Jahnava Nitai Das

But truth can be realized by members of an organization, or sangam. Sangam, when performed with spiritually minded individuals, is the best and quickest method to attain spiritual realization. Sadhu-sanga and sat-sanga at two examples or beneficial spiritual orginization. Common sense will tell us that spiritual realization will only occur to a sentient being. Thus Jijaji's argument that organizations don't become realized is just stupid. It's like saying brick buildings, such as church's and mosques, never become realized. Well, they aren't sentient, so its an obvious truth. To take such an argument, and then try to use it as evidence for individuals not joining organizations is kutarka, flawed logic. As for whether we need personal spiritual guides (sat-gurus) to help us advance in spiritual life: The scriptures emphatically state we do, and Lord Krishna reaffirms this throughout the Gita - Himself even taking the role of a personal spiritual guide for Arjuna. Sometimes we think too highly of ourself and our own limited and conditioned abilities. As a result we think we can develop spiritually on our own without any guidance, discipline, or submission. We forget the Upanishads' instructions, "tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet, samit pani shrotriyam brahma nishtham". For the prupose of attaining vijnana, or spiritual realization, one must approach a spiritual master. How should we approach? Samit-pani, "With firewood in hand". The disciple must humbly engage in menial service to the spiritual master, such as collecting sacrificial wood from the forest. Then one may begin hearing from the self-realized soul. In Srila Prabhupada's own words (from a purport to Srimad Bhagavatam):

From the review:

I think it would be fair to ask if you have read the book. If not, I think you would agree it appropriate to withhold most of your comments on it. You are the one who likes to criticize people for speaking about topics they have not read or studied. On another note, you quote a review from "skeptic.com". Certainly not a source for nonbiased opinions. Just as a review by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust would be irrelevant, same is the case with that of "skeptic.com". This is just common sense.

Those verses from Gita that you quoted certainly provide a nice perspective for this topic. All contradictions are reconciled in the Personality of Godhead. He is simultaneously all-pervading and personal. He is simultaneously unborn, and born through divine descent (avatara). Krishna is everything, yet everything is not Krishna (vasudeva sarvam iti). This is His yogam aisvaram, His mystical oppulence. When we project our own imperfections and limitations onto the Personality of Godhead, we come to conclusions that He cannot be this, or He cannot be that. But this is an imperfect vision, for God is not a limited being like ourselves. He can take birth while maintaining His supreme spiritual position as the source of everything. As long as we consider the Lord's form to be mundane or material, like our own embodied situation, then it is impossible to accept or understand His divine lila. His form is sat-chit-ananda - eternality, knowledge and bliss - thus when He descends, He remains in His absolute position, free from the defects and limitations of an embodied self.

Srila Rupa Goswami explains in his Upadeshamrita that over accumulating unnecessary things destroys our devotion to the Lord. It is one of the six activities he advises devotees to avoid, the other five being: Over endeavouring for mundane accomplishments (prayasa); engaging in mundane talk, discussion or gossip (prajalpa); neglecting the scriptural injunctions or following the scriptural injunctions without understanding the essence of those instructions (niyamagraha); associating with worldly minded people (jana-sanga); and greed for material things (laulyam). But the first of the six he mentions is atyahara, or over-accumulating unnecessary things. It is interesting that we have catalogs which seem to be exactly directed to this activity. Rupa Goswami concludes by saying shadbhir bhakti vinashyati, "These six activities destroy one's devotion to the Lord." Even from a non-religious angle, I think it is easy to see how these six activities contribute to the sufferings of other living entities. By engaging in these activities one will naturally bring harm and hardship to others, and as a result it destroys one's humanity as well. How can one maintain devotion while causing harm to other living entities? The devotee is one who acts for the welfare of all. [This message has been edited by jndas (edited 04-23-2002).]

Both in the Puranas and in the Upanishads the style of presentation for allegories is to first state the allegory, and then to explain point by point what each item represents. The allegories are always told to a person, and the same person is then told the meaning. In this particular case, Narada is refering to it as a history to create a dramatic effect on the listener. "There once was a king..."; then in concluding - "that king is you." Followed by an explanation of the allegory.

One more famous poem by Swami Shivananda: Serve, love, give, purify, meditate, realise, Be good, do good, be kind, be compassionate; Enquire: "Who am I?" Know the self and be free. Practice truth, love and purity - This is the foundation of spiritual practice. Adapt, adjust, accommodate; Bear insult, bear injury - this is the highest sadhana. Detach, attach; detach, attach - Detach the mind from objects, Attach it to the Lord. Nothing exists, nothing belongs to me, I am neither mind nor body, Immortal Self I am. Work is worship; Dedicate it to the Lord. Remember the saints; Remember the Divine Name.

I just looked through the magazine of the Divine Life Society, September 1996 issue and found the above poem is by Swami Shivananda, along with one more verse: Brahman is the only real Entity, Mr. So and So is a false non-entity. You will abide in eternity and infinity; You will behold unity in diversity; You cannot attain this in the university.

Are you sure that isn't from Swami Shivananda? I have seen that nearly word for word in his writings, along with his concluding line "...you can't learn this in the university."

Whenever an allegory is used in the Puranas, it is clearly identified as such in the text itself. This is the case with the above story of Puranjana. Narada will go on to explain what the symbolism in the story is.

