BhaktiK

I guess I should just stay away from people who criticize Srila Sridhar Maharaj If I point out the depth of corruption in Iskcon pre-samadhi and the fact that the corruption was known about at the highest level, people will say I'm offensive. And how many times has this offensive letter to Rupanuga been published on this site and by "Prabhupada men". I wish I'd never heard of this site Audarya and I will not log in again. Hare Krishna

Jaiva Dharma, Chapter Fifteen

Yes Vedesu, if their philosophy is true then maybe souls need to search for a world higher than Goloka since the souls in Goloka have painful dreams and see themselves burning in the inferno. But their philosophy is false....

C'est Iskcon malheureux favorise une philosophie aliénée qui empoisonne la terre où nous essayons de prêcher.

King Yudhisthira: The sanskrit shows something more: hari-dāsābhimarśanaḥ aśraddheya ivābhāti harer ekāntināḿ bhavaḥ Hari-dasa (the devotees of Hari) ābhimarśanah (being overcome) aśraddheya (defeating their faith [sRADDHA]) iva (as if) ābhāti (it appears) hareḥ (of Hari) ekāntinām (of those exclusively devoted as exalted attendants) bhavaḥ (taking birth in a material body) i.e. "It appears that the faith of the exclusively devoted attendants of Visnu is crushed and they had to take birth in the material world after being cursed by impersonalist sages who had never had darshan of Narayana"

Well I was living at SCSMath in Nabadwip when the first western devotees started to arrive. We had no running water (seventy year old people used to bathe from water in buckets from the well) Dirt pathways everywhere (no concrete or marble) Prashadam cooked on coal fires Srila Sridhar Maharaj used to personally manage the money and pay for salt etc on a daily basis Floods used to come regularly.. No regular electricity... No telephone Prashad with grubs in it --- they were the best days of my life and I would be happy to live and die a million lifetimes just so I could go back there for a few years in each lifetime.

Krishna has a halo around his face when he walks along the riverbank of the Yamuna in Vrindaban. The halo is Brahman. Brahman exists in Vaikuntha.

Documented examples of Gurus empowering and ordering their disciples to become Gurus (siksa and diksa gurus) 1) Sri Jiva Goswami ordered his siksa disciple Syamananda Thakura (the history is well known) to leave his life of bhajan in Vraja-dham and go to his native place, preach and initiate disciples. Interestingly, it is a widely known fact recorded in numerous old books that Syamananda Thakur's relationship with his diksa guru (Hridaya Caitanya Goswami) was more or less severed after his diksa guru beat him up in Vraja when he found out that Syamananda was now following Jiva Goswami. Sri Jiva also ordered another two devotees, Srinivasa Acharya (disciple of Gopal Bhatta Goswami), and Narottama Thakura (disciple of Lokanatha) to go to Bengal and become a Guru. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::: NOTE::::::: Narottama is mentioned in the Guru Parampara list in Bhagavad Gita as it is, but the name of his diksa Guru (Lokanatha) is not mentioned. Devotees in Iskcon sing "Sri Guru Carana Padma... Lokanatha lokera jivana..." but almost none of them ever ask "why is Lokanatha's name not mentioned in the Guru Parampara list?" :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 3) Syamananda Thakura had over 250,000 initiated disciples (yes that number is right) and amongst those Rasikananda Thakura was chosen to be the leader of the sampradaya. Syamananda Thakura clearly stated that Rasikananda was his successor and all the descendents of Syamananda accept that this is was the choice and decision of Syamananda Thakura. 4) Visvanatha Cakravarti instructed Baladeva Vidyabhusana to preach in Jaipura, and after defeating the Ramanandi sholars he gave diksa to some of them. Baladeva Vidyabhusana was the initiated disciple of Radha-Damodara Goswami or Orissa, a third generation descendent of Rasikananda, the chosen successor of Syamananda Thakura. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: NOTE:::::::::: In the Guru Parampara list at the end of the introduction to "Bhagavad Gita as it is" it mentions Visvanatha as the Guru of Baladeva. No mention is given of the lineage of Gurus from Syamananda to Rasikananda to Radha-Damodara to Baladeva. The person who empowered Baladeva to preach (Visvananatha) is listed as his Guru. Whereas in the books of Baladeva he clearly states that he is the initiated disciple of Radha Damodara Goswami. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 5) Jagannatha dasa Babaji accepted Thakura Bhaktivinode as his disciple but he never gave him any sort of initiation. Thakura Bhaktivinode was the initiated disciple of Bipin Bihari Goswami, a caste goswami, but when this caste goswami opposed the worship at Mahaprabhu's birthplace in Mayapura a disagreement ensued and indeed Bipin Bihari Goswami rejected Thakura Bhaktivinode as his disciple. 6) Thakura Bhaktivinode instructed Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura to preach, establish temples and so forth. There is the text of a letter from Thakura Bhaktivinode to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura stating this on Narasingha Maharaja's web site. 7) Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura told his disciple Bhakti Saranga Goswami that when he went to London he could give diksa and accept disciples. Indeed Bhakti Saranga Goswami did initiate an Australian man and bring that disciple back to India to meet with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. ::::::::::: BTW, tomorrow is the Vyasa Puja day of Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami and devotees from many Maths will gather at the temple of Bhakti Saranga Goswami at Imlitala in Vrindaban to give honour to this great devotee. ::::::::::: 8) Srila B. R. Sridhar Maharaj chose his disciple Swami. B. S. Govinda Dev Goswami Maharaj to be his successor Acharya. 9) B. P. Puri Gosai chose his disciple Sripad Bodhayana Maharaj as his successor. ... Numerous other examples of less well known Acharyas can be given. But without doubt the fact that Baladeva is listed as a disciple of his siksa guru Visvanantha in "Bhagavad Gita as it is" is the most obvious example of a siksa guru empowering a disciple, and the fact that Syamananda Thakura was known as a disciple of his siksa guru Sri Jiva Goswami prove that a Guru can select a disciple to be his successor and Acharya. One Hawaiian guru who is now married to the divorced wife of one of his disciples often says that a Guru never chooses a successor. But this is foolishness. People with no knowledge of the real history of Gaudiya Vaisnavism may be fooled by the foolish ideas taught by neophytes. What to do? Maybe in their next life the followers of this neophyte will understand what the Vaisnava religion really is.

