Kali_Upasaka

Shakthism basically follows Sankhya/Yoga philosophy. Prakrithi and Purusha. The Sankya/Yoga principles are embodied in the Bhagavad Gita also.

I understand now. Nitai's posting also explained matters. Just for your information. One of the most prominent Saktha Tantric school follows Vishitaadvaita philosophy. They do not call it that because of the association of the Vishitaadvaita to Vishnu. Do not ask the name of the Sampradhaya because I do not want members hounding me.

One of the options you have is to keep the Yantra in a shelf or niche in your bed room. Some clean and exclusive place. You can offer worship there as per the suggestions of your astrologer. If you can not do that, the best way of disposing of any Yantra is to consign it in a river.

It takes real courage on the part of anyone to apologize openly for past mistakes. This is part of our evolution to a better self. The way to become a real Bhaktha. All of us have to undergo the process. I am sure most of members would be appreciative of your present thoughts.

There are many questions regarding Hinduism specifically certain events in the Itihasas and Puranas which have been raised over centuries. Some of the more important ones are 1. Sita's Agni Pravesam. 2. Leaving Sita in the forest in Uttara ramayana. 3. Killing of Vali. 4. Krishna's advice to Arjuna on the battle field. 5. Treatment of Karna and so on. Now there are many ways of handling such questions. 1. Ignore them. Not possible when you are giving a lecture on Hinduism. 2. Deny everything. Ask the questioner to read the scriptures. Blame it on the interpretations. Blame the English translation. These two ways were adapted by the Purohit community. Any question was considered as an insult to Hinduism and The Gods. This attitude is being adapted by some of the members of this forum. These people did it in real life also for centuries and were largely responsible for conversion of even educated people to other religions. 3. Claim that since Gods are divine, they could do no wrong. This is the attitude of many Bhakthas. The only problem with this is that the conversation in real life will come to an end. If you are trying to convince anyone about the Hindu values, this will have a negative effect. 4. Give a reasonable answer. In the last 50 years Hindus have been able to answer these questions. When you are faced with an audience especially college students, you have to be prepared for such questions and answer them in a convincing way. The search results regarding Sita's Agni Pravesam gives links to different web sites, which have explained this in different ways. The answers to all the questions stated above are available in books. Some of the answers have been put up in web sites, and some in blogs. Hindus especially the Westerners should be aware of the answers to these questions, because most of these involve a question of ethical values.

"sita agni pariksha". This word in google returns 39100 hits. http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=sita+agni+pariksha&aq=0s&oq=sita%27s+agni&aqi=g%3As1&fp=JJ2lHziMUzc Krishna kidnaps Rukmani http://krsnabook.com/ch53.html Arjuna wanted to lay down his arms at the beginning of the Kurukshetra war. Lord Krishna advises him about his duties. This is the beginning of Bhagavad Gita. Now my learned friend wants everyone to believe that these never happened and wants us to study Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Yes. Because these questions even if asked by a devout Hindu can not be answered in a forum like this. Please see this discussions http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/spiritual-discussions/453461-did-krishna-advocate-mass-murder.html The same posters posting similar views. A number of threads have been started by agent provocateurs. http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/spiritual-discussions/454136-human-body-built-eat-animals-also-explained-muslim.html http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/spiritual-discussions/454135-hinduisme-explained-muslim-similarities-both.html So let us ignore such threads entirely.

These questions are not motivated by an eagerness to learn. The wording of the questions shows that. But similar questions have been asked by devout Hindus and have been answered by Acharyas. Rama's conduct towards Sita and Krishna's conduct during the Kurukshetra war have been analyzed and appropriate explanations have been given. A straight denial is not appropriate. The usual exhortation of the Brahmins/Purohits to study the scriptures (whenever they are asked inconvenient questions for which they do not know the answer) does not get us anywhere. The reply by Jahnava Nitai Das is the right one.

Mr. Tenali. About 3000 years back, a Greek Philosopher answered a question "Why do Gods do ungodly things?". This was with reference to the Gods in the Greek epics. But you will get your answer there. Do go to the library and read the answer. It is not available on the net. I do not even remember the name of the Philosopher. Greek Philosophy answers many questions which are raised about Hinduism.

It is Friday only in South India. It is Thursday in Bengal.

No. Sir. Definitely not. I do not call anyone a fake. I am not qualified to judge. I do not question anyone's belief. Again Who am I to judge?

sant. A frank question. Why are you guys, so Avathara phobic. I consider all of them as Saints. I believe only in Dasa Avathara, the original Avatharas. No Godmen/Godwomen, Avatharas for me. Makes life simple.

Our Goal is Love is the heading of the discussions. You do not reach the Goal by propagating hate against others. The Abrahamic religions are known for insisting that their way is the only way. Are you going that way? Think.

The novel "The Drifters" by James Michener gives an idea of the times. Of course in India the orthodoxy frowned down upon the flower people. They were called Hippies. People who are devoted to the religion of money could not even begin to understand what was happening. We know what sort of names the Hare Krishna people were called when Srila Prabhupada started the Krishna Consciousness movement. To some extent the counter culture movement of the sixties did help the growth of the Krishna Consciousness movement later.

