Shakti-Fan

I'm I hallucinating or did the last post by "Krsna" suddenly shrink by about half? What's going on here?

One time I was in Badger and suddenly Srila Narayana Maharaja came out of his room onto the grounds with no announcement. There was a small group of devotees in the immediate area including one young man with very long hair. Sila Narayana Maharaja looked at the long haired man and said, "you have been coming for so long (a couple of years) and hearing Hari Katha, you should take Hare Nama". The young man said, "yes but I would have to cut my hair and I can't do that, I guess I'm a kanistha adhikari." Srila Narayana Maharaja replied, "You are so attached to your hair that I think that you have no adhikara!" Then one devotee said to Srila Narayana Maharaja, "Gurudeva, we think that you are an uttama adhikari". Srila Narayana Maharaja looked down and replied, "No, I think that just now I may be entering the stage of Madhyama adhikari."

Srila Narayana Maharaja says that an advanced tattva-jna rasika bhakta in the role of guru can do such things. Generally in his humility he does not claim to personally have this qualification. Sometimes in the mood of acarya abhimana, he will say things like, "I could tell you, your Prabhupada's eternal svarupa, but you are not qualified." I'm sure that all of Srila Prabhupada's followers believe that he has the power or shakti to reveal ones eternal form if one is so qualified by the process of bhakti and the mercy of guru, the vaisnavas and Krsna.

The current situation is that the conceptions of madhurya rasa, gopi bhava and manjari bhava are being ignored, covered and obscured by those who unconciously hate these concepts. It is almost like they are overtly and covertly on a campaign to attempt to "hurl down to Vaikuntha" the entire Gaudiya Sampradaya. The technique is to often quote Srila Prabhupada and Srila Sridhar Maharaja out of context. If someone is going too fast they may be advised to use they're brakes, but this does not mean the object of the automobile trip is to stop forward progress. Sometimes in an emergency situation, extreme and revolutionary measures may be taken and this is up to the discretion and inspiration of an acarya. Srila Narayana Maharaja always tempers this by admonishing us beginnners by often saying, "don't jump". He is saying that we must know the goal but not to artificially "jump" to a level that is light years away. I'm including the following exerpt from a lecture because manjari bhava or sva-bhakti sriyam is the "aim and object" of the devotional life of most followers of Mahaprabhu and Srila Rupa Goswami. The question as to what stage to hear Tenth Canto is basically dealing with the same issue. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" /><O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>The following is an excerpt from a lecture given by Srila Narayana Maharaja in <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST2 /><ST2:COUNTRY-REGION u1:st="on"><ST2:PLACE u1:st="on">Wales</ST2:PLACE></ST2:COUNTRY-REGION>, in July of 2000:<O:P></O:P><o:p></o:p> <O:P></O:P> <o:p></o:p> "There are four ways to tell others not to read Tenth Canto. The first is in ignorance. Elevated and high-class devotees know all the reasons why <ST2:PERSONNAME u1:st="on"><?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1:GIVENNAME u1:st="on">Caitanya</ST1:GIVENNAME> <ST1:SN u1:st="on">Mahaprabhu</ST1:SN></ST2:PERSONNAME> descended to this world. Do you know why He came? If you are not reading and hearing the Tenth Canto Srimad-Bhagavatam you cannot know. You will be cheated of this knowledge. So you should try to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam from elevated Vaisnavas. Do not think, as some devotees may tell you, that we should not read the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. <o:p></o:p> "Good devotees know everything, and they may tell you in the second way: 'You should begin from the First Canto, then the Second, the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and thus you can go there.' <o:p></o:p> "The third way is to cleverly create curiosity. How will they do so? They will say: 'What is in my hands? Can you tell me what I have in my hands?' Others then become curious to know. If anyone tells you: 'Do not read the Tenth Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam!' this curiosity may come automatically: 'What is there? I should know that!' In order to increase others' curiosity to hear and read Srimad-Bhagavatam, devotees speak like this. <o:p></o:p> "In the fourth way the speaker is speaking exactly the opposite of what he means. When Srila Rupa Gosvami writes, 'Don't go to the banks of the Jamuna where Govinda is sweetly playing on His flute, because then you'll forget all about your society, friendship and love,' he means, 'Do go.' For all these reasons, devotees tell these things.<O:P></O:P><o:p></o:p> "There was a devotee in my village who used to go to the <ST2:PLACE u1:st="on">Ganges</ST2:PLACE> river to take bath daily. Whenever someone came and called out to him, 'Rama! Rama!' he acted like he was furious. Taking his stick, he looked like he wanted to beat that person. Why did he do so? And why did all the boys from all the villages call out to him in this way? Whenever they said, 'Rama! Rama!' he would pretend to beat them. Why did he do so? In order to make them chant, 'Rama! Rama!' It was a kind of fun for them. <O:P></O:P><o:p></o:p> "If anyone is telling that you should not read the Srimad-Bhagavatam, there should be a curiosity to know what is inside: 'There must be some jewel there.' <O:P></O:P><o:p></o:p> "Without hearing and reading, especially without hearing the Tenth Canto Srimad-Bhagavatam, you cannot decide the aim and object of your devotional life. On the other hand, by hearing the Tenth Canto, greed may come to attain that object."<o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p>