Gauragopala says all souls are either Visnu tattva or jiva tattva. He doesn't accept there is an difference between souls who are antaranga shakti or who are tatastha shakti. According to his FALL theory the divine antaranga shakti beings (Gopis etc) have started dreaming about doing things like injecting heroin into their arms, eating hamburgers, homosexual activity, stock market speculation and so on and so forth. All the beings in the world are actually pure souls in Goloka, including beings such as vampire bats and rats that eat their children when they are hungry, as well as herpes germs and syphilis germs and the billions of krill and jellyfish that are mindlessly drifting around in the ocean. Mosquitoes are all residents of Goloka who are just dreaming about how they can get lucky and find somebody that they can suck blood from. When we go to sleep at night we forget all about this material life and all our desires are deactivated. In that state where we are not involved in Maya, perhaps we are reawakened in our Goloka life. Is that what is going on? In the daytime in Goloka we are doing service to Krishna, and then we go off to sleep a material dream and start to dream that we are Gauragopala das ACBSP the pet of Srila Visnupada Bhavananda Maharaja.

Prabhupada said the spiritual body is within this material body. The spiritual body and the soul are not in Goloka but in the world of Maya.

Prabhupada said the spiritual body is within this material body. The spiritual body and the soul are not in Goloka but in the world of Maya.

Prabhupada said the spiritual body is within this material body. The spiritual body and the soul are not in Goloka but in the world of Maya.

Prabhupada said the spiritual body is within this material body. The spiritual body and the soul are not in Goloka but in the world of Maya.

What about these quotes by Srila Prabhupada saying the spiritual body is not in Goloka?

When Srinivasa Acharya Prabhu was in Vrindaban he took diksa (mantra initiation) from Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami. He also accepted Sri Jiva Goswami as his siksa Guru. At that time the writings of the six Goswamis were unknown in Bengal and Sri Jiva Goswami instructed Srinivas Acharya, along with his friends Srila Narottama das Thakura Mahasaya and Sri Syamananda Thakura, to go to Bengal and Orissa and distribute the divine knowledge taught by the six Goswamis. Sri Jiva empowered Srinivasa Acharya. Srinivasa Acharya was the more senior of the three friends because he was born of a brahmin family. The others were also empowered by Sri Jiva, most specially Syamananda Thakura who received diksa from Hridayananda Goswami but who received detailed siksa from Sri Jiva. Anyway, Srinivasa Acharya in particular was told to preach, to make disciples, to give diksa, everything, by Sri Jiva Goswami, who was his siksa guru. It is to be noted, however, that the empowerment one may receive from a genuine Guru is conditional. If the person who has been empowered later deviates from what Mahaprabhu taught and becomes a sinner then the empowerment can be withdrawn. Mahaprabhu taught: "O my lord, I don't want followers, wealth or women, I only want devotion - Sri Siksastakam". It is a matter of historical fact that Srila Sridhar Maharaj later rejected several people who he conditionally accepted as Gurus.

According to the Srimad Bhagavatam, the earth was lifted up out of water and life on earth began by the power of Lord Varahadeva. The earth was barren and life gradually developed on Earth after Lord Varahadeva lifted the earth out of the waters of dissolution at the beginning of the Treta Yuga. People came along and populated the earth after it was formed from solids that came out of the ocean of devastation. Where were the sages of Satya Yuga when the earth was dissolved? Not on the earth, obviously. They came to earth from some place else. This is the story told in the Puranas. What about the story of Matsya, also, which also happened at the end of satya yuga. The earth was devastated and a NEW EARTH arose within this galaxy in the material plane of existence. Srila Sridhar Maharaj calls a "brahmanda" a "solar system". Not a universe. The universe is big.... big enough to allow for the gradual physical evolution of all kinds of planets and sentient beings evolving from the water and fish stages right up to the human stage of life.

