Yogkriya

Well, just as the whole forum on "Spiritual discussions" and "Newsletters and Journals For posting regular newsletters related to Hindu philosophy" - is actually only the Hare Krishna forum! ;-)

The problem is - not the scriptures, but their interpretation. You are tryin to find the word Radha there. And since it is not there and you and implying that it is. What is spoken by Lord Brahma?? Brahma spoke a lot of things!! Do you accept that? NO! You don't even accept what Madhavacharya spoke!! And both are your Sampradaya senior most Gurus!! Brahma said that Radha verse? Krishna also spoke a lot of other things that you do not accept! Which is of course not fair. You accept parts of Vedic scriptures and retranslate them with own purport. What was wrong with the original texts. Take Vedas as Vedas. Originals. Chaitanya Charitamrita is not Vedas. So it is indeed not a matter of 'can't' dear brother. It is a matter of 'can't' because you are bounded by certain policies and don't want! Pankaja's venting out steam didn't help him to reveal the source either! Btw, Ramakrishna Paramhansa also used to fall into trance if someone said the word Kali and it was a known fact in Bengal.

I thought Bhava was trying to quote Roop Goswami on the source of his 'revelation'!! Now Pankaja has changed the attention to Sukadeva Goswami! Sukadeva didn't quote Radha specifically in this verse? He wrote that verse and he didn't mention that. This is original. The purport and applied meaning appears later with the gaudiyas. Do you have an earlier translation before Chaitanya period of the same? This "otherwise" explaination is where the manipulation occurs!

Hare Ram!! Rude Krishna bhakta not able to say anything but "suck" words! Why don't you think that Paramatma is also seated in my heart as he is in yours? You surely read that out to others? Lemon is actually not bad, nor is honey!! Very useful!! I advice you the same. Maybe it will help you grow up one day?

Well so u can't reveal the source! What tatva are you talking about. It is an open book for me. If Roop Goswami had his agya chakra open and realized, I can still believe, that he had a vision of Radha!! There are two problems here: 1. If this is the case, then this would be only his experience. If this is only RG's intimate experience with Radha, then how can other acharyas confirm it? It is not like seeing a physical object. 2. Another problem is that Iskcon/Gaudiyas DO NOT accept visions and experiences. As I talked to one learned Iskcon devotee, i was told that realization / visions have no meaning, because then any one can claim that he experienced or saw something. So, you only quote from the scriptures. Even Bhakti Vikas Swami has been cutting pasting a lot of information on the forum from books etc, but none of his own realization. So I understand that this is the way for you. This is not path of Yoga, where you can speak from realized experience. So just quote the necessary! What is the bonafide source of this information?!! Thanks! Hari bol!!

Paramhansa Yogananda a couple of times very clear vision of Lord krishna during deeper meditations. He later helped a skilled artist to draw his portrait how he saw it. This portrait I acquired from SRF headquarters in California and looks very real!! I remember the first time I went to see this, I went with an iskcon devotee of 20 years, and as soon as she saw this picture on the wall, she almost well into an ecstatic trance!! And said that THIS IS Krishna!! Later she did everything to acquire it and put on her altar!! Iskcon portraits / paintings are very beautiful too, but a bit dreamy! But it depends what picture you feel a real contact with, you should keep that one as your favorite! Krishna was shyam color. Have you seen shyam Tulasi? Not exactly blue!

Wonderful event !! All glories to Lord Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra!!

Simply because man in this age has become weak spiritually and has lost his strength to see them. Demi-Gods do not have a gross physical body. Your vision is mostly limited to seeing physical objects and sometimes you may have visions in dreams etc. But you can develop and activate your inner vision by specific sadhnas and practices to see them too.

What is the source of Rupa Goswami's description of Shrimati Radharani's footprint and toes? He surely didn't physically see and study them himself? Where does this information come from? The existence of those signs is a possibility, but still, is there a recognized and reliable source of their existence?

