It is said that the perfect yogi can relinquish his body at death and journey, at the speed of mind, to antimaterial planets far beyond the limits of the material universe. Encompassing the systems of sankhya, astanga and bhakti, this absorbing publication treats the science of yoga, particularly in its application to out-of-body travel.
Learn the easy way to journey through the solar system. Using subtle, spiritual energy you can travel to other planets and see the wonders of god's creation. Or you can choose to travel beyond the material creation to your eternal home with krishna. Easy Journey To Other Planets, By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, gives a bird's-eye view of the vast cosmos and spiritual world, so you can intelligently choose your travel destination.
His Divine Grace Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (अभय चरणारविन्द भक्तिवेदान्त स्वामी प्रभुपाद)was born as Abhay Charan De on 1 September 1896 in Calcutta, India.
He first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, a prominent devotional scholar and the founder of sixty-four branches of Gaudiya Mathas (Vedic institutes), liked this educated young man and convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge in the Western world. Srila Prabhupada became his student, and eleven years later (1933) at Allahabad, he became his formally initiated disciple.
At their first meeting, in 1922, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge through the English language. In the years that followed, Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita and in 1944, without assistance, started an English fortnightly magazine.
In the last ten years of his life, in spite of his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe twelve times on lecture tours that have took him to six continents. In spite of such a vigorous schedule, Srila Prabhupada continued to write prolifically. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.
A random monk on campus gave this to me so I figured why not give it a try since it's so short. So much of the science that they tried to use was completely misconstrued or blatantly false. It was hard not to laugh. I wish I could've learned to journey to other planets though.
What the author thinks of his own premise: "The real problem is how to get free of birth, death, old age and disease. This cannot be solved by simply wasting time traveling within this universe. Even if one goes to the highest planet, this problem cannot be solved, for there is death everywhere."
Maybe the most frustrating passage I've read in years: "If one wants to go there, he must simply become Kṛṣṇa conscious and try to understand how Kṛṣṇa appears and disappears, what His constitutional position is, what our constitutional position is, what our relationship with Him is, and how to live." HOW?!! He goes on, irritatingly: "Simply try to understand these ideas scientifically. Everything in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is scientific. It is not bogus, whimsical, sentimental, fanatical or imaginary. It is truth, fact, reality. One must understand Kṛṣṇa in truth." Really? No doubt at all? How do we DO any of the things you say must be done? How does drumming in the street and letting vegetarian food get cold in front of a statue you poured honey on all morning before sunrise accomplish anything? It's not fanatical or imaginary to rely on something as old as the Vedas to confirm what are recent discoveries? Why wasn't space travel possible in India for 5000 years if Sanskrit texts are the "True Source" of knowledge about this?
Plus, what is worse -- I wanted to see Saturn and you lied to me.
We are living in an age where scientists have just started to scratch the surface of cosmology and intergalactic travel... Though there are many interesting hypotheses in this regard, any practical advancement in these fields are yet to be seen.. in such contrast this book provides whole new level of facts and theories which were not only known but also practised by people of bygone ages... Although based on the discovery of antimatter, this book in no way refers to the limited version and definitions given by mundane scientists. This book only suggests that what a full scope of an Antimaterial particle should be, and since the idea of another universe is now familiar with the science, scientists may appreciate the profound knowledge of world and matter already described in scriptures which have non of the materialistic properties... All the technical aspects like multi universe, probability of life elsewhere, and suitability of habitable conditions in alien worlds are duly found In prabhupada's description... I hope that someday scientists will recognize it's significance and consider this book a lead for their endeavors...
A monk gave me this book, and I decided to read the whole damn thing. It was a chore. The author claims to be a scientist, but doesn't understand what science is or how it works. Much of the book is essentially "here is what scientists say about space travel, but we can ignore that because the Bhagavad Gita already tells us everything we need to know." Sadly the "here is what scientists say" part is consistently wildly off base.
It's like the author read just a headline of a science breakthrough in a newspaper, but misunderstood the meaning. And then he argues against those details. So I found myself wanting to talk back to the author, saying "no, that's really not what scientists mean by subatomic particles" or "that isn't how the scientific method works" or "you clearly don't understand what the astronauts were trying to do."