If this Earth was the ground where a previous Kali yuga happened just 4,320,000 years ago as some people suppose, and if there was a previous kali yuga 4,320,000 before that, and another before that, then where is the evidence of this? Have archeologists found any hubcaps and remains of ancient nuclear reactors, computers, cellphones etc. in their digs?

People are not entirely responsible for what goes on in their life. It is not that the karma from our past completely shapes our present life. Five factors affect what happens to a person and the performer (the person) is only one part of the jigsaw puzzle. The person is locked in to a system where he is affected by the place (environment), the senses (including the desires he feeels, etc), and the endeavour (cestah). A person may be doing something that is apparently bad but if his endeavour is good then he will get a different result from someone who is endeavouring for material purposes. As for instance when the sage Parasara was journeying across the Ganga and saw that if he made a baby with the girl driving his boat then the child born of that union would be a great sage (Vyasa was born of that union).

Katha Upanishad 4.4 स्वप्नान्तं जागरितान्तं चोभौ येनानुपश्यति । महान्तं विभुमात्मानं मत्वा धीरो न शोचति ॥ ४ ॥ The calm soul, having comprehended the great Lord, the omnipresent Higher Self by Whom one beholds both dreams and the waking state, that calm soul ceases grieving forever. य इमं मध्वदं वेद आत्मानं जीवमन्तिकात् । ईशानं भूतभव्यस्य न ततो विजुगुप्सते । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ५ ॥ 5. A person who knows that the individual self is not the enjoyer but instead a dependent being, that person sees things as they really are. The individual self is dependent on the Supreme Self, the Lord of what was and what shall be. He who realizes the individual self is dependent on the Lord will never again feel fear. This is That which you seek. -------- Vishnu causes us to experience dreams and waking states. But someone who has realized Vishnu, he never falls down. If it is true that souls in Vaikuntha can fall into a false dream state and experience mental pain, then the souls in Vaikuntha must be fearful that they can enter into that sort of suffering.

Why? Because Mahaprabhu taught Sanatan Goswami that souls emerge from Brahman and enter Goloka. This is the Teaching of Lord Chaitanya - not the dream/fall theory. Have you studied the shastra? Look at the teachings of Sri Chaitanyadeva to Sanatan Goswami in Chaitanya Charitamrta. There in that shastra you will find that Mahaprbhu explains, in the Atmarama verse chapter, that souls emerge from Brahman and enter the path of bhakti. Scriptural evidence is totally in support of what Srila Sridhar Maharaj taught and there is no evidence in scripture at all that souls fall from Vaikuntha and become embroiled in Maya. As Maharaj Yudhisthira said to Narad Muni "For unflinching devotees of the Lord to fall into this material world is impossible. I cannot believe this." (SB 7.1.34) Why can't people accept this? Because the fall theory is a NEW theory that was dreamed up rather recently. It is not what the Predecessor Acharyyas taught.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj speaks about free will and raganuga bhakti: The Guru is not omniscient. As in the example of Brahma stealing the cowherd boys and calves because Brahma momentarily forgot that Krishna is Bhagavan, a Guru may sometimes say things that are wrong. To give a further example, Madhvacarya himself taught that there are some souls who will never attain liberation and will exist forever in the material world. Which is a totally different idea from what is taught by our Gaudiya Acharyas. Madhvacharya is to be respected as an Acharya but we don't follow his teachings on this point (though we do accept his other teachings notably his refutation of Mayavada). Similary devotees can respect an Acharya who says that souls fall from Vaikuntha but not accept what that Acharya said.

Sarva gatah (gauragopala) claims that the spiritual bodies are in the spiritual world and that the jiva is a projection from the spiritual body. These many statements of Srila Prabhupada utterly defeat the foolish idea that the tatastha shakti soul is apart from the spiritual body. Well done Suchandra.

krsnera svarupa ara sakti traya jnana yanra haya, tanra nahi krsnete ajnana cic-chakti svarupa-sakti antaranga-nama tahara vaibhava ananta vaikunthadi dhama maya sakti bahiranga jagat-karana yahara vaibhava ananta brahmandera gana jiva sakti tatasthakya nahi yara anta mukhya tina sakti tara vibheda ananta ei ta' svarupa gana ara tina sakti sabara asraya krsna, krsne sabara sthiti One who knows the real feature of Sri Krsna and His three different energies cannot remain ignorant about Him. The cit sakti, which is also called svarupa sakti or antaranga sakti, displays many varied manifestations. It sustains the kingdom of God and its paraphernalia. The external energy, called maya sakti, is the cause of innumerable universes with varied material potencies. The marginal potency, which is between these two, consists of the numberless living beings. These are the three principal energies, which have unlimited categories and subdivisions. C.C.Adi. 2.96, 101-104

Bhakti Caru Svami Initiation Ceremony Lecture in Mauritius To remain in ISKCON means to be ... favorably disposed to ... the authority structure of ISKCON If a leader says something you don't like... don't disagree.

Good point