amudu

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

From farm to the plate: Europe’s deadly E. coli outbreak

PETER COLLIGNON

E. coli is a common germ that has traditionally caused blood stream infections and urinary tract infections.

The virulent strain we’re seeing in Europe which has infected more than 1500 people and killed 17 is called E. coli 0104. While this particular strain is new, there are quite a lot of other E. coli strains that have done something similar in the past.

Certain strains of E. coli contain a toxin or poison called the “Shiga toxin”. This toxin causes damage to the bowel and symptoms begin with bloody diarrhoea. They can progress to clots in the blood vessels and a break down in blood cells (this process is called “haemolytic–uremic syndrome”). This eventually results in kidney failure and can cause death.

In some people, clots can occur in other parts of the body, such as the brain, leading to strokes and other very serious health problems.

This outbreak in Europe is the first time we’ve seen this combination of bug with this particular toxin. But the haemolytic–uremic syndrome has been found before in hamburger meat in the US (a strain called 0157) and about ten years ago in salami from South Australia (a strain called 0111).

Where could this strain have started?

The ultimate source for E. coli is usually food animals. In the past it’s mainly been cows, but there’s no reason why it couldn’t originate in other animals, including people.

It goes something like this: the animal has the bug in its bowel, which then gets into water or into manure and is used as fertiliser. It’s then sprayed onto vegetables – cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes – and if those vegetables aren’t heated before they’re eaten, the bug can be ingested.

There is an incubation period during which the bug multiplies in the gut, which may take a few days to a week or ten days.

A key concern about this strain is that it’s quite resistant to antibiotics. It’s what we call an Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase or ESBL. That means it is likely to come from an animal – presumably a food animal – that has been exposed to antibiotics, often unnecessarily. But we can’t be definite about the source.

Scientists are trying to map the genome of the new strain – what will this enable them to do?

It will be helpful but it won’t solve the problem. We know this E. coli comes from animals and we know it shares many genetic traits to other E. colis.

The one advantage of the mapping is we might be able to track where it came from. But that’s going to be a medium to long-term issue.

In the short-term we need to identify (using culture and molecular techniques) what foods are contaminated with this bug and, if they are vegetables, then we’ve got to go further and identify what animals it originated from.

There have been a large number of deaths and large numbers of people who are very sick. People in Germany have ingested this bug and travelled back to Sweden and the US and England, so there’s a potential for it to spread.

If we don’t track down the intermediate and original source, then it may come back later and cause more contamination.
What role does the use and overuse of antibiotics play in this situation?

This is another example of antibiotics use in animals contributing to the development of more resistant strains of E. coli.

Overuse of antibiotics has the perverse effect of increasing E. coli’s ability to pick up these other toxins (such as the Shiga toxin) and add to its virulence.

We need to be very careful about the antibiotics we give animals.

We’ve also got to be very careful what we do with the run-off from the farms with animals (or the manure or the water) because that’s going to contain these antibiotic resistant bacteria and/or other bacteria that contain toxins like the Shiga toxin.

Why are women more affected by this strain of E. coli?

The short answer is that we sometimes don’t know why these differences occur.

Often males are more affected by things like Golden Staph and females are more affected by E. coli because they’re more likely to get urinary tract infections.

Because it’s likely this strain of E. coli is coming in through food, it may be because women eat different foods to men. They’re more likely to eat healthier foods, such as fresh fruits and salads. If these haven’t been cooked, it’s more likely they will still contain this bug.

But the bottom line is we don’t know yet. They haven’t identified what food source is responsible here and where it has come from.
We’re a little over a month into this outbreak, what do you expect to see over the coming days and weeks?

The worry is that we’re still seeing new infections and we haven’t identified the food source, so it might still be circulating.

So it will be fairly telling over the next week or so if there are the same numbers or increasing numbers of people getting this infection – it would imply that we haven’t removed the food source, or water source, that’s contaminated.

E. coli can spread through water?

You wouldn’t expect the water supply in Germany to be contaminated. The presumption is that it’s a food. The authorities have done case-controlled studies and it’s more likely to occur in people who have had lettuce, tomato or cucumber.

But in other areas of the world, antibiotic-resistant E. colis are found in water supplies, such as in Deli.

The most likely scenario is that this bug got to a lettuce or cucumber, or another type of food, via water that was contaminated by an animal source. So water is probably a vehicle in this, somewhere along the chain.

What lessons can we learn from this outbreak?

This whole situation shows that we need to be very careful where we source food from and ensure that appropriate procedures are taken. We can’t allow superbugs, or bugs with toxins, to spread.

New asthma drugs burn fat

GARVAN INSTITUTE

Older asthma drugs, apart from reducing fat, also caused a faster heart rate.

