Gita_dasi

Don't call Him. He'll call you; at your door w/ a Bhagavatam in one hand, and a sword in the other! Which will you choose?

>'first maranam (death of the ego) and then smaranam (remembering Krsna's pastimes)" is also contrary to the teachings of the Gosvamis. Such nine-fold practices of devotional service cannot actually be practiced w/ a material body and senses. As soon as suddha nama manifests on the tongue, the false ego falls away. It is like the light in a dark room finally comes on; simultaneously you can see yourself, and all the darkness is forced out. Srila B.V. Narayana Maharaja explains Siksastakam: "This first verse should be glorified, for it is topmost. Why? Each of the seven parts of this first sloka has been explained in the other seven slokas. This first sloka is the root sutra, and the other slokas are explanation of each of these seven lines. All types of kalyana or sreya, auspiciousness, are present in the holy names. This is not worldly auspiciousness. It is transcendental. All kinds of auspicious qualities will manifest by the names, and bhakti will also come. Sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam. Anandambudhi-vardhanam. After passing the previous stages, one will realize his gopi form, or whatever form he has in his constitutional position. The spiritual form will manifest according to the kind of greed present during the time of one's sadhana-bhajana. He will be under the guidance of a Vrajavasi, like Sridama or Subala for sakhya-rasa, and those in other rasas will be under the guidance of Krsna's associates in that rasa. For madhurya-rasa, one is especially under the guidance of Sri Rupa Manjari and Sri Rati Manjari, and he will relish so much the waves of that high class of love, like the high waves in the ocean. Then, prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam. Though all the jivas are infinitesimal, if their love and affection is for Krsna, it will be unlimited like Krsna. It will be depthless and bottomless. When the devotee leaves his body, he will not come back from the ocean of love. He will sink here, and he will come out there, in Goloka Vrndavana. These are the prabhavas, influences, of nama." BTW, I'm NOT saying that one shouldn't perform those limbs in vaidhi bhakti w/ a strong desire for raganuga, what I'm saying, in the words of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami is; know what your own platform is, and don't try to imitate someone on a higher platform; for by so-doing, one will eventually become degraded.

>16 c) Bhaktisiddhanta's self-styled theory Before anything else, Jijaji, I have to address the contemptously written phrase; "Bhaktisiddhanta's self-styled theory": Reference in such a causual manner w/o using his full name is a severe breach of vaisnava ettiquite! Once A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja took assistance from one of his disciples to get up. Then immediately after having the help he required, he pushed the devotee away. The disciple looked stunned and hurt! A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami then explained that this is the impersonalist's conception of guru. Were all his hundreds of hours explaining about mayavada to his dancing white elephants, really just to warn us about Sancaracarya's ekadanda sampradaya? I find myself all too often falling into the trap of being forgetful and ungrateful to my many gurus in the different forms they've come to me. If His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur AND his SPECIALLY empowered disciples, instructed to preach in their advanced age to us Big Mac hamburger eaters, and their disciples, and their disciples' disciples, whom among us would ever have gone to or even heard of Radha Kunda??? Now, I beleive I saw a McDonalds recently opened on the road to Govardhan Hill, just in case anyone gets bored/hungry while doing their bhajan:) There are two kinds of mahabhagavat pure devotees; the bhajananandi and the gosthanandi, and both are eqaully qualified. Just a little bit of gratitude, not even worshiping any of them on your alter, that's all I'm asking! Years ago as a fledgling, there were several prominent preachers who gave me shelter, allowing me to make valuable sukriti by circumambulating the temple, stringing garlands, etc. Since then these two persons have gone onto foolishly and w/ no basis for their arrguments, criticize my Gurumaharaja, so I keep distance. Still I must agknowlege that they helped me at one point, and not mantain envy towards them.

