Vedesu

I just now checked my hard-bound edition of Srila Narayana Maharaja's Bhagavada Gita, and it says: O Partha, by taking shelter of Me, even the low-born, as well as women, merchants, sudras, or whoever, are certain to attain the supreme destination. I typed it out exactly as it was written, commas and all, from the 1st edition, printed in the year 2000. Do you have a copy, Babhru prabhu? I was just curious as to your claim that "Narayana Maharaja's edition of Bhagavad-gita does exactly the same thing."

Good point. And good luck. It's kind of ironic, but it almost seems to me that you're trying to dialogue with an impersonal essay machine that is incapable of engaging in straightforward point-by-point discussions, let alone participating in a heartfelt or personal manner. We've read all the essays before. Now it's time to lose the machine-like verbiage and speak from the heart, relevant to the thoughtful points being raised by Beggar Prabhu. Is that even possible? I have my doubts.

Sweet bhajana. Thankyou Bija prabhu. I've got it bookmarked now.

I remember that blissful photo of you, Random Prabhu, from when you were bathing in the Ganga (last year?) in Navadvipa. It clearly shows you wearing neckbeads, not that it's anyone's business of course. I was searching for it on BVML but it doesn't appear to be there any longer. Anyway, I salute your good service, without the rub. (edit: I later found it in a photo gallery on that website)

Thankyou Nrsinghadev Prabhu. That was quite a profound and articulate analysis of the present unfortunate state of affairs. Sadhu! Sadhu!

I don't post all that often, but I just wanted to let you know Bija prabhu, that I have a great respect for your mood and that I enjoy reading the realizations that you share. The NDE from your younger years was an eye-opener for me and I know that it must have been a great catalyst and epiphany for your progressive spiritual evolvement, which is light-years ahead of my own. I appreciate the way you are able to communicate with a soft heart towards almost anyone, regardless of their viewpoints. I hope that I may be able to imbibe your swan-like temperament someday. Hare Krsna!

Kindling/sobriquet/knotty-pine... It's all Greek to me.

No, not at all. "Prabhupada onlyite" applies to those who not only believe Srila Prabhupada is the only way, but that all other gurus are bhogus, including Srila Prabhupada's Godbrothers and their disciples who are currently preaching and spreading the glories of the holy name all over the planet. The "Prabhupada onlyites" campaign against other bona fide Gurus and commit Vaishnava ninda and aparadha. You on the other hand, seem to be a kind, sincere, innocent devotee. If Srila Prabhupada's books inspire you, that is a wonderful thing, and I believe that any sincere Vaishnava would encourage you to continue. A "Prabhupada onlyite" generally feels the need to blaspheme other Sadhus in order to prove his loyalty and make a show of being devoted to Srila Prabhupada. As long as you are not involved in this, and I haven't seen any indication that you are, I have immense respect for you and consider you a sincere Vaishnava, as should any other devotee, regardless of their affiliation.

I've noticed that as well whenever you quote him in your replies. He is unable to defeat you using sastra and logic, so he resorts to ad-hominem attacks and when that fails, he resorts to strawmen and off-topic incoherent ramblings. Yesterday he twice accused you of not being a follower of Srila Prabhupada, even though he knows full well that you are a duly initiated disciple of Srila Prabhupada. Today he boldly claims that you have rejected Srila Prabhupada. These are ad-hominem attacks, simply making harsh, prejudiced, baseless judgements upon your character. Even when you show him direct quotes from Srila Prabhupada's vani regarding siksa guru being non-different than Krsna, his assault continues. Clearly, Srila Prabhupada's vani is not as important to him as winning an argument and trying to make you appear to be an evil person, per his agenda.

Also this: Addressing Srila Sridhara Maharaja as "Sridhara" is clearly disrespectful. That would be like a Vaishnava from another sanga or Sampradaya addressing Srila Prabhupada as A.C. or Abhay, or De. Being that there are Vaishavas from numerous sangas contributing here, we need to observe proper Vaishnava etiquette if we wish that our own ideas be accepted by others, IMHO.