Image: danielle71/iStockphoto

Formoterol, a new generation asthma medication, shows great promise for improving fat and protein metabolism, say Australian researchers, who have tested this effect in a small sample of men. The researchers present their results at The Endocrine Society’s 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

The research team comprises members of Professor Ken Ho’s lab from Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research as well as Professor Ric Day, a clinical pharmacologist from St. Vincent’s Hospital.

Study leader, endocrinologist Dr Paul Lee, focused his PhD research on how various hormones affect metabolism. Of central importance is a class of hormones called catecholamines, which regulate heart rate, metabolism and breathing.

Formoterol is a synthetic catecholamine, the metabolic effects of which have not previously been studied in people. Therapy doses given to animals, however, have shown that it stimulates metabolism without affecting the heart.

“We have known for a long time that catecholamine influences the way the body handles nutrients, in particular fat and protein,” said Lee.

“The generation of drugs before formoterol was exploited in the livestock industry around 20 years ago – to reduce the fat and increase the protein content of meat. Unfortunately, these older drugs also caused a faster heart rate.”

“Formoterol is a new generation of this class of medication. It is highly selective for the kind of catecholamine receptors found in the lungs, and not those in the heart.”

“The new drug is also more selective for a similar receptor found in muscle and fat. In theory at least, it should have beneficial metabolic effects – like the older class of medication – without affecting the heart.”

Lee sourced the drug in its oral form, found the dose needed to give a metabolic effect, and gave it to 8 healthy men over a week.

“Energy metabolism increased by more than 10 per cent, fat burning increased by more than 25 per cent, while protein burning fell by 15 per cent,” he said.

“So although whole body metabolism increased, these men burned fat while reducing the burning of protein. That’s a good thing because in the long run these effects may lead to a loss in fat mass and an increase in muscle.

“In this study, all 8 subjects tolerated the medication well – without any significant increase in heart rate.”

The next step will be to test the drug over a longer period in a larger sample of people to determine if the beneficial effects translate into improvement in body composition, health and function.

Supermicroscope pins immune ‘switch’

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

T cells are the 'front-line' troops that alert our immune system to go on the defensive against invaders.

Image: Henrik5000/iStockphoto

Using the only microscope of its kind in Australia, medical scientists have been able for the first time to see the inner workings of T-cells, the front-line troops that alert our immune system to go on the defensive against germs and other invaders in our bloodstream.

The discovery overturns prevailing understanding, identifying the exact molecular 'switch' that spurs T-cells into action -- a breakthrough that could lead to treatments for a range of conditions from auto-immune diseases to cancer.

The findings, by researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), are reported in the journal Nature Immunology.

Studying a cell protein important in early immune response, the researchers led by Associate Professor Katharina Gaus from UNSW's Centre for Vascular Research at the Lowy Cancer Research Centre, used Australia's only microscope capable of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy to image the protein molecule-by-molecule to reveal the immunity 'switch'.

The technology is a major breakthrough for science, Dr Gaus said. Currently there are only half a dozen of the 'super' microscopes in use around the world.

"Previously you could see T-cells under a microscope but you couldn't see what their individual molecules were doing," Dr Gaus said.

Using the new microscope the scientists were able to image molecules as small as 10 nanometres. Dr Gaus said that what the team found overturns the existing understanding of T-cell activation.

"Previously it was thought that T-cell signalling was initiated at the cell surface in molecular clusters that formed around the activated receptor.

"In fact, what happens is that small membrane-enclosed sacks called vesicles inside the cell travel to the receptor, pick up the signal and then leave again," she said.

Dr Gaus said the discovery explained how the immune response could occur so quickly.

"There is this rolling amplification. The signalling station is like a docking port or an airport with vesicles like planes landing and taking off. The process allows a few receptors to activate a cell and then trigger the entire immune response," she said.

PhD candidate David Williamson, whose research formed the basis of the paper, said the discovery showed what could be achieved with the new generation of super-resolution fluorescence microscopes.

"In conventional microscopy, all the target molecules are lit up at once and individual molecules become lost amongst their neighbours -- it's like trying to follow a conversation in a crowd where everyone is talking at once.

"With our microscope we can make the target molecules light up one at a time and precisely determine their location while their neighbours remain dark. This 'role call' of all the target molecules means we can then build a 'super resolution' image of the sample," he said.

The next step was to pinpoint other key proteins to get a complete picture of T-cell activity and to extend the microscope to capture 3-D images with the same unprecedented resolution.

"Being able to see the behaviour and function of individual molecules in a live cell is the equivalent of seeing atoms for the first time. It could change the whole concept of molecular and cell biology," Mr Williamson said.

