Wednesday, July 31, 2013

STREET LEVEL

     
     Had such a good time today. Johnny Forty joined me in chanting at the supermarket. He was a little drunk. But it was so much fun hearing him chant. He was pretty off key... kind of like a cat in the middle of the night... but it was ecstatic. I couldn't stop smiling. All the people started smiling too. We were the only ones chanting. It must have been a very unusual sight. 

     O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Krishna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by chanting Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them. SIKSASTAKA #2

     It was funny because he made believe to give me money and then took it away. Whether or not to accept donations which people offer has been an issue for me and after refusing 5 times yesterday to take money I realized it was false renunciation. They are offering money to serve Krishna. So I decided to accept donations if anyone offers. So it was surprising when Johnny said, "You don't know who I am!"... as he made believe to give me money and then take the money back.

     I finally told him. I don't want your money I want you to chant. And he did. 

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

FOR KRISHNA / WITH KRISHNA


Practice makes perfect. There is no end to the stuff that comes out. But when it comes out IT IS GONE FOR GOOD!! Hallelujah.

I want Krishna to be everything in my life. A life of sankirtana and sadhu sanga. Surrendering everything. I got a taste of that when I lived under the protection of the temples living under the protection of Srila Prabhupada.

My situation will change from what it is now. It always does. My only plan is to depend on Krishna from moment to moment. Now and then and always. What else can any of us do really? Moment to moment. We have this or that to do but really it comes down to moment to moment. 

So I take a deep breath and fix my mind on Krishna and Krishna's dear devotees, chant Krishna's names and pray for His mercy in the moment. Especially Krishna Chaitanya...

I think a lot about the difference between doing something "for" Krishna and doing something "with" Krishna. "For" Krishna is... trying to please Krishna, worshiping Krishna, kirtan for Krishna... offering something to Krishna, praying to Krishna....like that..  vaidi bhakti

But "with" Krishna is something else. Dancing with Krishna, chanting with Krishna, eating with Krishna, talking with Krishna, reading with Krishna... Making friends with Krishna and Krishna's other friends...surrendering one's very self to Krishna....  raganuga bhakti... 

Friday, July 26, 2013

DISTRACTION - MAYA'S POTENCY


(jaya) sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda
     I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual masters.

     The worst thing a devotee can do is to offend another devotee…immediately fallout of good grace. And by finding fault with a devotee that eventually spreads to finding fault with the spiritual master and that is not a good place to be!…find fault with the spiritual master. And it starts with finding fault with the devotees.
     It’s not an easy one and it's something that pretty much everyone has to deal with to one degree or another. Just don't like somebody and they're right there where you are. And you just don't like them. The sound of their voice, things they say, everything. It just irritates and distracts and …forget Krishna.
     And then you start to obsess on this distraction. You become trapped by it. You forget Krishna. That spreads to the spiritual master…start to find fault with spiritual master also. And then that person's position is... without that connection with a representative of the Lord…just cut loose and floating around until they can make another connection at some point either with that person that spiritual master or Krishna will send somebody else.
     So it's not any easy one....(laughter)… but it is a big one for devotional life… very, very stubborn about these things. It's a bad habit actually, just a bad habit... find fault with somebody, very bad habit.
     So we’ll work on it. It’s not going to be overnight. ...(laughter)…It's a gradual process of cutting back. To be able to identify it, you're well on your way to uprooting it. So the identification is going on – the process of identifying the problem. The problem is distraction... allowing myself to be distracted and to focus on something, someone, other than Krishna.
     Now if you have a spiritual master you have to be able to put full faith in that person... that they are your connection with God. You have to be able to put full faith there. If you can't put full faith there move on. So it's a little bit of a test right now... whether I can put full faith in this spiritual master or have I gone as far as I can go with this person and maybe there's someone else that I can put full faith in.
It's a good one.
     For now just let me read from the Bhagavatam.
     All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

TRICK OF MAYA


     Finding fault with devotees is a trick of Maya. She uses many tricks to "distract." It is a distraction, that is all. I see how my mind will fight tooth and nail to keep a grip on it. I can hear it running around like a little rat in the corner with this reason and that rationalization about how I should keep this distraction. To focus on the faults of another distracts me from focusing on Krishna. It is the most powerful distraction and opens the door to hell. 

