emphasise the sacred character of the town of Mathura. The birth place of Lord Krishna. Mathura is today an important place of pilgrimage

Before the advent of Buddha the territory that Mathura is located in was called Surasena. In Buddhist literature Mathura is called Madhura. It was also known as Mathera. Mathura was a prosperous city and the capital of a large territory. A Buddhist center was established in Mathura during the reign of the Mauryas dynasty. This center existed for a few centuries. Emperor Ashoka made many Buddha stupas in Mathura on the bank of the Yamuna. Emperor Kaniska in the first century BC and his successors constructed many Buddhist stupas and chaityas.

At this time Mathura was the largest city in North India and was the capital city for the area for administration. During these times the present town of Vrindavana was just dense forests without any people living there. In the beginning of the 5th century AD the Chinese traveler Fahien saw twenty viharas (Buddhist monasteries) and three thousand Buddhist priests living in Mathura. By the middle of the 6th century AD Buddhism started to decline in the Mathura area. Many Buddhist relics have been found in the Mathura area. Many of which are found in the museums in Mathura, Calcutta and Lucknow. There is not much known about the period between 700 AD and 1018. Mahmud Ghazni invaded Mathura in 1018. He stole all the riches of the Deities, their jewels, diamonds, gold and silver. He then destroyed the temples. It took his men 20 days to plunder the city. He took 5,000 prisoners and took over 30 million rupees.

He took so many statues of gold and silver and jewelry that it took over 100 camels to carry everything that he took. Tarikhi Jamina wrote a record of Mahmud Ghazni in which he described Mathura at the time that it was attacked. He wrote “If any emperors would ever dream of building temples and palaces like the one in Mathura he would have to spent thousands of golden drachmas. It is doubtful that the best sculptors and artists could build a city like this if they worked uninterruptedly for two hundred years.” According to some historian, in the temples in Mathura at this time, there were five Deities made of pure gold, each 5m (15 ft) high and the eyes of the Deities were made of diamonds, each worth not less than 5,000 golden drachmas.

They were set with emeralds that were extremely brilliant and transparent. During his rule, Pherose Khan Jughalak (1351-1388) destroyed all the temples that were within the territory that he ruled. While he ruled no one was allowed to go on pilgrimage to holy places or allowed to bath in a sacred place. From the eleventh century until the end of the sixteenth century temples in Braja were periodically destroyed. Sekandar Lodi (1488-1516) first duty after conquering a place was to destroy all the temples there. He attacked Mathura in 1500. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited Vrindavana in 1514 during the rule of Sekandar Lodhi. Babar, the king of Kabul defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the battle of Panipat in 1526. He died in 1530, and his son Humayun took over the throne of Northern India. After ruling for ten years Humayun was defeated by Sher Shah in 1540 and he fled to Kabul. During his rule Sher Shah built a road between Punjab and Bengal, which had wells every two miles and pilgrim sheds along the way for Hindus and Muslims.

This road helped to make it easier for pilgrims from Bengal to visit Vrindavana. In 1556 Humayun returned and defeated Sher Shah. During this time the Mughals and Pathanas were busy fighting with each other and did not have any time to bother any temple. Madana Mohana (Gopala) revealed himself to Sanatana Gosvami in 1533 and Govinda Deva revealed. Himself to Rupa Gosvami in 1535, during the rule of Humayun. Soon after returning to India, Humayun died and his son Akbar took over the throne. Akbar was a tolerant and pious emperor and he did not bother Hindus in any way. Aurangzeb, the great grandson of Akbar, had his army attack Vrindavana in 1670 and had many of the temples destroyed or desecrated. In 1757, Nadir Shah’s commander in chief, Ahmed Shah Durani, plundered Braja Mandal and killed some of the residents. In 1803, Mathura came under the British rule and from then on there was peace in the area of Mathura.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Over and Under

Canura and Mushtika
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Flawed Definitions

Pleasing, active engagements exclusively meant for Sri Krishna is indeed bhakti. It stands to reason that perpetual,ardent endeavour (anusilanam) must be immediately pleasing to the person it is meant for. Thus, it would seem we have discovered the definition of bhakti in the term krishnanusilanam itself.