Other research team members were physicist Dr Dylan Owen, cell biologists Dr Jérémie Rossy and Dr Astrid Magenau, from the Centre for Vascular Research, and Professor Justin Gooding and Matthias Wehrmann, from UNSW's School of Chemistry and the Australian Centre for Nanomedicine. The research was supported by funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council and Human Frontier Science Program.

Study finds key to starve tumours

WALTER AND ELIZA HALL INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH

The growth of tumours depends on nutrients and oxygen provided by the tumour blood supply.

Image: spanteldotru/iStockphoto

Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have discovered a key molecule needed to kill the blood vessels that supply tumours.

The research team from the institute’s Molecular Genetics of Cancer and Cancer and Haematology divisions found that for anti-cancer therapies that target tumour blood vessels to work the death- inducing molecule Bim is required. The finding could lead to improved anti-cancer treatments that are based on a two- or three-pronged attack on both the tumour and its blood supply. The research is published online in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

The growth of solid tumours, such as lung cancer, breast cancer and melanoma, depends on nutrients and oxygen being provided by the tumour blood supply. Cancer cells encourage the growth of blood vessels to feed a tumour by producing the hormone-like protein, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The research by Drs Edwina Naik, Leigh Coultas and Lorraine O’Reilly, and Professors Jerry Adams and Andreas Strasser showed that VEGF produced by tumours blocks production of Bim in the cells that line the tumour blood vessels.

New ‘anti-angiogenic’ medications that attack the blood vessels within tumours are showing promise in starving many types of cancers by reducing their blood supply.

In this study, in experimental melanoma, lung cancer and breast cancer models, Bim levels increased in the cells lining the blood vessels when VEGF was depleted by anti-angiogenic drugs, ultimately killing the blood vessel cells. VEGF depletion reduced the number of blood vessels in tumours, making the tumours shrink. However, in mice in which the blood vessels do not express Bim, VEGF depletion did not affect the number of tumour-associated blood vessels, and tumours grown in Bim-deficient mice did not respond to anti-angiogenic treatments.

Dr Strasser said this finding suggests that strategies for treating tumours by attacking the tumour blood supply could be optimised by incorporating drugs called BH3-mimetics that cause cell death by acting like Bim at a molecular level. “Similarly, therapies that increase the amount of Bim in tumour blood vessels could enhance the effects of anti-angiogenic agents,” Dr Strasser said.

“BH3 mimetics may have two beneficial effects in cancer therapy. Our previous research had showed they can directly trigger death in tumour cells, particularly when the tumour is also attacked by chemotherapeutic drugs. We now think BH3-mimetics could also impact tumour cells indirectly by killing endothelial cells within tumours.

“This suggests that a promising new approach to the therapy of solid tumours may be to use a three-medication combination of a drug that specifically targets the tumour cell, an anti- angiogenic agent to impair the tumour blood vessels, plus a BH3 mimetic that will help the anti- tumour drug to directly kill the tumour cells and also will help the anti-angiogenic agent to kill the intra-tumoral endothelial cells, which in turn will starve the tumour, causing even more tumour cell death.”

Moral responses change as people age

Psychology & Psychiatry

Moral responses change as people age says a new study from the University of Chicago.

Both preschool children and adults distinguish between damage done either intentionally or accidently when assessing whether a perpetrator has done something wrong, said study author Jean Decety. But, adults are much less likely than children to think someone should be punished for damaging an object, for example, especially if the action was accidental.

The study, which combined brain scanning, eye-tracking and behavioral measures to understand brain responses, was published in the journal Cerebral Cortex in an article titled "The Contribution of Emotion and Cognition to Moral Sensitivity: A Neurodevelopmental Study."

"This is the first study to examine brain and behavior relationships in response to moral and non-moral situations from a neurodevelopmental perspective," wrote Decety in the article.

Decety is the Irving B. Harris Professor in Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Chicago and a leading scholar on affective and social neuroscience. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences funds the research.

"Studying moral judgment across the lifespan in terms of brain and behavior is important," said Lynn Bernstein, a program director for Cognitive Neuroscience at NSF. "It will, for example, contribute to the understanding of disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and psychopathology and to understanding how people at various times in the lifespan respond to others' suffering from physical and psychological pain."

The different responses correlate with the various stages of development, Decety said. As the brain becomes better equipped to make reasoned judgments and integrate an understanding of the mental states of others, moral judgments become more tempered.

Negative emotions alert people to the moral nature of a situation by bringing on discomfort that can precede moral judgment, said Decety. Such an emotional response is stronger in young children, he explained.

Decety and colleagues studied 127 participants, aged 4 to 36, who were shown short video clips while undergoing an fMRI scan. The team also measured changes in the dilation of the people's pupils as they watched the clips.