     The only hope is that by experiencing a higher taste the taste for this distraction will be rejected. The association of devotees is essential to root out this sinful habit.

     Fault finding is a sinful activity that must be given up completely as we progress. Up to a certain point we can get away with it, as long as we externally follow the 4 regulative principles and chant a prescribed number of rounds. It is the dirty thing in the heart that is not visible just as the 4 sinful activities (meat eating, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling) are dirty things that are visible. 

     So there are actually 5 regulative principles total when all 9 devotional practices SB 7.5.23-24 are activated and there are 2 stages to bhakti. SB 4.28.30

     The first stage is when the 7 practices of vaidi bhakti are in effect; hearing, chanting, remembering, offering worship, offering prayers, rendering transcendental loving service and serving the lotus feet of the Lord. At this stage the 4 sinful activities that are prohibited are no meat-eating, no intoxication, no gambling and no illicit sex and on the positive side a prescribed number of rounds. That's the bare minimum to ensure at least human life and some foundation for Krishna consciousness..Just by doing this one can be engaged in brahminical activities. 

     When the remaining two practices of the 9 processes of devotional service... making friends with the Lord and surrendering everything... are in effect the stage of bhakti is raganuga and the 5th regulative principle becomes dominant: no fault finding is the prohibition with chanting, hearing and remembering ceaselessly on the positive side. 

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

VIDHI-MARGA AND RAGA-MARGA

 
   
     Chanting and dancing in public today was wonderful. There is a large Latino supermarket nearby here in Southern Florida. I take a small mrdunga and chant Hare Krishna mantra and dance there. The Lord and His devotees and associates are there. Sometimes He is there as Sri Krishna Chaitanya and sometimes He is there as Krishna Himself. He is non-different from His Holy Names. 

     You have invested Your full potencies in each individual Holy Name, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attachment for chanting Your holy names. CC antya 20:19


     It is becoming clear to me that to advance I need to go from chanting and dancing "for" Krishna to chanting and dancing "with" Krishna. 

     This purport in Bhagavatam supports this conclusion:

     ...the seven processes of devotional service—hearing, chanting, remembering, offering worship, offering prayers, rendering transcendental loving service and serving the lotus feet of the Lord. Of the nine types of devotional service, only seven were immediately given. The balance—friendship and surrendering everything—were to be developed later. In other words, devotional service is divided into two categories—namely vidhi-mārga and rāga-mārga. The process of becoming friends with the Lord and sacrificing everything for Him belongs to the category of rāga-mārga, the stage of developed devotional service.  SB 4 (28:30)

FORM - FORMLESS


Ashok Kumar : It is absolutely right. We all begin with form, but the aim is to transcend the duality of forms. Otherwise it becomes an obsession with form and impedes the journey. Thank you, my own Atman 

Meena Devi Dasi : Spirit is not formless but it is not like material form. No dualities. 
"He does not possess bodily form like that of an ordinary living entity. There is no difference between His body and His soul. He is absolute. All His senses are transcendental. Any one of His senses can perform the action of any other sense. Therefore, no one is greater than Him or equal to Him. His potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence." Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.7-8
"But realization of the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is realization of all the transcendental features: sat, cit and ānanda (being, knowledge, bliss) in complete vigraha (form)." Bhagavad-gita As It Is:introduction

Ashok Kumar : It is a deep subject, it has many interpretations. I don't quote the scriptures as they are also someone's concept. Krishna or Source is beyond form and formless. There is a abhang or bhajan of Sant Jnaneshwar; "Tuja sagun mhno ki nirgun re, sagun nirguna eku Govindu re."What I consider you, sagun or nirguna, the truth is you transcend both, You are the source. 
Ram Krishna paramhansa was a great devotee of Kaali. He was obsessed with the form of the Goddess. He was taught nirvikalpa samadhi by a great monastic sage Tota Puri. He was then able to transcend the form and dip in the ocean of bliss. The same thing happened with Sant Naamdev, a grea devotee of Lord Vithal (Krishna). The whole thing starte with devotion and ended in wisdom of the non-dual Reality. 