The original sanskrit verse, its translation and purport are different. If you read carefully, there is no mention of anything related to her being a "gopi" and no mention of Radha. At the most, it just hints to a female devotee. This no mention is 'covered up' in the purport by saying that the author tried to hide Radha's name. What for? What's the reason to hide it? lol ! The translations are turned towards Gaudiya 'Baava and understanding' and to cover it up is given an explaination in the following purport! Simple as that. Lord Shiva is also address as bhagwana and Ishwara!! (well of course outside Gaudiya sampradaya), And Hari and Govinda is also Vishnu. Go and read Vishnu Sahastranaama. And if you read the thousand names of Lord Shiva, that by the way Krisna himself chanted out to Yudhishthira, then the name Krishna is one of them ;-) I know this is controversial for you. And you can close your eyes on that part of Mahabharata. This trend can be seen in many Prabhupada translations. At one point he translates Rudra as Lord Sadashiva and determines Shiva's position based on a particular Rudra. Now there are thousands of Rudras ;-) Gaudiyas not bothered by it, just follow and propagate it. Not only propagate, but try to force their Bhaava up on others. The translations are not as-it-is-version of original sanskrit texts. Period. And here I have come to another realization, that the stress on taking the translation 'from the acharya' and from ONLY the sampradaya is important because if you read the original verse without the 'bhaava or mood' aspect, then you might just as well, not have found any Radha in it! Hari Bol !

Dear Bhava dasa, It is not as important to decide on universal rules of creation and prakriti as it is to recognize your current position and where to take it from here. It is really imaterial to argue where jivas come from!! Where ever they come from!! Important is where they are NOW! In what state!! And what you can do to take yourself to the next stage of your soul's evolution. I can go on hours and hours speaking on the source and reason of this universe's creation and so on, but to what avail? We don't need to do a complete body surgery if we just have a headache! For this, only one tablet is enough. It is enought to know and follow your correct spiritual practice and leave the rest to Shri Vishnu/Hari (or Shiva if you are his devotee) And you will be sastisfied enough!! Hari OM!! Yog Kriya

All glories to Lord SadaShiva and Shri Hari - the greatest of all Shaivas!! Shri Vaikuntha Dham ki Jai! All glories to Paramhansa Swami Nikhileshwarananda!! Dear divine soul Gopeshwara dasa, Please accept my humble obeisances!! Finally I could get a decent reply from someone. I don't know if you are a swami or not, but you are mature and restrained. I have found your post, well balanced, (even diplomatic) and non-angry while explaining at the same time your position on your sampradaya lineage and acharya instruction. There is a sincere effort on your part to serve your Guru/sampradaya and clear your position. Whatever you said on the acharya instruction-giving and service are general concepts and are understood well within Hinduism. These are not an only Iskcon thing but general Sanatana Dharma values. Lord Rama took instructions from the great sage Vishwamitra and acted accordingly. And such common values are what makes you a part and parcel of other lineages too. However, there are differences, which are inevitable due to time, circumstances, preferences etc. All this is well understood. What is the most disturbing factor however in this stream, is not presenting / rewriting the original Vedic literature according to Gaudiya/Iskcon "mood", but the desparate effort to prove that every other school is lower and not as good as yours. This is a problem. It is a religious-political problem. It is not a spiritual problem. Religions involve a part of politics in them that defines and dictates their social and internal policy agendas. It is a problem because it is not a unifying policy. Hinduism has a unifying policy. And that's why Iskcon is not complete Sanatana Dharma, but a part of it of course. It is radical and separating. Hinduism has the policy of keeping all the practices together. This is why it has survided for so long. 900 years of Islamic rule and 200 years of British rule couldn't dissolve it. Iskcon's policy separates every ther practice away and puts itself on top. It is fine to do that within itself. It is the right of every individual and sampradaya to praise itself, follow the instructions of its acharyas, and evolve accordingly. But when it spills itself over other schools of thoughts, that may be as accomplished and good, and belittles all other thoughts and philosophies in an effort to perch itself higher, then this is a problem. Please understand this. If you keep chanting and practicing spiritual life, people would be attracted to you of their own. If you go to others and tell them that Shiva is a mere demi-God etc. then people get hurt and so on. There are a lot of deviations in the gaudiya/Iskcon published new scriptures from the original Vedic scriptures. These are of religious nature. But spiritually speaking, I do understand the essence of it. But it is a problem for people who are preached to. They get "anti Hindu", "Shiva belittelingYogis belitteling" instructions. Not the true picture. Eh? This picture is in one mood only. Sanatana Dharma has many moods and all are true!! One may say that only his mood is true. You have the right to believe that only feeling separation from Krishna is the true way. This is one way and can lead to your attaining his lotus feet and mercy. This is one type of sadhna. And is correct. But there are other types of sadhnas too and you can't prove them wrong. The result may be different or come in a different way. No problem. Not everybody wants to walk the cows in Vrindavana. Some may chose to battle in Kurukshetra too. Anyways, I just said a few general things without purports etc. As your post is general in nature. It doesn't address direct answers to any questions. With more time at hand, I will explain with more and direct details a bit later. There are issues that are not being addressed here. And no Guru comes forward to do that either. They should dispel any myths as they are the flag bearers of the sampradaya. They just sly and slip away!! But what could be better than having it from the leaders of the force? Meanwhile, I thank you again for your good letter/post and hope your day/night is fruitful with the benevolence of your Guru Srila Prabhupada and ever merciful Lord Shri Krishna!! Jai Gurudev!! Om Namah Shivaya!! YogKriya.