<o:p>moderator's note: this article (Srota Parampara) is already posted elsewhere on this site.</o:p>

The scriptures say we must read the scripture under the guidance of a proper professor, a Vaisnava guru (acaryavan puruso veda). So, the scripture is dependent on the spiritual master. And who is a spiritual master? The scriptures will explain. So they are interdependent: sadhu and sastra are both necessary. They are the active and the passive agents.

Anyone can say, "I am guru, he is not guru." Imitation is always possible, but the scriptures give the criterion for the selection of a real guru, and the real guru will extract the meaning of the scripture. Guru and sastra are interdependent. One will help another for our edification. The

Sound and Presence BY: DHIRA GOVINDA DASA May 16, ALACHUA, FLORIDA (SUN) — The disciplic succession in the line of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta is based on sound vibration, not on the formal initiation ceremony. Through sound vibration transcendental knowledge is conveyed. This is the essential aspect of the process of initiation. And this essential aspect is not dependent on formal initiation, though the processes of formal initiation are meant to serve and support the essential component of the initiation process, receiving transcendental knowledge. This knowledge of course inspires and drives devotional service. The process of formal initiation is generally recommended for conditioned souls, and should not be minimized or avoided. At the same time we don’t want to confuse the essence with externals that are meant to serve the spirit of the process. We receive mercy from the parampara in the opportunity to hear from the members of the parampara. Hearing from the disciplic succession intrinsically implies transcendental sound vibration. Srila Prabhupada wrote to Rupanuga Prabhu “Anyone who reads the books that is also chanting and hearing. Why distinguish between chanting and book distribution? These books I have recorded and chanted, and they are transcribed. It is spoken kirtanas. So book distribution is also chanting. These are not ordinary books. It is recorded chanting. Anyone who reads, he is hearing.” (Oct. 19, 1974) In Vaisnava societies the question has arisen whether the relationship between spiritual master and disciple necessitates physical presence. Of course there are numerous quotes from Srila Prabhupada regarding the primary importance of vani compared to vapu. Still, the controversy is there, with regards to the continuation of the disciplic succession, regarding the role of physical presence. Srimad-Bhagavatam explains "Persons who are learned and who have true knowledge define sound as that which conveys the idea of an object, indicates the presence of a speaker screened from our view and constitutes the subtle form of ether." (SB 3.26.33) I invite us to consider this verse with respect to the question of presence. Sound vibration indicates the presence of a speaker screened from view. So, when we hear Srila Prabhupada’s sound vibration, might we understand that he is, with reference to the above definition, present and screened from our view. This screening, of course, is a reflection of our limitations and not of Srila Prabhupada’s lack of full presence. Lord Brahma received knowledge, was initiated into knowledge, from a Speaker screened from view. Does that indicate that the initiation was not valid, because the speaker remained concealed? Did Lord Brahma not have a living spiritual master, because the Speaker was screened from view? We understand from Srila Prabhupada that Lord Brahma received knowledge from within the heart. I think it’s important to realize that this is the case not just with Brahma. In any authentic relationship between guru and disciple, knowledge is received within the heart. "Divya jnan hrde prokoshito." Genuine disciplic succession is based on sound, and it is also based on presence, though this presence is not mundane. My understanding is that even if the spiritual master, in the common sense of the term, is “physically present”, still he is screened from the view of conditioned souls. That is, his transcendental position is not seen, or understood. And, transcendental knowledge is conveyed through the heart. In a consciousness of receiving this knowledge, we open a direct relationship with the guru. His presence is manifest, and the essential process of diksa is alive within us. This consciousness that allows us to enter this relationship entails a conscious choice to serve our spiritual master. Dhira Govinda dasa April 21st, 2006