Meena Devi Dasi :  It is a very deep subject. Quoting here and there can be helpful, but ultimately it is a matter of personal realization. Who we hear from can help us. Who we associate with and how we associate is significant as we tend to take on their world view to one degree or another. Mostly people do associate with each other. Living completely alone in the forest or a cave is not so much practiced in these times. It is very difficult to even find such a forest or cave.





Monday, July 22, 2013

FULLNESS OR EMPTINESS?


Gauraharidas : Most teachers, and gurus who are a little more enlightened than the average person teach that one should examine oneself, personal actions and behavior to advance spiritual life. 

The most enlightened master teacher of the essence of all truth, who is the final destroyer of samsara, is one who generates faith, inspiration, eagerness and taste for examining the transcendental qualities of the incarnations of God who have graced our planet which are a blazing fire of transcendental perfection.

Without following any other path or separate endeavor faithful one-pointed meditation on the uncommon characteristics of the Personality of Godhead automatically causes those who enthusiastically engage in such concentrated examination to attain the essence of all perfections even beyond what one can personally imagine. 

Meena Devi Dasi : If I examine myself I will find I am lacking. If I examine the Lord I will find nothing lacking. Better to focus on the fullness than the emptiness.

SOMEONE IS WAITING....


Rajkumar Mahaganapat : Pranam Meena Devi Dasiji,
I would like to add that something amiss between Ashok Kumarji's doubts and your final verdict When the student is ready the Spiritual Master appears.
Ashok Kumarji Spiritual Life is the mode of transport or method or a medium to effectively put forward the prayer of the soul to become one with PARAMAATMA.
The final result of Spiritual Life is oneness with God or one's soul unites with the Almighty (AATMA UNITES WITH PARAMAATMA).
THIS HAPPENS WHEN THE SOUL IS COMPLETELY PURIFIED OF IT'S VARIOUS SINS RIGHT FROM EVOLUTION TO FINALE.
Mind over Matter.
Here, first and foremost is to STOP THINKING & ANALYSING SPIRITUALITY LIKE ANY OTHER NEEDS OR PROBLEMS are treated.
The soul is in Spirit form(a tranparent vapour body of vibrations like the vapours of pure spirit(alcohol) for one to understand to some extent & I am not saying it is the spirit vapour which pl. note) which can attain any shape any time.
The souls are also distracted by other souls actions like how we are disturbed&redirected by the Vasanas of other humans.
Hence it becomes very difficult to stay put to the objective of Attaining Salvation(onenesswith Paramaatma).
Paramaatma is smart enough to test every soul to the extreme to finally appreciate & accept.
Don't go by the fearful predictions or ideas used by so many Spiritual Leaders to instill a fear in oneself and thereby the person unknowingly surrenders to him out of sheer fear.
The Intellectual power of the Mind will naturally recognize the Divine Spirit once it comes of age by staunch penance which is the selfless prayers of ones' soul.
Finally don't ask for the result for everything in Spirituality, Just do your duty or KARMA and the rest is achieved automatically, even one has to sow the seed and wait for the tree to bear fruit of whatever one has sowed and you are asking whether the fruit will materialize or not even without sowing the seed. 

Meena Devi Dasi : Thank you for taking the time and deep thought to share your understanding. 
The tendency in general is to consider that advancement in spiritual life is by one's own endeavors: If I fast, or I renounce, or I become learned in many books, or I do charitable works.. But this is not the case. There is someone waiting for us to turn to Him with the certain mood and desire He is looking for. When we ask certain important questions that only human beings can ask then things start to happen. The first question is, "Why am I suffering (birth, death,old age and disease)?" Then we are open to receive the mercy for the first step which is to simply be able to acknowledge He actually exists. 