The participants watched a total of 96 clips that portrayed intentional harm, such as someone being shoved, and accidental harm, such as someone being struck accidentally, such as a golf player swinging a club. The clips also showed intentional damage to objects, such as a person kicking a bicycle tire, and accidental damage, such as a person knocking a teapot off the shelf.

Eye tracking revealed that all of the participants, irrespective of their age, paid more attention to people being harmed and to objects being damaged than they did to the perpetrators. Additionally, an analysis of pupil size showed that "pupil dilation was significantly greater for intentional actions than accidental actions, and this difference was constant across age, and correlated with activity in the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex," Decety said.

The study revealed that the extent of activation in different areas of the brain as participants were exposed to the morally laden videos changed with age. For young children, the amygdala, which is associated the generation of emotional responses to a social situation, was much more activated than it was in adults.

In contrast, adults' responses were highest in the dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex areas of the brain that allow people to reflect on the values linked to outcomes and actions.

"Whereas young children had a tendency to consider all perpetrators malicious, irrespective of intention and targets (people and objects), as participants aged, they perceived the perpetrator as clearly less mean when carrying out an accidental action, and even more so when the target was an object," Decety said.

Joining Decety in writing the paper were Kalina Michalska, a postdoctoral scholar, and Katherine Kinzler, an assistant professor, both in the Department of Psychology.

Provided by National Science Foundation

"Moral responses change as people age." June 3rd, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-moral-responses-people-age.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Working in Harmony

“In Goloka Vrindavana, the living entities are serving Krishna as friends, cowherd boys, gopis, lovers, fathers, mothers and so on. Even the trees, water, flowers, land, calves and cows serve Krishna in Goloka Vrindavana. This is also our business, but somehow or other we do not like to serve Krishna; therefore we have been put into the service of maya, in the three modes of material nature.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Teachings of Lord Kapila, Ch 12)

Who are we? Why are we placed into this world? The bewildered soul feels as if he is a stranger in a strange land, forced to roam an area where the proper course of action is not easy to decipher. In addition, there are the obvious pains and miseries to deal with, which can be inflicted by forces of nature, the mind and the body, and the influences of other living entities. Why can’t there just be peace and harmony? Why is there war, famine, pestilence, greed, envy, pride and so many other destructive agents? The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, fill in many of these details to the best level of understanding possible, for the human mind is incapable of gaining complete knowledge. This very deficiency is indicative of the primary difference between the superior entity and His subordinates. This discrepancy also provides a clue into helping us find the proper course of action in life, a path which leads to a reinstatement of the natural order. When the individual’s identity is properly understood, all work can be performed under the proper mindset and for the most worthwhile aim, thus relieving the distresses that are regularly encountered.

“Know that which pervades the entire body is indestructible. No one is able to destroy the imperishable soul.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.17)

The most difficult realization for the conditioned soul bewildered by the forces of nature to come upon is the proper identification. What does this mean exactly? Sense perceptions form the basis of all opinion and thought. This should make sense after all, for if we don’t hear, see or taste something, how will we understand anything? From the time of birth, what is known to us is our body; so the various parts it has, such as the hands, legs, face, and mind, are taken as the identifiable aspects. But through the sublime vision of the Vedas and the people who disseminate Vedic wisdom, the confidential information revealing the real identity of the individual comes to be known. The essence of individuality is the spirit soul, which is part and parcel of a higher being. From One came many, but the many can never be equal to the One. A piece of paper may be folded up and then ripped into many different pieces, thereby destroying the original, but in spiritual understanding, the Original can create an infinite number of fragments and still never be destroyed. Only in the spiritual world, a realm not affected by the pangs of material existence brought on by the forces of time, can one plus one equal one and two minus two equal two.

As the individuals have come from the Original, there is an inherent relationship established between the two entity types. The many are meant to act in the service of the Original, for one entity always remains superior and the other always subordinate. In the absence of this relationship in an active state, the many can never find a permanent, peaceful condition. The genesis of the material world, the realm we currently occupy, can be traced to the desire to break free from the constitutional position. When service to the Supreme Entity is neglected, there must be unhappiness and misery. At the same time, the Original never changes His position, as He is eternally situated in transcendence. Therefore the offer to rejoin His association is always open. One simply has to understand their true nature and follow the steps necessary for rekindling their dormant love for the Supreme Lord and all problems will vanish.