However, this symptom of bhakti is tainted by two flaws (dosha). In some respects it extends to include too much (ativyapti-dosha) and in other respects, it does not extend far enough (avyapti-dosha). Those symptoms that are not tainted by the faults of under-extension (avyapti), over-extension (ativyapti) or inconsistency are the correctly derived symptoms of bhakti.

Over-extension

If bhakti were defined solely as krishnanusilanam (perpetual, ardent endeavour meant exclusively for Sri Krishna), or to please Sri Krishna, then, as we will see, it would serve to establish even spiteful demons like Kamsa’s most fearsome wrestlers, Canura and Mushtika, as devotees. Herein, the symptoms of bhakti have extended to include too much. In other words, ativyaptidosha has arisen.

When Sri Krishna heard the challenging words of Canura and Mushtika upon entering Kamsa’s royal wrestling arena, the joy of heroism (vira-rasa) surged within Him. Whenever a warrior receives blows from his opponent, he is thrilled. Thus, when Krishna received repeated blows from Canura and Mushtika, who perpetually endeavoured to attack Him, He naturally experienced the happiness that arises from heroism. Should one then deem Canura and Mushtika to be bhaktas? Since their endeavours were meant for Sri Krishna’s undoing, and not at all for His enjoyment, no one will ever conclude that they are bhaktas.

Under-extension

Conversely, defining bhakti simply as pleasing Sri Krishna, would imply that someone who causes Krishna any displeasure at all is not a bhakta and that his actions are not expressions of bhakti. For example, once when Mother Yasoda was breastfeeding baby Krishna, the milk she had been heating began to boil over. At once, she removed Sri Krishna from her lap, much to His displeasure, and ran to save the milk. Krishna was so enraged that, biting His lips, He smashed a nearby clay pot that was full of yoghurt. He was so intensely unhappy at being denied His mother’s breast milk to His full satisfaction that He burst into tears.

When Mother Yasoda denied Sri Krishna full satisfaction, He was not even slightly pleased with her. Hence, in this case, defining bhakti as krishnanusilanam alone prevents the definition from extending to include these actions. In other words, avyapti-dosha has arisen. Mother Yasoda is the presiding goddess of immaculate prema-bhakti in vatsalya-rasa (parental love of God). Her every endeavour is for the sake of serving Sri Krishna. In this pastime, she had thought to herself, "My breast milk alone will not fully nurture Sri Krishna, but the milk on the stove, which is now boiling over, will protect His life!" Although Mother Yasoda was the queen of Vraja and was always surrounded by unlimited servants and maids, she would personally milk the best cows and heat their excellent milk. Then, with her own hands she would prepare the finest butter for Krishna.

"Even if I displease Krishna for the time being," she had thought, "I must save this milk for Him." Thoughts like this would cause her prema-bhakti to swell to exceptional heights and thereafter permeate all of Her actions. Her actions can never be anything but bhakti.


more

Somethings never change.

Below is an excerpt from the"Uttama-Bhakti", a essay penned by the hand of Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami Maharaja.

As you well know A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj wanted to take the renounced order (Sanyass) from His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj but was advised by him to go to Kesava Maharaj.

Kesava Maharaj received sanyass from Sridhar Maharaj who received it from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj so in fact there is no difference, the link is established. In the Back ground prior to this event they ( Sridhar, Kesava and Swami Maharaj) were all good friends and shared a deep devotional affection for one another, including the respective members of their temples i.e Narayan Maharaj and Govinda Maharaj.

Getting back to the original article; of the many reasons articles like this exist, one is so we can learn from them by recognizeing and avoiding the many dangerous obstacles that will fall before us in OUR very lifetimes. - AJD

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"Pleasing Srila Gurudeva Gives Me Life"

Many of the disciples of our Srila Gurudeva, jagad-guru paramaradhyatama Sri Srila Prabhupada ( Bhaktisiddhanta ), gave their bodies, minds, words and wealth to assist in fulfilling his heart’s deepest ambitions. Although he was immensely pleased by their service, or anusilana, it is seen that some of them, even after serving him in this way for so many years, were willing to abandon him, their own guru (guru-tyaga), and that others have developed gurubhoga, the propensity to exploit him. That is, instead of striving to imbibe the ideal and character of our Sri Gurupada-padma, who was perpetually rapt in bhajana, they have simply imitated his external activities and audaciously costumed themselves as gurus. Not even the first stage of bhakti has manifested in their hearts.