That the source of everything is in fact a sentient being, a person. That's a first step. Then we inquire who am I and what is my relationship with him. When we begin to inquire sincerely He makes the arrangements. These verses from EPH 2:8-9 describe this beautifully: "For we have been saved by grace through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." 

Sunday, July 21, 2013

WHEN THE STUDENT IS READY...


Ashok Kumar : What is the goal in spiritual life? I find so many answers like Enlightenment, Freedom, God, oneness or whatever. When i further ask as to what they would feel after reaching the destination or goal. I again get confused answers like universal love, out-of-world state, Bliss and so on. The answers are based on hearsay or fanciful concepts, which the mind has accepted and want its attainment. It is like a horizon. Mind is looking at the horizon and it wants to reach there. Is is possible? The reality is horizon does not exist. Thank you

Meena Devi Dasi You have described your experience so far. When you ask the serious questions you get vague unsatisfying answers. You are not alone in this. It is the experience for most people.The tendency is to throw the hands in the air and say, "It is all nonsense. No one knows anything substantial." It is a most unfortunate symptom of the times. When the student is ready the spiritual master appears.

RULES?


B.k. Jagadish : But I do not Understand/Agree your mentioning : -
" Those who are pure in devotion need not follow any rules... "

Meena Devi Dasi : We are spirit not matter. As long as we have some attachment for enjoying, controlling material nature we will need some rules to guide us out of this tendency. But when we are completely free from the desire to enjoy material nature (even though we may be dealing with it in everyday life) by experiencing a higher taste in loving service to the Lord there is no need for such rules. 

     The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness. BG 2:59

     Rules are not followed just for the sake of following rules. There is a goal. When the goal is reached the rules are not necessary. The goal of following rules in spiritual practice is to reawaken love of God lying dormant in the heart. When love of God is awakened then the Lord guides and directs the devotee from within.

     For most of us this higher taste comes from the mercy of the Lord in the form of His Pure Devotees. It can come directly from the Lord Himself, but that is very rare. This is the great value of association with Pure Devotees.

POPPYCOCK OR SPIRITUAL SCIENCE?

Ashok Kumar : Practice in spirituality is a poppycock. It is about inner introspection and exploration of the eternity. The examples you have given essentially applies to the objective world, a play of ego and dualism. Spirituality is all about intuitive understanding and not about perception and cognition. It is a pathless land and what you need is a vision to see things objectively, as they are before us. Ashtavakra calls an enlightened being as a total IDLER, reveling in His own majestic presence.

Meena Devi Dasi : Practice of some sort will be there. The rules of practice vary according to the level of realization of the practitioner.

     In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of trying to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated. In the next stage one becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee begins the process of devotional service. By execution of devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material attachment, attains steadiness in self-realization, and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna. This taste leads one further forward to attachment for Krishna consciousness, which is matured in bhava, or the preliminary stage of transcendental love of God. Real love for God is called prema, the highest perfectional stage of life. BHAKYALOKA, SIX FAULTS:NYAMAGRAHA

     In the process of devotional service, whatever rules are prescribed for each level are all subordinate to one principle rule:

     Remembering Krishna is the eternal duty. All other prescriptions mentioned in the shastras have arisen from this main prescription. Forgetting Krishna is never allowed. All other prohibitions mentioned in the shastras have arisen from this main prohibition. Keeping this main prescription in mind while advancing, the practitioner should give up his attachment for the prescriptions of the previous level and accept the prescriptions of the next level. BHAKTYALOKA SIX FAULTS:NYAMAGRAHA

     Those who are pure in devotion need not follow any rules but they may follow rules to help others. Even Krishna Himself does this:

     O son of Pṛthā, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I need to obtain anything—and yet I am engaged in work. For, if I did not engage in work, O Pārtha, certainly all men would follow My path. If I should cease to work, then all these worlds would be put to ruination. I would also be the cause of creating unwanted population, and I would thereby destroy the peace of all sentient beings. BG 3:22-24