I'm assuming technical difficulties in the last post. Akincan Maharaja's blog was really nice. But it also shows that even one of Srila Govinda Maharaja's close sannyas disciples is lamenting about not following the sadhana properly including chanting of the gayatri mantras. This indicates what we thought all along, that Govinda M. means that the "gayatri is not so important", only in theory and in relation to the Holy Name. Their practice of chanting gayatri is certainly followed. So much for those who will twist an acarya's words to support their own mental concoction. (This post is composed by Shati-fan and Beggar together).

Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja The truth about Maya, illusion, is difficult for us to digest. ‘I am small’ – I don’t like to digest or accept this. That’s the rub. That is my inner evil tendency to capture another’s right. We need to understand what is freedom. We are actually accustomed to think that we can encroach on the freedom of others of the environment. That is the disease. Otherwise, we rebel, “I shall commit suicide. If I cannot freely exercise my will over the environment outside, I shall enter into the grave.” But I won’t accept slavery – a serving attitude to the environment. We are afraid to become a servant. “I want to be an exploiting unit, but not a serving unit that is bound to give its freedom to another superior hand.” This is where we fail, and this is the inner defect. We understand ‘freedom’ as exercising our right over the environment. Why should we not accept service for the environment? Why? There, we’ll be reduced to the minimum position. But that is healthy for us. To serve others, to become a servant. There we can thrive, by serving the environment, and, especially the Lord of the whole. We think that we are dying if we accept service. That false temperament has grown in us; that is a foreign element entered into the jiva. It is a bitter pill to swallow. So what is service proper? We may consider the Hegelian philosophy – ‘Die to live!’ ‘Mercilessly dissolve your ego as it is at present. Die!’ Here, ‘die’ means dissolve mercilessly. Throw yourself into the fire; you’ll come out with a bright self. Learn to die as you are – that mentally concocted body or energy, or whatever it is. Take the Name of the Lord and die! Bhaktivinoda aj apane bhulila. Forget yourself, as you are; and you’ll find your proper self there, that does not die. Death is ordained for our present existence, and we must give that part of our existence to death. And what does not die will remain. Mahaprabhu has discussed physical death in this way: sanatana, deha-tyage krsna yadi paiye koti-deha ksaneke tabe chharite pariye “If I could get Krsna by dying, I am ready to die millions of times in a second; but that is nothing.” This is physical death is tamasika, a very lower death. The mental death is necessary. Real death is mental death, wholesale. Even then, also, one may only reach the tatastha or marginal stage. But He says, ‘Die or not die, go on cultivating Krsna consciousness with the company of a sadhu, a Krsna devotee. Try to accumulate that internal wealth, however it is possible. Kriyatam yadi kuto ‘pi labhyate. The internal capital can be had only from the sadhu. Whever you’ll get it, try to secure that innermost wealth at any price. Mere physical or mental death cannot take you to that higher stage. You have to dive deep into Krsna consciousness. Whenever and wherever you find such strong attachment for Krsna, try to secure it from him at any price. That will be the best utilization of our life and energy. To purchase the higher thing. And that is also at the sacrifice of the higher thing within you – innermost hankering. By surrendering your innermost existence. Such a transaction is there. The physical encasement and the mental encasement is of different types: Bhur, Bhuvar, Svar, Mahar, Janar, Tapa, Satya. These are the gradations of encasements from gross to finer. There many such varieties. Not only that, further there is the Viraja, Brahmaloka, Vaikuntha. So many subtle forms of consciousness take their manifest forms in Vaikuntha. So most subtle within you is Krsna consciousness, where the dedication is intense to its highest capacity. And this is dedication to the Autocrat, not to a constitutional king or agent of justice. But dedication to Krsna is to the Autocrat. Anything can happen. The highest degree of dedication is necessary there. The gain is also similar. As much as you can risk, so much you can expect to gain. That is Mahaprabhu’s direction. “Don’t be a miser. Surrender yourself to the Autocrat, the Absolute Good, and you will be the best gainer.” That is His recommendation. Don’t be too calculative and a miser. If you find a proper place, give yourself totally.