If we contemplate the cause for this, we find that as they served him, they failed to maintain the attitude, "Srila Gurudeva will be pleased by accepting my service and pleasing him gives me life." Since they served him with many other motives and not exclusively with the hope of pleasing him, they were cheated out of obtaining the principal fruit of serving a sadhu and have instead attained whatever they secretly desired. If someone’s purpose is genuine then as bhakti appears in his heart all its symptoms, which are mentioned in the scriptures, will manifest in him and all hankerings and aspirations opposed to bhakti will gradually diminish.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Attempting to get out


vande śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
nityānandau sahoditau
gauḍodaye puṣpavantau
citrau śandau tamo-nudau


"I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, who are like the sun and moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauḍa to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all."

* * * * * * * *

This material world is a dark well of ignorance. The fallen soul in this dark well must take shelter of the lotus feet of Gaura-Nitāi, for thus he can easily emerge from material existence. Without Their strength, simply attempting to get out of the clutches of matter by speculative knowledge will be insufficient.

C.C Adilila 1.2

Sunday, January 11, 2009

When your Guru Acharya thinks of YOU is he pleased ?

Friday, January 9, 2009

Juvenile Love


Sri Brahma Samhita

TEXT 36

yad-bhava-bhavita-dhiyo manujas tathaiva

samprapya rupa-mahimasana-yana-bhusah

suktair yam eva nigama-prathitaih stuvanti

govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

SYNONYMS

yat--for whom; bhava--with devotion; bhavita--are imbued; dhiyah--whose hearts; manujah--men; tatha eva--similarly; samprapya--having gained; rupa--beauty; mahima--greatness; asana--thrones; yana--conveyances; bhusah--and ornaments; suktaih--by Vedic hymns; yam--whom; eva--certainly; nigama--by the Vedas; prathitaih--told; stuvanti--offer praise; govindam--Govinda; adi-purusam--the original person; tam--Him; aham--I; bhajami--worship.

TRANSLATION

I adore the same Govinda, the primeval Lord, in whose praise men, who are imbued with devotion, sing the mantra-suktas told by the Vedas, by gaining their appropriate beauty, greatness, thrones, conveyances and ornaments.

PURPORT

In discussing rasa we meet with five kinds of devotion or service. Santa or unattached, dasya or pertaining to reverential willing service, sakhya or friendship, vatsalya or parental love and srngara or juvenile love.

The devotees surcharged with the ideas of their respective service, serve Krsna eternally and ultimately reach the goal of their respective ideals. They attain the real nature of their self befitting their respective rasas, their glories, conveyances, seats befitting their sacred service, and transcendental qualities of ornaments enhancing the beauty of their real nature. Those who are advocates of santa-rasa attain the region of Brahma-Paramatma, the seat of eternal peace; those of dasya-rasa get to Vaikuntha, the spiritual majestic abode of Sri Narayana; those of sakhya, vatsalya and madhura-rasa (juvenile love) attain Goloka-dhama, Krsna's abode, above Vaikuntha. They worship Krsna by the suktas depicted in the Vedas with the ingredients and objects befitting their respective rasas, in those regions. The Vedas, under the influence of the spiritual potency in certain passages speak of the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. The liberated souls chant the name, qualities and pastimes of the Supreme Lord, under the guidance of the same spiritual potency.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

A Palatial Vimana (aircraft in the form of a palace)
flying over the City of Dvaraka

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Heavenly Aircraft

This 15th century temple also called Adishwar Temple. This four-faced temple is designed in the form of a Nalinigulm Vimana (heavenly aircraft), with three storeys along with several pavilions accommodated on the temple base itself. The temple has 29 halls, 80 domes & pavilions include 1,444 pillars - each one uniquely carved.