There are a couple of glaring fallacies in your racial theory. No sane person would believe that all South Indians belong to the same race. Negroid/Australoid as you claim. Anyone who has been to South India will confirm this. You do not need DNA profiling for this. Even DNA profiling has not confirmed that all South Indians or for that matter all Tamilians belong to the same race. The people of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka the other South Indian states are not at all keen to be called Dravidians. They want to emphasize their affinity with the Sanskritic Hindu culture. A study of the races of West Bengal claims that about 40% of the population there are Dravidian. According to the study the vast majority are Dravidian and Assyric. Caldwell the Christian Bishop, on whose scholarly work on Linguistics you base your racial theory, took the word Dravida from the Puranas. The term Dravida meant the country south of the Vindhyas and not a race. Ravana was the son of a Brahmin Rishi and thus a Brahmin. He was a Sanskrit scholar who wrote the famous Shiva Thandava Stotra. His mother was a Asura princess. Please read about Ravana before posting such racial claims that Ravana was a Dravidian.

This is not a Mantra at all. It is one of the concluding verses of the Argala Stotra. If you want the benefit please recite the entire Argala Stotra. The 700 verses of Devi Mahatmyam are considered mantras. It dees not include Kavacha, Keelaka, Argala Stotra.

Yes. You can. These are Stotras which do not require initiation. MAA Bless you.

This claim is made by the East, West and North also. Ask any Pundit in Banares. Durga Sapthasathi is the basic text of the Sakthas. South is mostly Vaidic. Sakthism is mostly Tantric as are most of the Mantras in use.

Sadasiva is the ultimate Guru. Generally Mantras which are recited for any particular purpose need initiation. But if the mantra is recited only for spiritual advancement, then you do not need initiation. In Bengal everyone reeds Sapthasathi without any initiation. In fact it is more popular in Bengal than in South India. Every Bengali knows Sri Sri Chandi as Durga Sapthasathi is called in Bengal. The beliefs in Bengal are different from those in South India. So there is no correct answer to your question. Durgaputra put it correctly. Do not play around with Mantras.

I do not think you have traveled in the countryside of U.P, Bihar and West Bengal. Have you ever met a North Indian from a village? Please do that and check up whether your assumption of all North Indians being light skinned is true. Please do not post political propaganda in this forum.

I do not understand. You say you are attracted towards Maa Durga. Then you do seem to be reluctant to go to a Kali temple. Then you say you find Ramanuja's teachings make more sense. You seem to be confused between Philosophy and religion. Whenever we visit a temple it is the Deity which attracts us and not the philosophy followed by the people who manage the temple. Philosophy has nothing to do with temples.

Mantra form needs initiation by a qualified Guru. You have to learn the Nyasa and other procedures also. The stotra form is itself very powerful. Does not need initiation. Please recite the stotra form. MAA Bless you.

When I saw this post I was reminded of the Pandas (or Pundits as their Yajamanas call them) who I meet daily in the temple. To these people the only way to get GOD's blessings is through them. Everything else is non-Hindu and atheist. The Brahmin Priests and Purohits have turned Hinduism over thousands of years into a lucrative profession. The Priests insist that the only way to salvation is through their good offices. And the amount of Dakshina given to them determines your benefit. The Purohits again are more insistent on the Dakshina and feeding of the Brahmins than the actual ritual. Anything done against their wishes, GOD will curse you. Your ancestors will curse you. I do not have to add more because every Hindu has suffered at the hand of these people sometime or the other. This class of people form only a very small segment even among the Brahmins. But they are very vocal and they do have the support of the organized religion, though it is waning now. Most of the reform movements in Hinduism were motivated to get Hinduism out of the clutches of this class of people. They have opposed every reformation in the Hindu religion because it will weaken their hold. They have opposed all the Saints, Acharyas and Bhakthas. You, Sir, belong to this class. Malice towards one and all is the motto of this class. Intolerance is the ideal.

Someone talking about Woodstock and the 1960s! That takes me back to the days when I was in College and at least then considered myself to be part of the Peace crowd. But was there Peace then? NO. The entire movement originated with our frustrations over the Vietnam War. And the Black liberation movement. I was out of college during the time of the Woodstock festival. It was later called Counter Culture. Traveling to India and experimenting with LSD and Gurus. There was no Peace at that time. We were searching for Peace. The flower people have been called Drifters. I would prefer the term Seekers. The search continues. Like the search for Sangrila. We shall overcome We shall overcome We shall overcome some day Oh, deep in my heart I do believe We shall overcome some day

Go easy on your Guru hunting. I did that for more than a decade. But then I got a Guru when I had almost given up all hope. So you will find a Guru at the right time. Abnormal experience? Risky business. Most of it are drug induced states. You could get extraordinary experiences anywhere. Banares, Brindavan, Haridwar/Rishikesh. These places vibrate. You feel the vibrations. But be on your guard. There one too many charlatans around looking for a gullible foreigner.