<CENTER>THE WAVE OF LOVE, Srila B.R. Sridhar Maharaja </CENTER> tat te' nukampam susamiksamano bhunjana evatma-kritam vipakam hrid-vag-vapurbhir vidhan namas te jiveta yo mukti-pade sa daya-bhak (SB 10:14:8) With the help of the guru, the scriptures, and the previous experienced persons, I shall try to stand the test, that "Yes, because the bile is so, everything is tasting bitter. But this process will remove the bile. I shall have to wait for some time, and when the bile is gone, I shall taste sugar candy as sweet." When normal, I will be able to feel that so many sweet waves are coming from all around to me. Maya santusta manasah sarvvah sukhamaya disah (SB 11:14:12). "For one who is satisfied with Me, then all the directions, all the four directions will bring only good news to him." All waves will carry only welfare to that person who is satisfied with God only and nothing else. "I want God, and His interests are my interest. He is the loving father, guardian, or friend of everyone." Now we are distracted and have many different interests, but if we can put God's interest in the center, then we shall be able to find, to read, that from all directions only good news is coming to me - no bad or unfavorable news. All favorable news will come to me if I can be on that level, that plane, if my ego can take a stand there. In that universal wave, every vibration will only carry favorable news to me. Maya santusta manasah, "He who is satisfied with Me alone, sarvvah sukhamaya disah, he will see that all the directions are only carrying happy news to him, cent-per-cent good news". So a readjustment is necessary, and religion means proper adjustment. We are now incorrectly adjusted and are concerned with different types of separate interests; that is the difficulty. We have to change and find out the universal interest. That universal wave is the most fundamental current. Sa vai pumsam paro dharmmo: The highest type of duty for everyone is yato bhaktir adhoksaje, that your attention, your submission will go to Adhoksaja, that unknown universal guardian. Ahaituky-apratihata: this submission is causeless and can never be opposed. The original vibration is forever existing. It is self-existent: none can have created that. It is eternally continuing. And none can oppose it - that wave is irresistible. Try to identify your interest with that wave. That is bhakti, bhakti proper. This is the definition of bhakti: sa vai pumsah paro dharmmo; the highest duty of everyone, every soul is this. That bhakti is adhoksaja. Your attention, your interest should be diverted towards the infinite, to the unknown, to the unknown quarter, up to the Nth degree. The mathematicians speak of calculating, continuing to the Nth degree. But this is beyond the Nth degree. Tato bhaktir adhoksaje. What are its qualities? Ahaituki and apratihata. Ahaituki: No hetu, no cause; it is causeless. And that is eternal, apratihata; it can never be stopped. None can oppose it - none can give any hindrance to it. It is so forceful and continuous, forcefully continuous, that none can stop it. Such is the original vibration. And that is all sweet, all-accomodating, and all-embracing. So this is the advice of Bhagavatam and Mahaprabhu, and there we will find the wave of love, prema. This is most accomodating - comprehensive. And fulfillment is given in that way: bhakti, prema-bhakti - love. Without love, none can be - none can hold a dignified position. Everything else is defective - only love is perfect. Justice is also defective. Justice comes to divide things between many; no unity results. This is the position of justice. But above that is the land of affection, the land of love; prema-bhumi. Love only can be the most comprehensive cause; that can accomodate or harmonize anything and everything. Love is the most generous, the most accomodating, and the most fulfilling. This is the conclusion of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, which has been conceived as the ripe fruit of the Veda. The ripe fruit of the Veda means that it is revealed truth. Revealed truth is that which does not originate from the experience of so many fallen souls, from their limited brains. No, it is coming from above, from the land of the eternally extended truth. And ripe fruit means it is in its full-fledged position: the highest conception of love. There we will find love, beauty, affection, mercy, charm. They are all similar, of the same taste and kind. Our soul must go to that land of love. This body will remain here. Our mind which is always seeking the limited happiness of this world will also be dissolved. They will all disappear. At the present, the body and the mind are our 'property'. But the inner factor, the soul - that conscious unit which is within us - can only be a member of that soil. Soul is our proper self, and these other things are all encasements. The mental system and the physical system are encasements, and they want this mortal world. That is their misconception. <CENTER> </CENTER>