I don't have the websites handy (although I can look them up if you like) but there are several projects in Vrndavana that are worthy options for those who have a little extra gink and would like to be of service: aid for the abandoned widows in Vrndavana, restoring the forests of Vrndavana, and restoring the Vraja kunds (over 100 of them.) Nice sukriti if you are so inclined towards that type of seva. I like the idea of helping the elderly in your short list. The Vrndavana widows would qualify in that category. There are also aging Vaishnavis (worldwide) who would like to retire in the Dhama but cannot do so without assistance.

I've compiled some links to the websites of some of the more prominent Gauidiya Vaishnava missions, in no particular order of personal preference. Perhaps by carefully examining some of these sites, you will feel some inspiration to make a connection. As far as which groups to avoid, I can't advise you so much there (on a public forum), but to the best of my knowledge, all the missions listed below are bona fide and worthy of taking shelter. Hare Krsna! http://www.vrindavan.org/ http://www.sreecgmath.org/index1.html http://www.gopinathmath.com/main.html http://www.scsmath.com/ http://www.gosai.com/chaitanya/ http://www.purebhakti.com/ http://www.gaudiyamission.com/Home.html http://www.swami.org/

Thankyou for sharing these amazing realizations from Srila Sridhar Maharaja. Simply amazing purports to the verses of Sri Siksastakam. I think I see the point you are making, and I hope it has become clear to the devotee who expressed some doubt. It's not that we can't have a taste. Naturally, we all hanker after taste and this taste will motivate us to continue further on the path. The point is, we can't think that it is by our own endeavor that this taste has come. We have to understand that it is only by divine grace, causeless mercy. We are not the doers, and if we start to think that it is by our own doing that we develop some taste, then that is false ego, which will ultimately be the cause for falldown. That is the "danger" that Srila Sridhara Maharaja is describing above, IMHO. As SSM mentions, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami, despite experiencing spiritual ecstasy of the highest degree, always thinks within himself that he is lower than the worm in stool and more fallen than Jagai and Madhai. That is the secret. When the Lord blesses us with taste, we need to feel ourselves completely undeserving, and simply count our blessings for the causeless mercy we have received. When we start to think "Oh, my sadhana is so powerful, I am such a fixed-up devotee, look at me, I'm more sincere than anyone, I am attracting Krsna's mercy by my big big service and powers of devotion", that is the danger zone. Pride cometh before the fall.

Okay, so now we see that the dreamer-vadis have introduced holograms into their vocabulary to describe their science-fictional account of the origin of the soul. It is becoming amusingly obvious where this all ultimately leading to: engrams. From holograms to engrams, then from engrams to full-on Dianetics as founded by HH L. Ron Hubbard. engram: defined as a faithful recording of a moment of pain and unconsciousness. It is stored in the stimulus-response mechanism of (the reactive mind). It is not a memory. Engrams contain all perceptions present in a moment when pain is experienced but are not easily available to an individual's awareness because they are stored in the unconscious (the Reactive Mind). A goal of Dianetics is to assist a person in confronting such incidents bringing them into full awareness. -Wikepedia Time out for some halavah!

Exactly. Duly noted. And in this excerpt below, perhaps the word "entered" could be highlighted in blue, although it should be obvious to any partial observer that there is a gulf of difference between "waking up from a nightmare under a bush in Goloka" and "entered Vrndavana."

I use the calendar linked below, which says to fast til Noon, then after that, observe an Ekadasi fast (no grains or beans) until sunrise of the next day: http://bvml.org/calendar/index.html There's also an Iskcon GBC calendar which says to fast til sunset, but doesn't specify whether to follow an Ekadasi fast or not: http://vcal.iskcongbc.org/Default.aspx Wish I could be of further help, but that's all I've got. PS: Depending on one's location, Rama Navami may be on Sunday, not Monday. Both calendars linked above give info based on your location.