>Modern Gaudiya Math acaryas desperately try to escape from the above scriptural evidence by saying: "yes, but nowadays nobody is qualified for siddha-pranali anymore." This statement, if it was said, was spoken according to kala-desa-patra. It is not that if amongst a certain group of devotees at a certain time, noone is qualified that none of them will be qualified in the future. Gradually hladini sakti mixed w/ samvit sakti descends by Her own sweet will, drop by drop unto the heart of the sincere soul who is firmly situated in sandini. One will gradually start realizing all these things, and then they may go to guru for some indirect confirmation. >saksadvrajajana-visesayaiva mahyam srigurucaranair madabhista-visesa-siddhyartham upadistam bhavayami >"I meditate on the specific form of one of Krsna's associates in Vraja, which my Sri Guru-carana has instructed me in, so that I can attain my specifically desired siddhi." We must assume that this means a little more than the self esteem of: "I am a 20-year old book distributor for Krsna on a parking lot," however devotional this may be. Yes, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami and other acharyas have said that while distributing books we should be thinking that we are trying to recruit sevaks for Srimate Radhika. They also say to start w/ nama, then rupa, guna, and finally lila. >In the S.B. (10.33.39) one hears that the senses do not become sexually agitated by hearing or reading of the Rasa-lila, but rather that they become freed from lust: Krsna is so very kind that he has given you one instrument, call it a sahajiyaometer if you will, by which you can gauge how much you are actually in the proper lust-free consciousness as you listen to these pastimes.

Jijaji continues: >is also confirmed in Bhagavad Gita, 8.6: yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajanty ante kalevaram tam tam evaiti kaunteya sada tad bhavabhavitah >"Whatever one contemplates throughout life is what one attains when one leaves the body." >In the Srimad Bhagavata (7.1.27) it is said: kitah pesaskrtaruddhah kudyayam tam anusmaran samrambhabhayayogena vindate tatsvarupatam >"The caterpillar imprisoned by a wasp in (its nest on) a wall, and constantly thinking of the latter through intense hate and fear, attains the form of the wasp." These two references are certainly true in this material world, and are excellent proof of the law of karma. But when choosing an analogy from the phenominal world we have to check carefully it's validity as a comparison to the transcendental realm. There will always be some defect, but the previous acharyas have used analogies appropriate to the circumstance, w/ the least defects. We certainly don't want to be like Kamsa, and think of the Lord in hate and fear! >Sri Jiva Gosvami says in his Bhakti-sandarbha (283) on initiation: divyam jñanam hyatra srimati mantre bhagavatsvarupajñanam tena bhagavata sambandhavisesa-jñanam ca >"Initiation bestows on the disciple not only the mantra, that is God's very form, but also knowledge about his specific relation with Him." A kernal of corn receives everything it needs to become a corn stalk from the sun, moon, rain, and nutrients in the soil, yet it's potential is fixed by nature. Does it ever become a pumpkin or even a stalk of wheat? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

>"Whatever you think of during your sadhana, you will attain in your siddhi-body. Those are the ways of raga marga."(Prema-bhakti-candrika, 57) sadhane ye dhana cai, siddha dehe taha pai, pakkapakka matra se vicara I don't doubt Pbc, but perhaps the translation is a little simplistic. What if I decide to meditate on the pastimes of Nityanada breaking dandas; riding on mad bulls, yelling "I'm Sancara! I'm Sancara!" or "Bring me wine! Bring me wine!" w/ myself serving him as Avadutta Priya? Does this necessarily mean that I will ever attain the siddha-body of Jahnava-devi, or even her servant for that matter? What if my attraction to him is based on something mundane? For instance; I like really far out people who go against social convention. I won't even realize that it's only a product of material conditioning (good thing I have no-nonsense guru-jana guiding me!), because my anarthas are so deep. Perhaps I'm even watering these anarthas by my raganuga bhajan?

You all seem to know much more sastras than I. Yet having happened accross this post from 3 years ago w/ a search engine, I must repeat something, however little it may be, that I have gleaned from my gurujana. >The siddha-deha does not just come falling out of the sky, Actually, an appropriate comparison to comprehend how a baddha-jiva obtains their spiritual form is just that!! At the time of a particular astrological arrangement known as Svati Nakshatra(when this analogy was conceived, Svati Nakshatra's effects were commonly known to even nondevotees; today devotees may know or not know, beleive or not beleive as they choose), if rain should fall out of that sky onto onto different entities, certain valuable substances are produced. If the rain falls onto a banana tree, camphor is produced; the hoof of a cow, then a gold-colored substance called go-lochan is produced; the head of a snake, a jewel; onto an elephant, an elephant pearl; the occean, very precious pearls in the oysters in that ocean. Where exactly does the pearl come from, the sky, or the ocean? Neither. Some potential is there by nature within the ocean, the sun heats it up, and at the appropriate time, the sweet, now salt-free moisture in the sky becomes condensed, and is distributed freely, back over the ocean where the pearls then develop. Does this special rainfall ever produce a pearl by showering on a banana tree? Or camphor on the hood of the serpent? Never. An individual's sva-bhava is fixed.