Calcutta, West Bengal, India — Friday, April 14th A Blog by Sripad Bhakti Lalita Akincan Maharaja, Sanyasa disciple of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda-Dev Goswami Maharaja Sadhana is also service For the past three weeks, Srila Gurudeva has been frequently quoting, regularly reminding us of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's truism: "My service is to chant and glorify the divine name of Lord Krishna." Why so much emphasis on this? Everybody knows this already, right? It's not like this is something new. It's cliché. Let's move on. We get it! Um, perhaps Srila Gurudeva keeps quoting this axiom because we don't get it. Perhaps we need to be reminded because, as Srila Gurudeva said the other day, "nobody follows the rules and regulations any more." Sometimes we think that because service is stressed above all else, our sadhana (regulated spiritual practice, like chanting japa and gayatri) is not so important. This cavalier interpretation, if we are not careful, can become a slippery slope that leads to doing nothing at all because our sadhana is also our service to Srila Gurudeva. When Srila Gurudeva initiated us into the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra he told us to "chant sixteen rounds or more every day," and as a concession to some of the many other service obligations that we might have, he told us to "chant a minimum of four rounds daily." But the concession soon became the norm, the exception soon became the rule, the minimum soon became the maximum... and now we justify chanting four rounds a day with the excuse: "I'm doing service!" How much service do we do anyway? Think about it... A pujari serves almost twenty-four hours a day: there are very few of us who can claim to follow such a rigorous schedule. Yet one such hard-working pujari who was late opening the doors to the temple room one afternoon provoked this stern aside from Srila Gurudeva: "He is lazy..." So where does that leave us? We are doing almost nothing compared to the pujari, so how can we think that our meager service excuses us from chanting our full complement of rounds? When we received initiation we made a vow to follow the rules and regulations (to chant all our rounds, to avoid the ten offenses against the holy name, to keep the four regulative principles) but now, as Srila Gurudeva once lamented, "Circumstances are changing our promise, and we are becoming a slave to circumstances." When we neglect our sadhana, we gradually lose our motivation; when we lose our enthusiasm, we become disillusioned; when we become disenchanted, we begin to doubt the process. But faith is a prerequisite on the path of Krishna consciousness: adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha rucis tatah In the beginning we must have faith (sraddha). When our faith grows strong in the association of the devotees (sadhu-sangha) we will aspire for a life of dedication, request initiation from Srila Gurudeva, and begin our devotional service under his direction and guidance (bhajana-kriya). The very first service that Srila Gurudeva gives us when we are initiated is "to chant and glorify the divine name of Lord Krishna." His Divine Grace promises: "If you chant this maha-mantra without offense, Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart." How can Krishna reveal Himself in our hearts if our hearts are impure? How can the process of purification begin (tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat), how can we develop resolute faith (tato nistha), how can we get a real taste Krishna consciousness (rucis tatah), if we do not follow Srila Gurudeva's first and most basic instruction? If we do not have faith in Srila Gurudeva's instructions, how can we profess to be his disciples? According to the Bhagavad Gita, a good disciple must have three qualifications: sincerity (pranipatena), humility (pariprasnena), and dedication (sevaya). If we do not follow Srila Gurudeva's order "to chant and glorify the divine name of Lord Krishna," we disqualify ourselves on all three counts. We must not forget that our sadhana (chanting the holy name) is also our service to Srila Gurudeva. We cannot ignore our sadhana and still expect to make advancement in Krishna consciousness.