This tiny book is basically a non-compelling advertisement for the author's translation of the Bhagavad Gita. I can't recommend it in any way.
Newspaper headlines read, "Man's First Steps on the Moon", but the reporters do not know that millions and millions of men went there and came back. This is not for the first time. This is an ancient practice. In the Bhagavad Gita(8.16) it is clearly stated, 'abrahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino arjuna:' "My dear Arjuna, even if you go to the highest planetary system, which is called Brahmaloka, you will have to come back." Therefore, interplanetary travel is not new. It is in known to the Krsna Conscious devotees.
The Krishna Consciousness system has so nicely been described in this book, in relevance with science and astronomy and then with Bhakti Yoga, for interplanetary travels and positioning oneself permanently in the Transcendental Adobe in a suitable Transcendental body.
It’s actually a very interesting read. I went into this not knowing anything and now I feel I know a lot more about Hare Krishna and the religious beliefs.
It just doesn't resonate with any aspect of my current being, or any philosophical, or religious thought I used to, or still care about.
Bonus point goes to quite an elegant solution to the problem of suicide (though this is not Prabhupada's solution but let's not go there now). One of those problems that keep rearing it's head every time you paint this world as a world of drab existence, pain and suffering galore, and all sorts of horrendous things.
Christianity tackles it by simply saying it's a sin - you do that, you refuse the gift of God, thus angering him, and you end up in Hell. Try to escape this bleak existence before your time, and you'll be punished. Christianity is big on punishments. Eternal ones, of course. Is there any other kind?
Vedantic thought is much more elegant in this one. Want to escape the pains of getting old, dying, living, generally existing? Sure, you can cut it short but, sadly, the mechanism is such that cutting it short doesn't really do anything. You'll still be reborn and do the whole ordeal once more.
You can break this cycle and here's the handy handbook on how to do it.
Sadly, much of it is drivel. To me.
But, as Madonna once said, "I am a material girl".
I allow for the notion that some other reader of this might not be.
This book was interesting but it wasn't what I would call well written. Maybe they had trouble with the translation and that would explain some of the problems this book has, but it doesn't explain all of them.
The author engaged in some wordplay regarding anti-matter vs non-matter (meaning non material), and while he obviously knows the difference he kept mixing up the terms in what sounded like a self-gratifying and immature attempt to poke fun at western science. I'm sure he knows better so while I'm only guessing at his motivation in mixing up the terms even after explaining the difference I can't think of a good reason for him to have done this.
In some places he sounded similar to Edgar Cayce when discussing life on other planets, and he included some interesting quotes from the Bhavagad Gita and other old texts. So if you don't know anything about A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada or his beliefs this might interest you. But if you are looking for a quick way to visit other planets his advice is to find a qualified yogi and do whatever he says for as long as he says and then eventually maybe you will be able to do that. So the title is misleading, self-serving, even false advertising. I won't be reading anything else by this guy.
A terrible book which spouts bizzare spiritual assertions from the Gita and Vedic scriptures without even trying to back any of it up either logically or emotionally or anything. Just one strong assertion after the other but done whilst criticizing and demeaning everybody who may disagree. The book also includes strawmanning scientists and putting words in their mouths, lying about what they believe.
I read this while already familiar with some Hinduism and in general eastern spiritual belief. I've already read some Watts and Ram Dass who take these fascinating concepts and explain/teach them in ways for us to comprehend using often psychology, scientific references or just life.
This does nothing. The book is arrogant and ignorant. It's meant for beginners but teaches absolutely nothing other than a small overview of how ISKCON works.
Giving it a 2/5 instead of a 1 because I found it interesting how somebody could write all of this, re read it and think "yep lets publish this". There were also several print and grammar issues in my Croatian translation but whatever.
A Very Intelligent Book and a Saving Grace of God.
All books by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada are beyond doubt the highest nectar available in book form and all should be read hungrily though calmly by anyone who is serious about improving their life and the prospects for their next life. This was the 1st book about Krishna Consciousness I ever read way back in the early 1980s and it is always a pleasure to re-read it at any time. Hare Krishna to you all.