To help us better understand how and why turning our backs on our constitutional position has such a deleterious effect, we can study the workings of modern appliances and machines. By taking something as simple as a dishwasher we can see how specific components are meant to work in a certain way, and how deviating from the intended functions can have harmful consequences. With a dishwasher, we get a wonderful invention that allows for loads of dirty dishes to be cleaned at one time. When manually cleaning plates and glasses, there is much effort taken to wipe, wash and dry each plate, glass, knife and fork individually. Especially if one has a big family or if one is working in a large eating establishment, the number of dirty dishes can pile up very quickly. Therefore the dishwasher becomes a godsend, a machine that can save so much time and effort by washing many dishes at one time while requiring little manual labor.

The dishwasher has a specific constitutional position, meaning it can only be used to wash certain kinds of items. Inside of the machine there is typically a rack, which stipulates that the plates and glasses be aligned in proper order, with sufficient space separating them. This ensures that every dish is cleaned properly and thoroughly. There is also a designated dispenser for the dishwashing detergent, and the cycles of the machine are tailored specifically to clean and dry metal, porcelain, glass and silver utensils and kitchen items.

Now let’s say we wanted to clean our clothes inside of a dishwasher. This seems like a silly proposal, as there already exist machines to wash and dry clothes, but in a realm where there is freedom of action, anything is possible. It would be silly to go on violent rampages or ingest lethal doses of drugs and alcohol, but people go to these extremes regardless. Freedom brings with it the possibility of all outcomes occurring. The rational thinkers may realize that certain activities are foolish and should thus be avoided, but this doesn’t universally preclude the harmful actions from being committed. Therefore there is every possibility of a person placing shirts, pants or underwear into a dishwasher to clean.

The results of such a transgression are pretty obvious to predict. A clothes washing machine moves the garments around and spins them so that they will be easier to dry later on. The dishwashing machine has a completely different goal in mind. If the dishes were to be moved around, there would be a high risk of breakage during the process. Therefore the items requiring cleaning remain stationary. Because of this feature, a dishwashing machine will not clean clothes very well. In addition, the drying cycles are completely different; therefore the clothes can be damaged by the levels of heat employed.

Putting clothes in a dishwasher is one small example out of many actions that can be taken which violate the constitutional nature of the objects in question. Indeed, even in the washing machine if certain clothes are put through the incorrect cycle, the clothes can be damaged. Sweaters can shrink drastically in size if the wrong heat levels are applied during the drying stage. Mixing bright colors with whites will result in clothes with a pink color after washing. In this way, the constitutional position, the dharma of the particular object, must be maintained; otherwise the results will be unpleasant.

For the spirit soul, the machine occupied at the time of birth serves as the instrument for work. Identity comes from the spiritual spark within, with the body taking direction from it. Since the soul’s dharma is to be a lover of God, the natural occupational duty of the body becomes to act in the interests of the soul’s essential characteristic. Activities like hearing, chanting, remembering and worshiping God in all His glory are what the various body parts should be used for. When constitutional activities are absent, or when they are not given highest priority amongst all other behaviors within a daily routine, the body does not get utilized properly. As we saw with the dishwasher, if a machine is misused, there cannot be beneficial results. The miseries we see around us are due only to forgetfulness of God, a transgression which causes every resultant action taken to be unnatural.

But to understand that we are not our body is very difficult. How is it possible to realize that every aspect of our outer covering is simply dead matter that doesn’t represent who we are? The example often cited by wonderful and kind devotees like His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to properly convey the principle of true identity relates to the hands and the stomach. The hands are very useful body parts capable of doing so many things. For the kshatriyas, the warrior class of men, the hands can be used for fighting, performing religious sacrifices, and giving in charity. Though a military man has many responsibilities pertaining to the defense of the innocent, his hands are still capable of bringing tangible benefits and carrying out prescribed duties in so many other areas of activity. The stomach, on the other hand, has the specific role of distributing the nutrients found in food to the rest of the body. Though the stomach seems to work involuntarily, its functions are regulated by the workings of nature, which dictate how material elements interact. As soon as food is ingested, the stomach knows just where to redirect the relevant nutrients.

What would happen if the hand decided that it was going to enjoy food for itself? The hand is equally as related to the body as the stomach is, so why should it be deprived of enjoying sumptuous food? Obviously this mindset is silly, for the hand’s constitutional position in eating is to serve the owner of the body by taking food and placing it into the mouth. In the absence of real knowledge of the way that food should be ingested, the hand would simply touch and hold food and do nothing else. Therefore there would never be any tangible benefit received.

The hands and stomach are attached to the body, so it is a little difficult to understand that they are separate from the individual. But what if we took the example of something similar to a hand, like a spoon? Say that the hand decided to hold a spoon and use it to pick up food and bring it to the mouth. When the spoon is attached to the body, it essentially becomes one with the individual, an appendage to the machine occupied by the soul. If the spoon decided to act outside of its intended functions, such as by writing, holding weapons, performing sacrifices, or lifting objects heavier than normal food portions, there would be no benefit to the body. The spoon can even be renounced without the individual being affected at all.