     This is the essence of the Gita: Krishna is asking Arjuna to come to a higher level:

     Abandon all varieties of religiousness and just surrender to me... BG 18:66

Saturday, July 20, 2013

COME TO THE LEVEL OF PURE DEVOTION


LOCANANANDA DAS: Personally, I don't mind if a devotee joins the Sankirtana party out of a sense of duty, knowing the spiritual master encourages everyone to engage in public chanting and the distribution of his books and other transcendental literature. If a devotee has no taste for chanting but continues to chant, avoiding the ten offenses to the Holy Name, he or she will eventually rise through the clearing stage to the stage of firm attachment to the Holy Name of the Lord.

I remember a devotee who was found hiding inside a clothes dryer in the laundry room because he did not want to go out with the chanting party. But because he was encouraged by godbrothers to keep coming out week after week, he eventually became fixed up in Krishna consciousness and later took over as the organizer and kirtan leader of our Saturday night Harinam Sankirtana party. To this day, he is an enthusiastic chanter of the Hare Krishna mantra. 

I agree with you that good leadership is what inspires others to participate. The chanting should be heard by neophytes from the lips of pure devotees, meaning, those who are rigid practitioners, advanced in Krishna consciousness, and who are sincere servants of the spiritual master. The effect will be the awakening of love of Godhead within the heart.

MEENA DEVI DASI: That is a good prescription. Advancement is sure to be made. But only to the degree of the advancement of the " rigid practitioners, advanced in Krishna consciousness, and who are sincere servants of the spiritual master." If they are not on the level of pure devotion then their followers will not come to the level of pure devotion. To actually enter into the mood of Lord Chaitanya we need the association of those who have entered in. Up to that point the real life is not yet breathing. It is more or less like bellows. But bellows in the service of the Lord certainly has merit.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?


     I see two ways to approach the spreading of sankirtana (glorification of the Name, Form, Pastimes,  etc. of the Lord.) One is a kind of mechanical matter of duty approach. That will only go so far and cannot be maintained for any length of time. Something like what is happening in the ISKCON movement at the present time. Because of a lack of ruci (taste) eventually it winds down and the devotees find other things to do, sell things, open restaurants, etc. 

     The other way which is really the only way.The sankirtana leaders need to be experiencing something unique, something extra ordinary and preach to the followers to enthuse them that they too can have that. In other words they must be empowered by the Lord in the mood of love of God in separation. Without such devotionally advanced devotees how is it possible to spread love of God? 

     And after all that is the sankirtana movement of Lord Chaitanya.

BLOCKED


True Seeker : Just want to add a point here is that Samaritans were considered outcasts by the Jews, similarity between the brahmins and the Harijans. 

Thus it is the outcast who is considered capable of the compassion of God.

Meena Devi Dasi :Yes it seems very often there is a kind of false pride that plagues a priestly class. Although they have access in the form of education and economic support, most (not all) become attached to their position and sense of self importance. It's the same old story, control, power, influence, money...all the old trappings. Only dressed in ceremonial robes. 

The Lord can act through anyone who surrenders. Poor or rich. There was also Nicodemus who was priestly but developed love for Jesus by hearing from Him. 

The insidiousness is that the priestly class hold the scriptures and teach from them also. But due to contamination they actually block the spirit. It's like they advertise, "Yes here is God, but we won't let you have Him."

Thursday, July 18, 2013

I THOUGHT - WHAT DID I KNOW?




I thought I'd gone                        Study
as far as I could go.                     Austerity

At least in this life.                       Charity
I didn't see how                           Religiosity

I could go any further.                 Devotional practices
and then I went further.               The devotee

A fire that consumes                     Opened
and yet is cool?                             My heart

A fire that                                      The taste of
is like water?                                 Bhakti

Baptism                                         Pure
of the Holy Spirit                            Devotion



NO BEGINNING - NO END


True Seeker:The definition from the Catholic Encylopedia on Eternity: 
Eternity is defined by Boetius (De Consol. Phil., V, vi) as "possession, without succession and perfect, of interminable life" (interminabilis vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio). The definition, which was adopted by the Schoolmen, at least as applying to eternity properly so called, that of God, implies four things: that eternity is:
1. a life,
2. without beginning or end,
3. or succession, and
4. of the most perfect kind.