Yes. This is a good post!! So true and understands and balances both the worlds. Is not fanatic. Thanks Bhakti Vikas!!

Hinduism IS the ageless Sanatana Dharma. It is a relatively newer name given to it. And Hindus know it. The Sanatana Dharma is not simply confined to Gaudiya Sampradaya. And what sadhna method adapted by gaudiyas is also not the only bonafide method prescribed in Sanatana Dharma. It indeed has a number of branches. An Indian is a citizen of India. Nothing to do with the citizen's race or religion. But yes, India is the epicenter of Sanatana Dharma. Hare Krishna's don't have anything against the Indians, but certainely do agains the Hindus. You don't have to be a 'Hindu' to practice anything Sanatana, but you automatically come under the Hindu umbrella, because it is the Sanatana Dharma. Period. The famous quote to put down Hinduism used by Iskcon that there is no such word as Hindu in Vedas has no meaning. Because then, there is no such word as 'Iskcon' in the Vedas either!! It is 'made-up'. And Iskcon does not accept all of Vedas either. So what's the big deal? The regulatory principles practiced by Iskcon members is important and appreciable. This reflects the Vaishnava intentions of developing the Sato Guna and external and internal cleanliness. Which is important for mantra sadhna and getting closer to the Lord. Devotional love (bhakti) and compassion are also two important qualities of a Vaishnava too. This is also well preached in Iskcon. And is a base for any other Vaishnava sect/cult/Group/Sampradaya. Identifying yourself with being a Hindu has not in the least stopped the preaching of Sanatana Dharma. In fact Hinduism is recognized as Sanatana Dharma world wide. It has brought the principles of Yoga, mantra, bhakti, auyurveda, Ras vigyan, TM, Kriya, kundalini yoga, hath yoga, tantra and a number of other Vedic practices to the world. Sanatan Dharma is NOT limited and stuck up to the manjari bhava or bheda-bhed bhava of Chaitanya. It is one of it. Vaishnavism is one major branch of it. Hare Krishnas come under Vaishnavism, hence are part of Hinduism, Sanatan Dharma too. It's a different matter that SPP decided to side track itself from it. And he side tracked himself from the Gaudiya math too. Each time one stream wants to separate itself from the ocean called Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), in order to establish its separate identity, it has to claim that it has nothing to do with 'Hinduism'. If we see today, Sikhism in its base also uses bhakti and Sikhs were made out of Hindus, Jainism, Budhism and most other religions sprung up from Hinduism. Though today they have a separate indentity. Jesus contemplated on his spiritual knowledge and meditated in India too. All different schools of yogas and various sub sects are assimilated into Hinduism. Of course one sect may have just one set of practice and lineage/system of belief/mood etc.. but still it is categorized as Hindu / Sanatana Dharma. Vaishnavism is an essential part of Hinduism, and Iskcon practices Vaishnavism. Though every sect may have the right to feel that theirs in the best and others are not doing it right. SPP didn't like ritualism. Fine. Yagya is a ritual too. And a Vedic one at that. Iskcon also performs Yagyas (more specifically havans), but without Ganapati pooja first which is not correct according to Vedic norms. .. oh but anyways... If one brother stops recognizes another brother as his brother, the father does not change beacuse of it. The family tree does not change. It is remains the same. Jai Gurudev! Om Namah Shivaya!!

