[Jagannath] Srila

[Guest guest]

Dear Nimmi,

 

> Contraception and abortion are two different things. And yes, I do

> know the story of Kunti. BTW do you take it literally? A pregnancy

> involving 100 children who have to be brought out by hitting a woman

> on the stomach?

> Once, 20 years ago, I had an brief experience (under completely

> non-spiritual circumstances) where had a glimpse of knowledge of my

> true nature. I have spoken of this to only a couple of people in my

> life, but could not get them to understand it. It was very intense

> though it lasted a very short time, but the memory lasted intensely

> for 6 or 7 years. The exact memory is fading now, but at that moment

> all contradictions and paradoxes disappeared, logic itself

> disappeared. It was a sense of complete freedom, understanding,

> unlimitedness, detachment. I realised that the description of

> knowledge of your true nature as absolute bliss transcending all

> others is true. I have never had it again. You asked me once what

> was the knowledge I spoke of. This is the knowledge I seek again. I

> do not think I will find it in scriptures or in prescriptions for

> conducting my life in the material world.

> As a teenager, I copied down a story I read about a wandering Indian

> holy man who would behave in a crazy way. He would eat with dogs,

> feeding them a handful, eating a handful himself and generally

> behaving in a very unacceptable manner. When laughed at he said,

> vishnu is eating with vishnu

> vishnu is feeding vishnu

> why do you laugh, o vishnu

> whatever is, is vishnu

> This believe that this sense of oneness is the basis of spiritual

> understanding. So please understand why I cannot take this whole

> discussion on traditions and parampara terribly seriously. I think

> this realisation of ones true nature has happened across the world

> in different spiritual traditions.

 

You got confused regarding the story of Kunti. But that doesn't

matter.

 

What you wrote about the sense of oneness is simply beautiful. Yes,

blessed ones in different corners of the world living in different

ages and belonging to different spiritual traditions found this

liberation.

 

Dina-natha is a well-meaning person with faith in his parampara. I

admire his sincerity. Unfortunately he does not realize that he is

doing disservice to Srila by claiming that his statements have Srila's

support. Even Srila's sishyas who had the tremendous fortune of

getting knowledge directly from his mouth cannot claim to have

completely understood his opinion. But basically, he is a well-meaning

person and please keep that in mind.

 

He also doesn't seem to realize the importance of intelligence

(buddhi). He places too much value on being devoted to his parampara

and doesn't realize the importance of one's own buddhi. The fact is

that one would not even clearly understand what one's parampara stands

for, without that buddhi!!! True, one's intelligence can mislead one

( " buddhiH karmaanusaari " ), but that doesn't undermine the importance

of intelligence. Dina-natha's chart clearly shows an intelligent

person. He is an intelligent man who underestimates the importance of

intelligence. But he will change. After Rahu dasa ends, Jupiter's

blessings will come to Dina-natha in 2010-2026. The period 2019-2026

will be particularly fruitive (check Cn's D-24 Narayana dasa, if you

followed my Narayana dasa articles!). Whether you agree with his

current articulations or not, wish him well. He means well.

 

Different religious traditions are like different paths to the same

goal. Unfortunately, sometimes the goal is lost when people insist on

'decorating' the path with unnecessary details. These decorations can

help people as they walk down the path, but they can also divert the

attention from the final goal.

 

Religious practices advocated in different traditions have only one

goal - to reach the level of oneness that you described. You put it

very well!

 

> Unfortunately religions instead of leading to this mystical

> understanding and experience seem to ground us in complete

> irrelevancies. Which is what I meant by the manipulation of ideas

> for social control. The whole structure, dogma, hierarchy of

> religions and their competition against each other is a complete

> waste of time.

 

Though I am a designated SJVC guru, I know neither Sanjay nor SJVC

very well. To my disadvantage, I am physically separated from Sanjay

by thousands of miles. Dina-natha has a closer personal interaction

with Sanjay. With the very little interaction I had with Sanjay, I

think that he will agree with the above. But, honestly, I am not sure

now - I don't really know what Sanjay and SJVC stand for. Hopefully I

will find it out slowly.

 

What I am trying to say is: I don't know if the above paragraph goes

well with Sanjay or not. But *I* am in full agreement with you! This

is one of the reasons for my frustration (sort of) with several

commercialized Hindu movements and organizations. Inner knowledge and

self-realization are internal matters. It would seem to me that they

cannot be institutionalized. Often institutionalization has negative

side-effects and the real purpose is lost in time. I hope SJVC will be

above these drawbacks and will flourish under Jupiter's light.

 

Basically, I wanted to convey my note of understanding to you, as the

guru who accepted you into SJVC.

 

> Regards,

> Nimmi Ragavan

 

May Jupiter's light shine on us,

Narasimha