All of the body parts work in the same way, including the mind. Every aspect of the outer covering of the soul is a temporary manifestation of matter. The soul is given the giant machine known as the body to gain release from the cycle of birth and death. The human form of life is considered the most auspicious because only a human being can understand the high concepts that explain the differences between matter and spirit. The animal will forever think that its hands and legs form its identity. It is seen that a human being can survive after losing a hand or a leg; thus how can identity be taken from the body? Prosthetic limbs can perform many of the same functions as the original body parts, so there should be no difficulty in understanding that we are spirit soul, aham brahmasmi.

“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.22)

When the body parts act in the interests of maintaining the foremost characteristic of the soul, its sanatana dharma, there is no question of unhappiness or distress. The residents of Goloka Vrindavana, which is situated in the spiritual sky, best exemplify what the proper course of action looks like and what comes as a result of being wholly conscious of the Supreme Lord. The original fire of spiritual energy is known by many names in the numerous spiritual traditions around the world, but the Vedas proclaim that the two names “Krishna” and “Rama” best describe and address that Supreme Being. Krishna is the most attractive entity in all the universes. He is of a bluish complexion and is exquisitely beautiful. Just one look at His smiling face is enough to destroy the pride of the living entity deluded by the forces of nature. Dharma can be reinstated in just one second through a pure, loving sentiment directed at the Supreme Lord. Rama describes God’s ability to provide the most intense transcendental pleasure to the individual souls. This name is also used to address Krishna’s expansion as the warrior prince Lord Rama, who roamed this earth many thousands of years ago.

The non-different forms of Godhead are many, but the original personality never changes. Anyone who is devoted to God in thought, word and deed will never have to worry about the damaging effects of using the various aspects of material nature incorrectly. The residents in the spiritual land of Vrindavana always work for Krishna’s pleasure. Everyone there is wholly deferent to their specific mood of worship, the relationship they have established with Govinda, the pleasure giver to the senses and the cows. Normally we think of service as requiring a respectful attitude, where the servant doesn’t speak up and strictly follows all the orders given by the master. In the spiritual land, the service mentality can follow many different rasas, or transcendental mellows. The work of a devotee acting as Krishna’s parent is different from the actions undertaken by Krishna’s friend, but the mood of love and devotion is the same. The mother sometimes chastises Krishna and treats Him as if He were helpless, while the friend views the Lord as an equal, a confidante whose company should never be renounced.

All of these relationships can be established by any person residing in the material world through commitment to bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. Chanting the names of the Lord found in the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, is the bedrock of real yoga. Material nature is only illusory and the source of misery for as long as its various components are used improperly. When the bhakti mindset is adopted, all the parts of the machine known as the body can be used to reach the param dhama, the ultimate destination of the Supreme Abode belonging to the Supreme Person

Keep the Home Fires Burning

“If you wish to light both your inside and outside, place the jewel-decorated lamp of Shri Rama’s holy name at the doorway of your mouth, says Tulsi.” (Dohavali, 6)

rāma nāma manīdīpa dharu jīha deharī dvāra |

tulasī bhītara bāharehum̐ jauṃ cāhasi ujiyāra ||

It’s a dark night. You’ve been on the road for a long time, and you’re looking for a place to provide some comfort, protection and relief from the distresses of your journey. It’s late at night, so visibility is not so good. You pass by many houses, but the glaring indication of an inviting abode, the sign you are looking for, is the lamp burning outside the home. This light can come in the form of a street light or a nice set of candles. Indeed, one who keeps a lamp studded with many jewels, or manidipa, at their doorstep signals that their home is a refuge for anyone seeking it. The light in the front not only burns brightly on the outside, but it shows that there is a light shining inside of the home as well, where warmth, succor, food, drink and shelter can be found. The lit lamp outside the home serves as an open invitation for stranger and friend alike to come and be greeted with a smiling face. In a similar manner, one who chants the holy name of Shri Rama, keeping the non-different expansion of the Supreme Spirit on the tip of their tongue, lights up both their outside and inside. The tongue, as the instrument for speech, serves as the gateway to the soul, allowing for an individual’s character, nature, demeanor, and most importantly, consciousness, to be observed, studied and relished by others. Anyone who regularly chants the Lord’s name will keep both their inside and outside fully lit with transcendental bliss.

