tackleberry

 

p.s. Hmm. Advaita... Have you see anywhere smth. formless ? Illusion... I would to ask some advaitin to put his hand in a fire. Hope the pain will be illusionary, the game of the consciousness.

The advaitin will argue that even an illusory world (fire in your example) can cause pain, similar to how an illusory snake superimposed on the rope can cause fear.

Even according to advaita, not all the gods are one in the vyavahArik sense. So people who say Shiva=Vishnu aren't advaitins in the classical sense. They're neo-advaitins influenced by Vivekananda, Chinmaya, and the rest.

A classical advaitin believes that ultimately all names and forms are illusory, and therefore ONLY the formless existence behind it is real. On account of this, not only Krishna and Shiva, even plants, animals and pretty much everything else can be considered one and the same, because ultimately their forms all merge into the formless.

Thus it can be concluded that the sleeper-vada theory is a total joke, while the Mayavada philosophy is a formidable obstacle on the way to understand Krsna.

Obstacle because they consider Formless Brahman to be greater than Krishna, whom they consider to be Brahman with forms? And did Prabhupada explicitly state these things, that the jiva has fallen down, and so on? Was he the only person in GV to say so?

but the vedic soma juice was inducing mode of goodness. It was like the 'spice' of the Arrakis

Is this the same as marijuana?

 

Are we now allowed to pick and choose which avatars are real avatars based on our personal preference?!

Sure, we are. With absolutely no shastric evidence, are we not accepting Jesus as avatar based on our personal preference? The same goes for those who don't believe in the Buddha.

The fall theory of gaudiyas is very similar to mayavada, in that they both assume the jiva-s to be dreaming. In GV, jiva-s are dreaming this material world while in actuality they're in Vaikuntha, whereas in advaita, this material world is Brahman's dream, and multiple jiva-s are an illusion. So the only difference is in names (instead of Brahman, GVs call the entity ViSNu), and perhaps in the idea of multiple jiva-s which GV subcribes to, and advaita doensn't.

What say you?

Suppose you have good qualities, is it arrogance to acknowledge that you do? Or, is it humility to deny that you do?

I am sure they will be. Note the ear tags. They are in the factory farm process, which includes the dairy industry and ends in slaughter.

 

Scraching the legs, offering grass, circumambulating, these are loving gestures but they become meaningless if the performer turns around and contributes to their eventual slaughter.

 

In our present climate I see boycotting the commercial dairy industry as a more meaningful offering of respect and love.

Wish Vaishnavas could show similar compassion toward the starving human populace.

I am not arguing for or against this ongoing discussion ....... but I think, to judge the presence or absence of divinity based on the outer form is somewhat contrary to teachings of Krishna. When we become seduced by form we are only getting lost in the play of Maya all the more.....was it not in the Bagavad Gita that it is stated "when you see divinity in all then only you see trully?"

 

Sorry, I don't mean to preach. I just love the wisdom and beauty of Krishna's teachings.

In a way, you're right. But the face often reflects the beauty (or the lack) that's inside. And I don't mean 'movie star' beauty, rather the beauty of an enlightened soul, a face that reflects purity and such satvik qualities.

Wrong forum. This has got to be in the jokes section.

Believe it or not, but there was genuine interest in creating a superior human culture in Germany, both material and spiritual. German intellectuals of the time saw Vedic culture as an example of such an achievement and wanted to learn from it. Yes, they have waged a brutal war to achieve that end and committed serious crimes. But a lot of what being said about that time period is extremely biased and often very inaccurate. Stalin and communism were much worse than Hitler and nazism, and are responsible for much more suffering and evil, yet their condemnation by the world is nothing like the condemnation of these other people and their ideology.

Yes, I've also noticed this. Bad guys are usually referred to as 'Hitler,' very rarely as Stalin, Tung, whoever. My guess is, it could be communist propaganda to make nazis the scapegoat, as well as to dilute their atrocities in Russia, china, and elsewhere.

But one thing I don't understand is, Why would the nazis target a specific race, the jews? Was it in some way related to their (mis) understanding of the veda, like the stuff about aryans and the rest? Or, is the jewish persecution theory also exaggerated?

Bhakta Jan, you're so funny and you don't even realize it.:)Please keep posting, we all need a few laughs every now and then.

but he had an authentic admiration for the Vedic culture, shared by many German intellectuals and social activists. No Western country or government before or after that took seriously the Vedas and it's wisdom. Point lost on many devotees.

Can you say more on this, as to why you think Hitler and the nazis were interested in vedic culture? If they were, why would they indulge in mass slaughter and such activities? Sounds a little contradictory, doesn't it?

He's such a joke. How dare he claim divine realization from God for mass slaughter.

Yeah, and when Muslims slaughter people in the name of god, it's supposed to be a divine act.

Kimfelix, did you notice something? The word is brahmanam and not brahmaam. Lord Brahma is pronounced as brahmaa. So, the object form of this should be brahmaam. But the verse contains brahmanam, which means that the corresponding noun is brahman. If we say brahmanam here refers to Lord Brahma, then it would mean that Arjuna called Lord Brhama as brahman.

It's Brahman in both cases, so the declension in the masculine gender will be identical; hence the confusion. So we need to understand who it is-whether Chaturmukha Brahma or Brahma-from the context.