Hmmm.... this is interesting isn't it? SPP's Iskcon is Brahma-Madhava-Gaudiya Sampradaya lineage. An Unbroken lineage coming right from Lord Brahma. That's why it has authority. It is considered "Vedic", that's why it has authority. But I was wondering what was left of the Brahma in it, when it doesn't even agree with Madhavacharya?!! And then Iskcon differs with the Gaudiya Math, its initial cradle too. This lineage seems broken and diverted. I'll be glad to be wrong on this. The Vedic sadhnas and sadhna methods were of course different. Many changes are made constantly. Letting alone the changes made after Sri Chaitanya. And the changes made in the original Vedic Mahamantra from Hare Rama first to Hare Krishna by Chaitanya himdself. And how much of the original Vedas are actually accepted or not accepted under the classification that many are meant for lower category people or tamsic (Shiva scriptures for example). Then I hear that most Vedas are lost anyways.. and then I hear that classification of scriptures is not important. But Iskcon propagateds this classification anyways, claiming Bhagwatam to be all and all of all Vedas. And then I read SPP saying "change is Rascal"!! So guys, the more I read and learn, the more confusing it becomes. In other words, there are a lot of double standards, even while using the Hindu word in its policies. Also, if Chaitanya is Krishna himself, how can he remain in separation mood from his own self? Some questions eh.. ? When I talk to GBC members, and bring concerns on what other devotees say, the Gurus say many devotees may not be well imformed. So they try to give a reasonable answer. So, I would really appreciate some Maharaj to explain this to dissolve the confusion, as these are genuine questions. Om Namah Shivaya!!

You should go to Mantra, tantra, Yantra Vigyan Forum with similar requests. The hare krishnas simply use Nrsimha mantra for protection. They don't use specialized mantra techniques or rituals or sidhis or solutions to life's problems using vedic mantric sciences and sadhnas. Om Namah Shivaya!

There are many Raksha mantras you can use, depending on the sadhna or deity you are interested in. There are Raksha mantras related to Lord Krishna, Shiva, Rudra, Godess, Hanuman and so on.. Then there are kavacha. There are raksha vidhan mantras that you use while sitting in sadhna (especially strict tantrik sadhnas that give immediate result/reaction).