Why is chanting the holy name so important? Aren’t there other ways to decipher a person’s consciousness? Can’t we look at their face and tell what their mood is? According to the Vedic authorities, those who spend time in samadhi, or divine trance, contemplating and understanding the highest truths of life passed down by their predecessors, the name of the Supreme Spirit is the most powerful incarnation, especially in this age. Though there is a wide variety of opinion on theology - with some believing that man invented God to cope with the realization of his impending death, and others sternly chastising those who don’t accept the benevolence of a particular savior - the Vedic opinion, one which is based on the authority of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is that the properties of spirit and their relationship to a higher power never change. Rather, the soul remains eternally blissful and knowledgeable, though when placed in a temporary covering composed of inhibiting elements, remembrance of the intrinsic properties gets temporarily lost. This ignorance then leads to a complete forgetfulness of the relationship with the more powerful spiritual entity, the Supersoul, the direct manifestation of God residing within the heart. Not only is the relationship to God always ready to be reestablished, but it is the only link that allows the natural desire to love and provide service to be fully acted upon. God’s true position, His feature that brings Him universal appeal and worthiness of being worshiped, is that of best friend to all life forms. Our friends are those with whom we voluntarily engage in sportive pastimes and talks. In this respect the relationship with the Lord is no different, as there are various rasas, or transcendental mellows, that provide pleasure to the liking of the individual.

Yet due to the ignorance enveloping the phenomenal world, the land where material elements cloud the natural torchlight of knowledge found in spirit, not only is the inherent relationship with the Supreme Lord - whose most complete and original feature is that of Shri Krishna, the all-attractive divine figure - forgotten, but the realization of the true purpose in life also remains far away. Therefore only in the conditioned state is a person advised to take to various rules, regulations and procedures of theistic traditions to rediscover their inherent knowledgebase. One who is properly educated can then learn how to make use of all of their valuable tools and abilities. Of all the organs in the body, the tongue is arguably the most important to control, as it can lead to great pain and heartache when not used properly. In ignorance of Krishna’s grand nature and open offer for transcendental love, the tongue takes to worshiping mundane objects such as animal flesh and wine. Enjoyments relating to food and drink are vehicles to satisfy the incessant desires of the material senses. These desires are compared to the raging river which constantly pours into a giant ocean. No matter how many waves rush in, the ocean is never filled completely; hence it continually accepts an inflow of water. Since the tongue is never satisfied in material endeavors, it acts to further bind the lost soul in an endless cycle of misery, wherein the hope for happiness remains bright, but satiation is never achieved.

“Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is a yogi and is happy in this world.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 5.23)

The conditioned soul is deemed lost because his original home is in the spiritual land, where he has God’s direct association. Some may not want to worship Krishna, as they may take Him to be a sectarian figure and not the original form of God. Fear not, however, as the Lord is not so unkind as to insist on worship of only His original form. Indeed, He takes to many other personal expansions, all of which are spiritual in nature and can thus provide liberation, satisfaction and spiritual fulfillment. Lord Rama, the pious prince of Ayodhya, is one such non-different divine form who is kind enough to appear on earth every now and then. Since the name Rama means one who gives transcendental pleasure, anyone who chants it regularly, like GoswamiTulsidas, will forever swim in the ocean of transcendental bliss. Maharishi Valmiki accurately notes that devotees of Rama, those who have turned their back on material life and engaged their tongue solely in chanting Rama’s name and glorifying Him, take tremendous satisfaction in hearing of the Lord’s pastimes. Their hearing of Rama’s glories and pastimes can also be compared to rivers raging into the ocean. While in material life the constant flow of desires is considered detrimental because the ocean representing the satisfaction of the individual never gets filled to the brim, in spiritual life the effect of the same result is reversed. The waves of desire, when taking the form of Rama’s pastimes, also fail to fill up the ocean of spiritual satisfaction in the devotee, but this is a great thing because it means that there is more and more desire to hear of God’s glories. The bhakta, or devotee, never tires of practicing bhakti, as divine love is the original engagement for the soul, something which defines the spiritual spark’s very existence.

The secret in the holy name is that hearing it automatically evokes memories and consciousness of God’s forms, attributes and pastimes. The other aspects of the divine, such as the visible form known as the deity, or saguna manifestation, God’s qualities and His sportive exploits, don’t necessarily evoke sentiments of other aspects when heard or seen. For instance, seeing the deity in the temple doesn’t automatically remind the observer of divine pastimes or the Lord’s name. Those who are unable to understand or accept the path of bhakti but are still interested in learning about the Absolute Truth remain stuck on the nirgunaplatform, where the Lord is viewed as not having a form. Nirguna and saguna are Vedic terms that describe how the conditioned entities, those whose eyes have not yet been properly trained to see the divine influence everywhere, view the Supreme Lord. Nirguna means “without qualities” and saguna means “with qualities”. Regardless of how anyone sees Him, God always remains transcendentally situated and fully formed with spiritual attributes and qualities that are incomprehensible in their magnitude.