UFO - Mystic Airplane - Vimana


Below is an excerpt from "krsna Book" which is a summery study of the Srimad Bhagwatam. The Srimad Bhagwatam is considered, by all the great sages, to be the ripened fruit of the tree of Vedic wisdom.

5,000 years ago a great thinker by the name Veda Vyasa, being empowered by the Supreme personality of Godhead, scanned the entire Vedic tree of wisdom and extracted only what he felt necessary for the current age.. He then presented it in such a way in that could easily be understood.

In today's media we so often hear about UFOs especially during the holidays. I believe that the atheistic community would like us to believe that there is no life on other planets. If there were perhaps a spiritual world exists and this creation in fact does have a cause and a purpose other than sensual and social endulgance.

I have heard this story directly from ACBSP's dictation tapes. Discrepancies from the spoken word and the written version certainly does exist, but you should get the general idea. Keep in mind that this story is over 5000 years old. - AJD

"Battle Between Salva and the Yadu Dynasty."

Salva begged from Lord Siva the gift of an airplane which would be so strong that it could not be destroyed by any demigod, demon, human being, Gandharva, Naga, or even by any Raksasa. Moreover, he desired that the airplane be able to fly anywhere and everywhere he would like to pilot it, and be specifically very dangerous and fearful to the dynasty of the Yadus. Lord Siva immediately agreed to give him the benediction, and Salva took the help of the demon Maya to manufacture this iron airplane, which was so strong and formidable that no one could crash it. It was a very big machine, almost like a big city, and it could fly so high and at such a great speed that it was almost impossible to see where it was, and so there was no question of attacking it. Although it might be dark outside, the pilot could fly it anywhere and everywhere. Having acquired such a wonderful airplane, Salva flew it to the city of Dvaraka, because his main purpose in obtaining the airplane was to attack the city of the Yadus, toward whom he maintained a continual feeling of animosity.

The great heroes of Dvaraka City, headed by commanders such as Pradyumna, counterattacked the soldiers and the airplane of Salva. When he saw the extreme distress of the citizens, Pradyumna immediately arranged his soldiers and personally got upon a chariot, encouraging the citizens by assuring safety. Following his command, many warriors like Satyaki, Carudesna and Samba, all young brothers of Pradyumna, as well as Akrura, Krtavarma, Bhanuvinda, Gada, Suka and Sarana--all came out of the city to fight with Salva. All of them were great fighters; each one could fight with thousands of men. All were fully equipped with necessary weapons and assisted by hundreds and thousands of charioteers, elephants, horses and infantry soldiers. Fierce fighting began between the two parties, exactly as was formerly carried on between the demigods and the demons. The fighting was very severe, and whoever observed the fierce nature of the fight felt his hairs stand on end.

Pradyumna immediately counteracted the mystic demonstration occasioned by the airplane of Salva, the King of Saubha. By the mystic power of the airplane, Salva had created a darkness as dense as night, but Pradyumna all of a sudden appeared like the rising sun. As with the rising of the sun the darkness of night is immediately dissipated, so with the appearance of Pradyumna the power exhibited by Salva became null and void. Each and every one of Pradyumna's arrows had a golden feather at the end, and the shaft was fitted with a sharp iron head. By releasing twenty-five such arrows, Pradyumna severely injured Salva's commander-in-chief. He then released another one hundred arrows toward the body of Salva. After this, he pierced each and every soldier by releasing one arrow, and he killed the chariot drivers by firing ten arrows at each one of them. The carriers like the horses and elephants were killed by the release of three arrows directed toward each one of them. When everyone present on the battlefield saw this wonderful feat of Pradyumna, the great fighters on both the sides began to praise his acts of chivalry.

