gHari

http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/050402/detfro05.asp

Since we are praising Lord Siva, this portion of a recent lecture by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja seems appropriate: <table><td valign=top width="50%"><center> <img src=http://www.aloha.net/~sadhu/siva07.jpg width=355 height=462></center></td><td width="50%">"Siva means auspicious. Siva deludes those who are averse to Krsna, and He is favorable to and helps those who are His devotees. Sankara-tattva or Siva-tattva is very complex. He is not Visnu, nor is he a jiva. He is not maya-tattva, but he is not beyond maya-tattva. As Sada-Siva he is Visnu-tattva. As Visnu-tattva he is svamsa, a plenary portion of Krsna. Also, when Krsna incarnates in the three modes of nature, Siva is the predominating deity of tama-guna, the mode of ignorance. Brahma Samhita states that Siva is a combination of tama-guna, the quality of minuteness of the marginal potency, and a minute degree of the mixture of Samvit and Hladini." </td></table>

Let me first say that I had not been aware that there were adherents of non-dual Advaita philosophies here. I would likely not have described some of the puzzlements of the Vaisnava sampradayas, most significantly the Madhva tattvavadi school. However, having started I should complete the demonstration. This last and final mega-post seems to hit at the heart of the difference between the two ideals. The essential difference: Differing views of desire in the ideas of Ramana and SrI Aurobindo from "Renunciation Through Wisdom" by A. C. Bhaktivedanta (it should be noted since it may not have become evident in these posts, that this acarya has absolute respect for Lord Siva and Sankaracarya, quoting them often): In my heart it boils down to why Krsna created us. I believe He wanted me to be a separate entity with whom to interact. I'm not sure that is possible after accepting merging mukti. Of course, it could well be that the Advaita school has changed over the past five hundred years after Sri Caitanya spoke with their leaders. His complaint about accepting half a truth may well have evolved a regiment that now facilitates spiritual variety, a spiritual life, participation in the Kingdom of God, and greater intimacy with Sri Krsna.<font color="#f7f7f7"> [This message has been edited by gHari (edited 04-05-2002).]

Lord Krsna's last or ultimate instruction of 18.66 came near the end of His conversation with Arjuna. Shankara's ultimate instruction may not have come at the end of his writings, but like 18.66 it is clearly similar in nature - forget everything I told you and just do this. Envy of Krsna manifests in infinite ways. For some clever ones, they will want to prove that they are God. No matter what. I think that was Shankara's parish. I waana be God. I wanna be God. I wanna be God. BOOM. I no longer exist. I must be God.

Very good point, Sha.

O Mighty-armed Abhi, not even gHari has finished reading all the purports to the last of the four Caitanya mega-posts (hours later). You may find that just skimming Krsnadas Kaviraja's words on the first pass will give the jist of the ideas and perhaps even an impetus to seek further clarification from the purports. I will surely get to the final purports though, since as is the nature of all Prabhupada's work, it keeps refreshing the whole picture again and again even while addressing specific areas - like dipping a toe in any beach on the ocean. You can always just hit the "SAVE AS" feature of your browser and then your hard drive will have those passages for a rainy day - a day when adrenalin and drama are not the only objects of desire. Here's some adrenalin: forget all conditioning about what is life, in relation to the planet. You are a new-born alone in a cave atop the Himalayas, spinning around in a galaxy, surrounded by innumerable galaxies. What will be your first activity? gHari The Prabhupada Prometheus Pirate

It really seems that the U.S. is starting to see through the phoney PAKs, if they didn't have them spotted from day one. Once the U.S. doesn't need Pakistan any longer, it will be the next big clean up operation.

Bottom line: what pleases Krsna?

What do you think we said about God?

Then there is the grandfather bullfrog whose grandson comes by all excited about having seen a bull. "It was so big, grandfather!" The grandfather frog puffed up his cheeks to twice their normal size, and said "Was it this big?" "Much bigger!" The grandfather frog puffed up his cheeks again to double that size. "Much much bigger, grandfather!" So the old frog started puffing up his cheeks again, but then suddenly BOOM, he blew up, spreading red and green frog guts everywhere.

I'm not sure I can buy this. That's just too big a stretch for acintya-bhedAbheda for me.