Very nice to meet you too, Prabhu Ji! Thank you for your kind words. I would probably classify myself more as an aspiring disciple, receiving siksa. It's been a few years since I attended one of the annual Festivals. Last summer was very nice as the Festivals were filmed live in Houston and Badger, and I could observe many devotees that I knew who were in attendance, some of whom participated in the entertaining plays after the lectures. My condolences to your Aunt.

I believe this to be a very important topic. Devotees have a chance to help their departed loved ones who may be in dire situations where there is no other hope than the "living" relative. We may not be able to save the world, but if we can help save a few loved ones, that is wonderful seva. It's also our duty. Thanks for this. Very interesting. When you mention the date of the ancestor's passing, should this be calculated astrologically according to the Vedic calendar? That might be difficult for some of us to do. Also, Sunanda prabhu, if you have any connections with devotees who travel to India for Karttika or Gaura Purnima, usually there are Maths that regularly do shraddha ceremonies for the pilgrims who request them. Last year I sent a photo of a departed relative along with a small donation for the priests who do the cooking preps and fire yajna to a disciple of Srila Narayana Maharaja and a ceremony was performed, then the photo placed into the Jamuna River. I'm guessing that devotees of other Math affiliations also have similar ceremonies. It does give one a little peace of mind to have this done for one's loved ones. The devotee who arranged this for me said she had the ceremony performed for her Dad the previous year and some very mystical things took place, feeling the presence of her Dad. Other participants at the yajna also experienced mystical occurrences with regard to the forefathers they were benefitting.

You had this person fooled for a minute or two. Yeah, you had her going really good: Then this city-slicker news reporter walks in and says: Now... if you have anything further to say, we'd love to hear it. Otherwise, you're free to go.

Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide Foreign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law Rock and Roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore We didn't start the fire It was always burning since the world's been turning. We didn't start the fire But when we are gone It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on...

Okay, now that your tangential rant is out of the way, can you please answer the questions which I raised above? And also the points raised by Beggar in post #80? Thankyou.

Earlier you used the analogy of the leaf on the tree, and that you were only a leaf (although prior to that, you claimed that "I am you ... and aware of it.") Yet here in the raindrop/ocean analogy, you're claiming that you are both. So which is it? Are you only the leaf, or are you the tree also? Well, it does sound like you're on the mental platform alright, sort of making things up as you go along, accepting your own mind as the ultimate authority.

Well, the first question is... are you actually doing the dishes for Krsna? Are you referring to a situation where you are at the Temple and washing Krsna's personal dishes after He's eaten? Or washing pots that were used to prepare an offering for Him? Or are you talking about just being at home and washing your own dishes after your own personal meals? If you're not actually washing Krsna's dishes, then yes, it is a vain repetition. And even if you are, it's not necessary to repeat to yourself "I am doing Krsna's dishes" over and over. Maybe remind yourself a couple of times that you are rendering some service to Krsna. Other than that, the repetition that is recommended would be to chant the holy names of Krsna. Or perhaps play a kirtan tape with Srila Prabhupada chanting and meditate on the sound vibration while performing your service (or household chores, whatever the case may be.)

Hello Kim, It might be helpful if you explain why you have singled out the Srimad Bhagavatam as opposed to the others. You said you have read other Vedic scriptures as well as books by Swami Prabhupada. Or maybe you have doubts about all the books, not just the Srimad Bhagavatam?? You haven't made this clear. And what is the nature of your doubts. Perhaps you can first explain why you don't accept the Srimad Bhagavatam. It seems you have some interest, otherwise you wouldn't be reading the Vedic scriptures, so I'm sure that if you could provide a bit more detail, the devotees may be able to assist you.

Yes, that I do. BTW, I almost didn't finish reading your sentence, were it not for the colorful word at the end, which as it turned out, was pablum. "Pablam is a good, no?" I was about to nod out after replying to your first question, but then I saw something green out of the corner of my eye, something colorful, so I continued reading. But to answer your 2nd question, yeth, pablum ith a velly good thing. Indeed it is! A yay-ah! Wow. I was about to call it a day for sure, but when my peripheral vision detected something in bold, I thus continued. Just see! Yes, I likey a da pablum, Mama Mia!