This is the trick that Krsna plays on their false egos - to think they could actually deserve Him, compel Him into their control by anything but just surrender of all controlling devices.

Coming from you, that's quite ironic.

You poor poor man, how you have suffered.

 

Just see how you cannot think coherently.

 

All because you can't be a MONK!

 

If you want to pray somewhere and do your missionary work you should go do it your self.

 

Nobody has ever restrained you from your monastic path. No they really have not my friend.

 

But we all pine for being a recluse and being a reknowned recluse is even better.

 

One day we can slip into obscurity of a back woods samadhi and then recall the Passion of Kulapavana.

 

 

Bhakta Jan, I think you should be a little more sensitive and compassionate. Your attitude sucks, and most of the time, it's not even clear what you're trying to say.

SO WHY IS THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON DARK?

 

WHY DO I NEED A FLASHLIGHT TO USE THE OUT-HOUSE?

Could you please rephrase it?

I did not speak out because I had no hard evidence to present to others, and I was afraid that perhaps I am seeing it from a wrong perspective. I also did not want to shatter the tender faith of these new devotees.

 

He was a very clever man, too. He knew I had a strong sense of honor and he made me promise I will not "drag down others with my maya". Later he tried to ruin my reputation by spreading vicious lies among the devotees who were shocked that I was kicked out. It was a mess... He even tried to take away my service of translating Prabhupada's books. Fortunately Harikesa did not listen to him on that account. I was living alone, working full time, following strict sadhana, and translating Bhagavatam for several hours every day.

 

I hope he has changed, because he is now a guru and a GBC in Iskcon.

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences. How did you recover from all this, how long did it take, did any of your friends help you out? I've been hearing these things about iskcon all the time, is this always the case? I mean, the big guys trying make life miserable for the little ones?

And if this person is still around as you say, it seems as if no one's done anything about it. Unless these people are stopped, there won't be a lesson for others to learn, in which case these atrocities will persist.

I can never forgive myself for not speaking out against a crooked and manipulative sannyasi many years ago. He eventually kicked me out of Iskcon because he knew that I knew. Later he destroyed the lives of many devotees. Some of these devotees told me that I had the responsibility to warn them, because I was the one who introduced them to Krsna Consciousness.

May I ask why you didn't speak out? Was it due to loyalty? Or, was there pressure? Sorry if it's too sensitive an issue.

BG 18.61 is rather explicit in this regard. There seems to be no free will at all, according to this verse, where the Lord says the jiva-s are impelled or pushed into action by His mAyA. The word bhraamayan literally means that. Elsewhere, Krishna also tells Arjuna to be an instrument, 'nimitta-mAtram bhava' or something to that effect.

Doesn't all this mean Krishna is the only doer, and we're just his instruments. If one argues that we exercise free will even in writing this post, then these actions are similar to the "actions" performed by an instrument in the hands of an able doer. Even if it appears to move and act, the instrument isn't doing anything, it's ever the non-doer.

Similarly, are we also non-doers even though we appear to do all kinds of actions? Is this the meaning of BG 18.61?

Your thoughts welcome.

Kimiflex,

I agree that a teacher is required. But I want a book because I learnt Sanskrit from a very good teacher in my student life. In fact, I was considered the best student in Sanskrit by the teacher from whom I got tutuins and also by Sanskrit teachers in my school. But I have forgotten some of things because I am not in touch with Sanskrit as much as I was earlier. If I find a good book, then I will be able to remember many things.

I am not looking for any Primer book. I want some book, which explains even the advanced concepts in detail.

Are you looking to understand grammar, or improve your vocabulary? Vocabulary is important, because even if you understand grammar, you still have to know the words to attempt a translation. So it might be better if you start reading the texts to improve your vocabulary.

Japa after committing Vaisnava apharada. Nice.

CBrahma, you have neither the courage nor the integrity to answer a simple question. And you're accusing others of aparAdha, eh? But then again, this is exactly what Iskconites do, when all else fails. Admit you can't argue rationally, don't make a fool out of yourself.

According to some people, child molesting christian priests are innocent despite mountains of evidence to the contrary. But Sai Baba is pronounced guilty without a fair trial, without sufficient evidence. Amazing! Hindus are too dumb to realize that all these accusations against Sai Baba come from Christians and others who're heavily influenced by christians. Christians adopt this tactic against everyone, even against the hare krishnas, so hare christians beware! Even recently, an old man who couldn't even walk or move, was accused of molesting women. The same type of accusations against hindu gurus of all shapes, sizes, and schools, whether they're advaitin, hare krishna, whatever!! Unless people are retarded, they'll see a pattern here.

How did this become the subject? And what is the relevance? Do you have any idea what the topic of this thread is? If you have a bone to pick about what was said on another thread then address it there, or start a new one. In other forums, more strictly managed, you would be warned and blocked for trying to continue an argument across threads. I refuse to engage in a global argument regardless of what you think that proves.

Sticking to the topic and demanding relevance as I've said before is not evasion.

LOL. If you take a look at audarya forum, you'll find that most posts have little or no relevance to the threads at all. I am simply continuing the trend. Anyway, I take it you're incapable of answering, which is why you're dodging it.