The simplest thing to do is to dismiss all the historical narrations as symbolism, since they all speak of supernatural people and occurences. But then we would need to dismiss Rama as mere symbolism as well. And a flying monkey? Well, it would be simplest to just say he was also symbolic. The texts themselves, however, never even hint that these personalities and events were not factual. Rather they are specifically identified as historical accounts throughout the Puranas and Itihasas. The problem comes when we try to identify these personalities with ourselves and our own limitations. For some it is hard to accept that there are higher lifeforms, such as those described in the puranas (devas, asuras, etc.) When we identify Hanuman as a monkey, then the story seems to be an exageration. How can a monkey fly? But the flaw is that Hanuman was not a monkey, he was a Vanara, which is a higher species of human life. Just as fish are born with the ability to live in water, and birds are born with the ability to fly, so Vanaras are also born with their own unique qualities, traits and abilities - which to us seem supernatural. The same is the case with all higher species of human life (Rakshasas, Yakshas, etc.). When we understand who these people taking part in this divine lila were, and when we understand amidst all of them was the Supreme Lord Himself, Ramachandra, then it no longer needs to be a merely symbolic story. If we tell our own world's modern history over the last few years to tribals living in the deepest forests of the Amazon, what do you think they will say about our stories? Perhaps they will think they are mythological tales, or symbolic descriptions. Fire raining from the sky? Huge iron arrows capable of destroying cities? Men flying in chariots with wings? Palaces rising over a hundred stories into the clouds? People seeing and speaking to each other thousands of miles apart? It all sounds like mythology, until you realize its whats all around us. [This message has been edited by jndas (edited 04-22-2002).]

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Here is a link to stories of Lord Rama's pastimes: http://www.indiadivine.com/hinduism-stories.htm [This message has been edited by jndas (edited 04-22-2002).]

Holy items should either be burnt or immersed in water such as the ocean, a lake, pond, or river. This would include papers with the Lord's name written on them. Today it may not be possible to do this so strictly, as every indian newspaper is full of names of Krishna, Rama, etc., as the people are named after them. But at least we should follow this practice for those papers coming from a temple, such as announcement of a holy festival, etc. As far as pictures, we should always do it for pictures of the Lord.

Ravana did literally have ten heads, but not at all times. He had the ability to take any form he chose, and would assume the forms of all 8,400,000 species of life according to which queen he was staying with. Ravana had kidnapped wives from every single species, including animals, insects, etc.

All of the emails that have been sent to your accounts while it was not working were delivered, so they should all be waiting for you when you log in.

Posted by Mukunda Datta prabhu on another forum:

Srimad-Bhagavatam, 9.10.6: "O King, the pastimes of Lord Ramacandra were wonderful, like those of a baby elephant. In the assembly where mother Sita was to choose her husband, in the midst of the heroes of this world, He broke the bow belonging to Lord Siva. This bow was so heavy that it was carried by three hundred men, but Lord Ramacandra bent and strung it and broke it in the middle, just as a baby elephant breaks a stick of sugarcane."

Bhagavata 11.28.1: para-svabhava-karmani na prasamsen na garhayet | visvam ekatmakam pasyan prakrtya purusena ca || 1 || "One should neither praise nor criticize the conditional nature of others, seeing the whole universe as one spiritual being, characterized by the interplay of Purusa and Prakrti."

I saw this verse on another forum: uttamahaituki bhaktih madhyama dhyana-dharana | adhamah karma-sannyasas tarka-carco 'dhamadhamah || The best is causeless, selfless devotion, Steadfast meditation is mediocre; Giving up works is of the least value, The worst of the worst is argument and gossip.

I'm still working on it. Unfortunately it is taking a lot more time then I thought. Sorry for the inconvenience.

For the last several months I had been traveling in Orissa in connection with our Ashram's food relief program. Since most of the places we were staying in were villages, it was impossible to access the internet or participate in these forums during that time. We arrived today back at our ashram in Mysore and hope to be able to participate in the forums again. Also the daily newsletter has not been sent out in several months for the same reason. It will be resumed in a couple days. If anyone has sent me email and has not received a reply, I apologize for that. There are over 2,000 messages waiting, which I will try to answer, but some may inadvertently be missed. If you don't get a reply, please resend the email.

Sorry for the inconvenience. I am working on it now, it should be fixed either today or tomorrow at the latest.

For devotees of the Lord there are no auspicious or inauspicious circumstances. Everything is the divine will of the Lord, which only the Lord Himself can understand.

Every morning and evening for our puja we use natural sambrani which comes from tree resin. It doesn't smell as nice and "flavourful" as what the Christian churches use though. When you get it (in large chunks), you can see the shape of the resin, how it was dripping down the tree, etc. You need to powder it before using it. The hardest part is making a suitable coal fire to put it on. If there is flame, then it will just burn and no smell will come. So we have to either use coconut husks or dry coconut leaves to create a smoldering fire. If the fire is good, then the whole place will be filed with a thick smoke and you won't be able to see more than a few feet. The smell is more of an earthy smell, unlike the Christian frank incense which really has a flavour. We have to have this sent to us from Orissa, as in South India all the "sambrani" is made out of paint thinner and other chemicals. You cannot get original frank incense here. I have actually seen it printed on the package of one of the best known brands of sambrani, "This is made from paint thinner and other chemicals, there are no natural ingredients in this product." If you are unlucky enough to breath it you will start to cough and choke for about half an hour. I am sure it is quite dangerous and toxic.