The title of the book is slightly misleading. One may pick up this book with the hope that there would be expositions/theories on how to travel to Other Planets, but the main content and motive of the text is everything but that. There is a recurrent exhortation on how to renounce the desire to travel to higher planets and aim for the 'eternal' (Sanatan) abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna through the Krishna Consciousness movement.
In the beginning few pages, the author seems to have confused antimatter with non-physical matter which is understandable since the science of particle physics was not quite widely known at the time this book was written.
The spiritual message of the book is significant and wholesome. Time and time again, we come across passages to induce vairagya (dispassion) in a sincere spiritual aspirant and to aim directly for God. Some of the disciplines laid down in the first chapter to be adopted in life to reach that goal were interesting and inspiring.
All in all, it was a good read. Recommended for all with a spiritual bend of mind.
This book was kindly given as a gift. As I wasn’t particularly reading much at the time, I thought it was a good start to read again as this book is so thin. I think it’s achieved my fuel to read again… so a star for that 🌟
As I read this book I realised this book isn’t suited for me particularly as I don’t care much for spiritually travelling and all that cool stuff so my ratings are quite irrelevant.
It was clear this book definitely doesn’t discuss an easy journey to other planets and is quite complex. It briefly goes into details about deep stuff but only touches the surface. However, I think that’s expected for a small book. Overall, the many topics it goes into isn’t well suited for a short book.
On the other hand, it mention and quotes from the Bhagavad-gītā and simplifies and explains it which I greatly appreciate! It does provide wisdom and interesting perspectives 🌟🌟
It’s not the easiest book to read and I think I need some more experience with books like this before I read this again.
Quote of the book “God isn’t cheap” - love the unintentional sass 💅
Not a particularly my cup of tea but there were some very interesting ideas. For example the idea of two distinct universes - one immaterial and the other material are quiet thought-provoking or the ideo of transcendental travelling to other planets but I did not enjoy the way it was written at all. The author seemed to be trying to convince me that Hinduism has already found all the answers to life and people just have to accept them. And why is that? Oh, cause it's written in the Vedas, right... And I would say that the name of the book is quite misleading, as well. The only real advice you get is to find a yogi master and completely follow his guiding. That was a little disappointing. But hey, I'm sure there's plenty of people who like it, so give it a go.
Interesting little booklet. I was familiar with some of the ideas expressed in here but this helped give some extra information and background. For example, I have heard of the Bhagavad Gita because of my yoga practice, but I don’t know much about the texts and this little book taught me some new things. I have also read about connections between ancient Asian philosophies and modern science but I was not aware of the concept of anti matter as discussed in the Bhagavad Gita. There is some standard boring religious dogma in here but overall the concepts are fairly interesting. Would recommend for those who are interested in learning more about yoga and transcendence, or would like to be exposed to new ideas even if you don’t agree with or understand it all (I don’t).
The best book .This gives the bird's eye view...its 100% true...most of people haven't understood what this book really wants to tell.It's due lack of understanding not the book's or author's mistakes. The vedas are the only supreme science,always perfect;not this so called modern science. 😇JAI SRILA PRABHUPADA 😇🙏🙇♀️
These 66 succinct pages contain life-altering advice for those ready to awaken and activate their higher calling. It’s amazing how simple the solutions to the complex actually are and how easy it is to believe they don’t exist. If you’re tired of living in a world that defaults to sadness and materialism, wake up and learn how to untether yourself from it. See you in the stars. 🤩
This books talks about the journey but did not talk about the first step (Identity - Who am I?). The content is great for the person who discovered himself (realized that he is the atma - in relation with paramatma)
Good book to understand difference between material (aka Pudgal or matter or non-living) and anti-material (aka Jeeva or soul or atman or living) and provides significant knowledge...
The only reason I am giving this book 2 stars is because it did spark an interest in me to learn more about Hinduism. The title is very misleading. I am no more knowledgeable about how to journey to other planets than before I read this book.
It's fine. Maybe I should've read some background stuff beforehand to gain context, but it was just kind of thickly worded while repeating the same concepts. However, the concepts themselves were interesting, even though there were very few of them.