'BEST JOB' WINNER STUNG BY DANGEROUS JELLYFISH

MAN WITH WORLD'S 'BEST JOB' AS CARETAKER OF
TROPICAL ISLAND SURVIVES DEADLY JELLYFISH STING

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) - Ben Southall, the British winner of the Best Job in the World competition, has discovered that life in paradise can sometimes turn ugly, and rather painful. Just days away from the end of his six-month stint as "caretaker" of Hamilton Island in Queensland, Mr Southall was stung by a deadly Irukandji jellyfish. Ben Southall wrote in his online diary that he was lucky to have survived his brush with the extremely venomous Irukandji jellyfish. In his blog, which he keeps as part of his job, he describes the incident as "a little sting on the beach". But it was his progressive symptoms of fever, headache, lower back pain, chest tightness and high blood pressure that led doctors to diagnose the sting. "I thought I'd done particularly well at avoiding any contact with any of the dangerous critters that consider this part of the world their home," Mr Southall said.

"I've avoided being boxed by a kangaroo, nibbled by a shark and bitten by a spider or a snake - but then in my final few days on Hamilton Island I fell foul of a miniscule little creature known as an Irukandji," his blog continues. The jellyfish is virtually invisible to the naked eye and can be deadly - in 2002 two tourists died after being stung. It is so small it can pass through the nets that protect popular swimming spots in Queensland from larger jellyfish. But Mr Southall - who has fully recovered after a dose of antibiotics and rest - admitted that he had been inadequately dressed for the excursion. "I had a couple of injections which immediately took away the uncomfortable pain I was feeling." He has learned his lesson: Anyone entering the waters of the Great Barrier Reef is advised to wear a full protective swimming suit, advice that Mr Southall had ignored. Australia is well-known for its myriad deadly creatures, but the peanut-sized Irukandji remains rather mysterious. It is virtually impossible to see and is tiny enough to pass through nets. In 2002, two tourists were killed after being stung by these tiny australian creatures.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

A lack of interest in the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna is the conditioned soul's chief defect. The basis of all sin is ignorance, whose symptom is the rejection of Krishna. The seed of all sin, i.e., the tendency to sin, is present in the flaw of ignorance. From there, sinful activity is inevitable. Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami compares this deficiency in the conditioned jivas to coming under the influence of a witch's spell: “For rejecting Krishna, the witch of illusion punishes the jiva, causing him to suffer the three kinds of misery - adhyatmika, adhibhautika, and adhidaivika. The unfortunate conditioned soul then becomes the slave of his desires and his frustrations, suffering their kicks and abuse. ... ” (Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Madhya 22.13-15).

Śrīla Bhakti Promode Puri Mahārāja :
“Art of Sadhana” - Ch XV: ‘Ignorance means Rejecting the Lord’
http://www.gosai.com/krishna-talk/disciples-mentality.html