I hear most of the people spiritually inclined talking a lot about Maya. That guy is in maya, this person is in maya, I'm in maya. we should rise above maya, etc... To understand maya is not easy. What to talk about getting over it. Our physical existence is bounded by physical rules, governed by prakriti, ruled by maya. You can say maya is governed by Krsna or Shiva. But to get rid of Maya completely becomes possible only if you get over these rules of physical existence. That has been possible only for a very few yogis. Its not about not having lust or not having a 'karmi' life. Its not just about material desires and temptations alone. As long we have this body, and we need this body to work out our karmas, and elevate our devotion, love to the Lord; we have to eat to survive, we get sick and old, are under the influence of weather, and other influences. This comes irregardless of your intellectual capacity to quote bhagwatam or Gita. You can quote all you want and believe all you want. But the fact is you are under the influence of Maya and can't get over it. This is it. I consider a yogi to be completely out of the influence of maya only if he can get over these principle rules. If his body and mind are not bounded by them. And these principles bound everybody. Nobody defyies them. So what's the use of talking so much about maya and getting over it? Just to use it as a clitch word. Sometimes, in Iskcon terminology, people having reached a stage when they acquire powers to defy one or other rule of maya, call it as mysticism - something pertaining to mystical powers bla bla.. but not real spirituality. The more closer you get to the Lord the more pearls you are awarded from the vast unending treasure of his. Of course, it is not the goal just to acquire supernatural powers! I wouldn't want to go into details of how maya / prakriti work with shakti at this point. You may prefer to do with the explaination prevailant in Gaudiya that Krsna controls everything so there is no need to understand the intricate individual nature of these forces, shakti, maya, prakriti, Das Mahavidya etc. In common worldly terms, a person in maya can be considered as the one who is head deep into "karmi" activities, and does not recognize his goal to go back to Godhead and believes his material life and possessions to be the only important plane of interest. Did I realize it? No. And that's why I can't claim to be out of maya. If I did realize it - how would I tell you the taste of sugar I'm eating? You will have to taste it too in order to realize it. And this is all that matters. Is Krsna dead as far as his physical form is concerned or will he appear if you chant too much? - Krsna says in BG, that he can come to the devotee in whatever his form a devotee is attached to. He came to Raskhan as a child. There is no exact answer to whether he will or will not appear in front of you if you chant. I personally do not know anyone here to whom Krsna appeared in his living room and shook hands with him. But yes people get experiences through dreams. So it again depends on your attachement, realization, and level of sadhna advancement. Krsna did appear to people after he ended his lila on earthly plane. Lord Rama appeared to Tulasidas. If you have the level of devotion of Tulasidas, then he can appear to you too! Hare Ram!!

I have repeatedly heard Iskcon vociferate that all Lord Shiva scriptures are in the mode of ignorance and are tamasic. And that is their classification. And the Bhagwatam comes under classification of Pure and satvik purana. Now I hear that titles and classifications don't matter !!! Another double standard. :/

This is a very important message in understanding the real stance of Gaudiyas / Iskcon on Vedas. No wonder the practices / scriptures / translations are not purely Vedic, but altered at different times by different authors...

Yes. Krishna is the most beautiful all attractive personality of God.

What about changing of the original maha mantra: Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare to Hare Krishna first by Sri Chaitanya? The very nature of nature is to change. Everything changes. Night changes to day, summer changes to fall and winter, sorrow changes to joy, philosophies change. What was the need for the gaudiyas to churn out so many new books? The original Vedas are full of vast knowledge!! That is more than enough! Everything is there. Why did Chaitanya say in the age of Kali ... Why can't we practice the Vedic ways of sadhna and just chant a mantra with proper asana, disha, pranayama etc. like they used to do in the Vedic period? Everything changes. But yes the laws governing the prakriti maintain the changes. Its not a wild uncontrollable phenomenone as it may seem. Some one (Krishna) is directing this orchestra. But I wouldn't agree with this overly agressive use of the rascal word!! Chaitanya "changed" the original Mahamantra for a fact. Now how can SPP say "Anything change means it is the domain of rascals"? That's over generalizing. Though importance of the good Vedic values for human life and what SPP wanted to point at are of course acknowledged.

The question is not whether one should have a Guru or not. Of course Guru is needed. Even to become a cook, one needs to learn from a teacher. But you failed to address the enquiry on Guru.

Good scrooling down game! What is a Guru in Iskcon philosophy? Is he a realized soul? If yes, what is realization? if not, then what can he reveal? Is he a scholar, who has memorized certain number of shlokas from scriptures and can argue by quoting shloka numbers? What is written in scriptures is written. What about a Guru's personal realization that determines his level as a Guru!

Yes there are fake hatha-jodis being sold around. But you should also tell people how to recognize a real one from a fake one. And also where to get the real one.