One who cannot understand Krishna’s all-pervading and transcendental nature takes the Absolute Truth to be formless. This mindset, where all that can be understood is nirguna, represents an incomplete realization. Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the exalted Vaishnava acharya, astutely observes that the impersonal feature of the Lord known as Brahman is not an object. Therefore there is no benefit to taking it to be the highest manifestation of the Truth. A person’s ultimate conclusion in life determines their activities, which then shape consciousness. This consciousness then determines the future destination of the soul. If one’s mind is fixed on the impersonal aspect, the perceived nirguna form, the soul merges into the light of Truth that is Brahman at the end of life. Since Brahman is not even an object, as it lacks names, forms, attributes and pastimes, there cannot be any tangible benefit for the merged soul. Upon entering the light of Brahman, identity is immediately lost, and the potential for divine service remains untapped.

By the same token, taking the saguna form - which is the deity or the vision of the incarnation, or avatara – as the highest understanding also shows some immaturity in thought. Saguna worship is definitely superior to nirguna understanding, because one who thinks that the Lord is formless essentially takes man to be no different than God, as the spirit soul is also without a material form. This narrow viewpoint can then lead to the nadir of material existence, the lowest point, the most detrimental mindset of “I am God”. Saguna worship at least has some benefits to it in that the spiritual attributes and personal nature of the Lord are understood. Yet one who only worships saguna without understanding higher truths might be mistaken to believe that God only exists in His specific worshiped form or that He only resides in the temple. Indeed, as one who is antaryami, or the all-pervading witness, God’s influence is everywhere. The Supersoul, the expansion of the Supreme Spirit residing within the heart, validates this fact. The Supreme Lord is everywhere, and His personal influence is not limited to His deity form or the vigrahasof His various personal expansions, including that of His original form.

The holy name is the gateway to freedom, the lamp decorated with jewels that lights the devotee up from both within and without. Since the holy name is a direct incarnation, it pervades all aspects of material life. The name allows the bhakta to remember and worship God without any restriction or limitation. Time, space and outside influences cannot ever stop the devotee from their dedication to bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. At the very least, even if one finds themselves in a very distressful situation, the name of the Lord is there to shield them from pain and suffering. Indeed, great devotees like Prahlada Maharaja and Draupadi, who found themselves in dire circumstances on a few occasions, simply remembered the holy name and were saved from all calamity.

Just as the burning lamp outside the home hints at the warmth and friendliness of the residents, the devotee who keeps the jewel lamp of Rama’s name on their tongue will shine their transcendental qualities onto others. When we see pictures of ShriHanuman chanting Rama’s name, he is always happy. As his whole body is beaming with transcendental love, he becomes a true object of worship, a person whose association brings alleviation from the most acute pain and suffering experienced in this world; hence one of Hanuman’s names is Sankat Mochan. Hanumanji was very influential on Tulsidas, as he provided the saint counsel and spiritual strength. Tulsidas is a direct representative of Hanuman, so the prescriptions he provides are flawless in every way.

By not chanting God’s name on a regular basis, both the inside and outside of the body remain in darkness. On the inside, the natural knowledge of the soul remains covered up by a wall of nescience. As a result, there is hesitancy at every step, with second guessing and constant worry over what course of action should be taken. On the outside, the internal ignorance shows when the individual becomes protective of their own interests and takes others to be enemies. When lacking a spiritually situated consciousness, the human being is no different than the animal. Not all animals are venomous or predatory, but due to their ignorance, the animal kingdom is unable to think beyond the basic necessities of the body, which include eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The true advantage of the human form of life is the higher potential for gathering the spiritual variety of intelligence, which can bring about the highest gain.

When the inside of the body is lit up with love and devotion for God, one’s consciousness becomes purified. From this illumination come constitutional activities, the collection of which makes up the discipline of devotional service. One who takes to bhakti as their way of life automatically becomes the greatest welfare worker, the shelter for those needing it. The Vaishnava acharyas all recommend this process of chanting the holy name, and instead of wondering what all the fuss is about, if we actually heed their kind advice, we too can beam with transcendental wisdom and emotional satisfaction at all times of the day. Lord Chaitanya, the celebrated incarnation of Krishna appearing on earth some five hundred years ago, established the tradition of chanting the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, at least sixteen rounds a day on a set of japa beads. Even if we take to this chanting routine begrudgingly, simply applying a little force to the mind, convincing it of the worthiness of the process, the benefits will still come. The names of Rama and Krishna are ever powerful, as they represent the only jewel lamps that never require fuel and can never burn out. Anyone who holds on to this light and keeps it by the doorway of the mouth will have all auspiciousness and be the reservoir of spiritual energy for anyone who kindly approaches them.