I'm not saying that these devotees lack all sincerity. I just think that they would be stronger if they chanted their japa and gayatri and followed some sadhana when they are in their home countries. From what I know these devotees try to be much stricter when they are in Navadvipa. Also from what I know of the rift between these two groups most of the nastyness was coming from the Govinda Maharaja group in the late nineties. Now it appears to have escalated and offenses are being traded like some kind of cannon fire which we can see on this forum. This is really sad for both have so much to offer to the devotee community at large. It is a fact that the ISKCON group is where most of the devotees in both of these factions have come from. And ISKCON and its branches are the largest group of devotees worldwide. By your constant offenses to each other, you are creating a poisoned atmosphere where most devotees in the main group will no longer take you or your gurus seriously. In other words by your words and actions you are ruining the reputations of your gurus and the Gaudiya Math in general. Generally the mood in ISKCON is less than enthusiastic and static. Srila Prabhupada made so many warnings about Gaudiya Math because of the politics. So if ISKCON devotees and those that they recruit are looking for an association not polluted by politics, where will they go? Probably to the Babajis who have no respect for Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. And yet it seems that none of you can see this as the situation deteriorates further and further.

Still there is the reality of all the abuse of subordinates such as women and children that took place in ISKCON. If anyone was the recipient of that kind of mistreatment then they know how much it hurt. Some compassionate devotees, usually other women or children could really feel the pain of others who were mistreated. When you have so much belief that you're in a Vaikuntha atmosphere and you know things are going on like this, it becomes a big challenge to keep your faith in Prabhupada's Mission. I want to thank Shymarani (Jadurani) for making these talks of Srila Narayana Maharaja available to so many devotees. It's what I've needed to hear for a long time for it's helping me to heal and overcome lingering doubts. I have also been told that Srila Sridhar Maharaja said that, "no on can cheat us; we can only cheat ourselves". I have lady associates in the ISKCON community who jump up and down at Srila Prabhupada's guru puja but really have damaged faith and overall they have become very materialist in recent years. Yet I know if I tell them these things they'll want to know where they cae from and that they will treat me with suspicion.

I am Beggar's wife. The reason that we remain anonymous is that although we are closely associated with ISKCON, we also have Gaudiya Math friends. I guess you could say that we are "Gaudiya Math friendly" and that would be a big "no no" amongst many of our so-called friends. I am the one who originally found the article, which is from Hari Katha and I suggested that Beggar post it. If the points made by Srila Narayana Maharaja are true then we have really had the wool pulled over our eyes by ISKCON authorities! All those years of feeling less than male devotees. Of course what's really sad is that although things are not as bad as they once were for women in the movement, many of the bogus ideas about women and black people are still around. I feel really sad that someone who is really an authority can so clearly point these things out, but will never be accepted by most ISKCON devotees because he is "Gaudiya Math". Instead we get some watered down, wishy washy stuff from the GBC and anti-men devotee propaganda from devotee ladies who have become feminists. I feel that this is a very sad state of affairs