But still the airplane occupied by Salva was very mysterious. It was so extraordinary that sometimes there would appear to be many airplanes in the sky, and sometimes it would seem that there was none. Sometimes it was visible, and sometimes it was not visible, and the warriors of the Yadu dynasty became puzzled about the whereabouts of the peculiar airplane. Sometimes they would see the airplane on the ground, and sometimes they would see it flying in the sky. Sometimes they would see the airplane resting on the peak of a hill, and sometimes it was seen floating on the water. The wonderful airplane was flying in the sky like a firefly in the wind--it was not steady even for a moment. But despite the mysterious maneuvering of the airplane, the commanders and the soldiers of the Yadu dynasty would immediately rush toward Salva wherever he was present with his airplane and soldiers. The arrows released by the dynasty of the Yadus were as brilliant as the sun and as dangerous as the tongues of serpents. All the soldiers fighting on behalf of Salva became soon distressed by the incessant release of arrows upon them by the heroes of the Yadu dynasty, and Salva himself became unconscious from the attack of these arrows.

The soldiers and the fighters fighting on behalf of Salva were also very strong, and the release of their arrows also harassed the heroes of the Yadu dynasty. But still the Yadus were so strong and determined that they did not move from their strategic positions. The heroes of the Yadu dynasty were determined to either die in the battlefield or gain victory. They were confident of the fact that if they died in the fighting they would attain a heavenly planet, and if they were to came out victorious they would enjoy the world. The name of Salva's commander-in-chief was Dyuman. He was very powerful, and although bitten by twenty-five of Pradyumna's arrows, he suddenly attacked Pradyumna with his fierce club and struck him so strongly that Pradyumna became unconscious. Immediately there was a roaring, "Now he is dead! Now he is dead!" The force of the club on the chest of Pradyumna was very severe, enough to tear asunder the chest of an ordinary man.

Pradyumna's chariot was being driven by the son of Daruka. According to Vedic military principles, the chariot driver and the hero on the chariot have to cooperate during the fighting. As such, it was the duty of the chariot driver to take care of the hero on the chariot during the dangerous and precarious fighting on the battlefield. Thus Daruka removed the body of Pradyumna from the battlefield. Two hours later, in a quiet place, Pradyumna regained his consciousness, and when he saw that he was in a place other than the battlefield he addressed the charioteer and condemned him.

"Oh, you have done the most abominable act! Why have you removed me from the battlefield? My dear charioteer, I have never heard that anyone in our family was ever removed from the battlefield. None of them left the battlefield while fighting. By this removal you have overburdened me with a great defamation. It will be said that I left the battlefield while fighting was going on. My dear charioteer, I must accuse you--you are a coward and emasculator! Tell me, how can I go before my uncle Balarama and before my father Krsna, and what shall I say before Them? Everyone will talk about me and say that I fled from the fighting place, and if they inquire from me about this, what will be my reply? My sisters-in-law will play jokes upon me with sarcastic words: 'My dear hero, how have you become such a coward? How have you become such a eunuch? How have you become so low in the eyes of the fighters who opposed you?' I think, my dear charioteer, that you have committed a great offense by removing me from the battlefield."

The charioteer of Pradyumna replied, "My dear sir, I wish a long life for you. I think I did not do anything wrong, as it is the duty of the charioteer to help the fighter in the chariot when he is in a precarious condition. My dear sir, you are completely competent in the battlefield activities. It is the mutual duty of the charioteer and the warrior to give protection to each other in a precarious condition. I was completely aware of the regulative principles of fighting, and I did my duty. The enemy all of a sudden struck you with his club so severely that you lost consciousness. You were in a dangerous position, surrounded by your enemies. Therefore I was obliged to act as I did."

Thursday, January 1, 2009

World War of 3137 BC

The Battlefield of Kurukshetra as it seen today. The great world war (Mahabharat war) of 3010 BC took place here, lasting eighteen days.
Moments before the great battle was scheduled to start, Arjuna refused to fight. After some time and discussion with Sri Krsna, he finally agreed to execute his duty with devotion.

Prabhupad said:




"Use common sense and if you have none then consult with others."






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Below is an interesting piece I am sure you will enjoy, titled: "Obituary:Common Sense".
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My parents told me about Mr. Common Sense early in my life and told me I would do well to call on him when making decisions. It seems he was always around in my early years but less and less as time passed by. Today I read his obituary. Please join me in a moment of silence in remembrance, for Common Sense had served us all so well for so many generations.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair , and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Aspirin, sun lotion or a Band-Aid to a student, but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm a Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing. - Author unknown