Of course, as Sri Bhagavan, Nimai was already complete with Absolute renunciation, so any artificial sannyasa ceremony was merely external designation. Nimai only took sannyasa because the only group He had yet to conquer the hearts of was the Mayavadis. It therefore made sense to accept their sannyasa to gain their respect. In fact, to avoid their envy he actually took a lower class of sannyasa from Varanasi Mayavadis less prestigious than those of Benares. Oooops, I just noticed that The Great One covered this already. [This message has been edited by gHari (edited 04-04-2002).]

This is from Madhya 19 of the Sri Caitanya Bhagavata:

What is God? I've been looking for a Romanian translation of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is for you, for surely God can describe Himself much better than we can. Until then I can try to write some of the major qualities He mentions therein here. He is the Cause of all Causes, and All that is. He is One Beyond a Second. He is the Unborn Primal Person, from whom everything and everyone emanates. He is the owner of everything; He is the enjoyer of everything; He is everyone's best friend. He is described as Bhagavan, which means that He possesses all six opulences in complete perfection to an absolute degree (wealth, fame, beauty, strength, knowledge, and renunciation). No one is equal to or greater than God. He is the one who gave you yoga (hatha, jnana, dhyana, all that 'knowledge' and those sanskrit words of which you are so proud, etc.) even though others would try to take the credit for that. If I can find the Gita translation for you, you will see how He defines the various yoga disciplines for different spiritual aptitudes. You will see what yoga really is, as taught by the object of yoga itself. The Vedas and those who have realized Him by drowning their hearts in love for Him describe His form like this: <center><img src=http://home.earthlink.net/~jay540/syama.jpg></center> ------------------ Gary Stevason Seeking the Kingdom of God

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 7.121-150:

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 7.110-120:

As I read I noticed how Lord Caitanya had been sitting in a 'dirty' place in the presence of the devotees of Shankara. It occured to me that He had sat in such a place because these people were actually treating Krsna so deplorably by negating His very being. I notice everyone apologizes for long posts. I present as much as I can because that is what I would like to see. When I read these very long posts, often several times, my life becomes very sublime and my understanding deepens immeasurably. I hope that those who actually read all these posts have also been able to secure an absolute faith in the Vedas, Krsna's appearances, disappearances, the spiritual body and all the topics that the Fellowship has embraced. The following is from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 7.57-76:

Excerpt of the purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 3.4.20: Caitanya Mahaprabhu describes how Krsna introduces various deviations to the Vedic Truth in this excerpt from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto Introduction: The last word from SaGkarAcArya as presented in the purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 4.24.18:

Nuke 'em. Nuke the whole bloody desert! Ooops, somehow that got out. Turn the other cheek. Treat them as you would treat yourself. It's your karma to be mistreated, so learn the lesson. There are no enemies, only Krsna. Nuke 'em. Nuke the whole bloody desert!

Sri Krsna Caitanya said that if someone reads a certain treatise by Sankara, he is doomed. I forget its name now; if time and Krsna permit, I may find the quote tonight.

Courtesy Tarun's Travelling Sankirtana Troupe, the Srimad Bhagavatam 11.30-50: ------------------ Gary Stevason Seeking the Kingdom of God

Yes, the world offended His lotus foot, ushering in Kali Yuga.

ISKCON to create garden in Mayapura and dedicate it to Bhakta George Harrison: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/music/newsid_1894000/1894009.stm The 2 hour BBC Special called GEORGE HARRISON: THE INNER LIGHT is now on the internet: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/inside/harrison_doc.shtml <font color="#dedfdf"> [This message has been edited by gHari (edited 04-02-2002).]

Alfa, I'm glad it's clear to you. It wasn't to me and isn't to me. People use that word "spirit" to mean many things. I had assumed that since yoga schools originate from the Vedas and the word samadhi is a sanskrit word, that your fund of knowledge had its source in the Vedas too. What is the source of the knowledge in the Theosophy books? I was not asking you if you were God. At the time, I did not realize that you see yourself as a teacher, not a seeker.

Yes, Shashi, let us mention the Dvaita school. I believe that is Madhva's (also known as Madhvacarya) wonderful tattvavada sampradaya. It was the fifth school mentioned, but not explicitly named. [This message has been edited by gHari (edited 04-03-2002).]