God not only is or exists, but lives. The notion of life, like all notions however abstract or spiritual, is, when applied to God, but analogous. He not only does not live precisely as anything else with which we are acquainted lives; He does not even exist as anything else exists. Our notions of life and existence are derived from creatures, in which life implies change, and existence is something added to essence, thus involving composition. In God there can be no composition or change or imperfection of any kind, but all is pure act or being.

"Eternal life" is a term sometimes applied to the state and life of grace, even before death; this being the initial stage or seed, as it were, or the never-ending life of bliss in heaven, which, by a species of metonymy, is regarded as being present in its first stage, that of grace. This, if we are true to ourselves and to God, is sure to pass into the second stage, the life eternal. 

Meena Devi Dasi: Excellent. It is such a great wonder how the Truth is veiled by illusion; I am something which I am not and that God and eternal are illusion. But it is for a reason... how else would I would be able to indulge in the pursuit of sense pleasure more or less unrestricted, restricted only by man's laws which can be changed to accommodate (another part of the illusion.) There is no way out of this illusion but by the grace of the Lord which comes directly from Him (very rare) or through His pure representatives whom He is sending to instruct according to time place and circumstance of those in need. We cannot figure it out on our own. Because the Truth means the Lord is the source of everything, our own intelligence included. So what is the question of figuring anything out without God?

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

ETERNAL MEANS WHAT?


Meena devi dasi: I have a question.

Gauraharidas: Yes, Good.

Meena devi dasi: Lord Chaitanya... His form is eternal…that pastime of the Lord as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu…it's eternal... it's not something new that just happened. The pastime goes on all the time. It just wasn't available until He manifested it five hundred years ago. So, is that understanding right? And if so, what about Lord Jesus? Is that an eternal pastime going on all the time?

Gauraharidas: Yes. Yes. On both accounts. There’s no difference. It's the revelation of God through the devotee which becomes the fact in this world. Just like the revelation... the way we can understand... the revelation through Moses was the regulative path... to follow the rules and regulations... preparatory. People’s consciousness... they weren't ready. And the revelation through Jesus was this love of God at this particular level... salvation. 

So yes, Jesus is eternal. He is always eternal but when was Jesus revealed? See that's when we can begin to get it. Same thing with Lord Chaitanya… Lord Chaitanya is the revelation and we take advantage of it when it's revealed. So it was revealed five hundred years ago. Once it's revealed it stays here. 

It's like the preaching of Paul; realizations of Paul were very deep. He said Jesus is the same in the past when it was revealed. He's the same in the present. And He'll be the same in the future.(1) That’s why we see those who faithfully take shelter of Jesus’s words through the authorized preaching of John and his associates now… they get the Holy Spirit.
........
Some people or some devotees might think the kind of devotion you might get with Jesus or with Lord Chaitanya or with say another sampradaya would be the same kind of devotion. It could be devotion. Jesus said there are many mansions in My Father's house.

But the kind of devotion one gets from worship of a particular deity whether it's Jesus or in whatever line one is in is the kind of devotion that is revealed by these kinds of personalities… whether by God himself as Lord Chaitanya or by His devotees. What kind of devotion is being revealed is what one can get because that's how it's gotten. 

Is one favorable to that kind of devotion? Not everyone is. Not all devotees are favorable. Some like the Vaikuntha rasa. Some like the heavenly celestial thing. They come to Vaishnavism because they want to go to heaven. Christians also…they want to go to heaven. They have that desire.

Not everybody is favorable to the kind of devotion… pure devotion that Lord Chaitanya came to give… at that particular level. It's astronomical! It's so cosmic proportions! Never... rarely been seen. So who's really favorable? People may say, “OH, yes. I'm following Lord Chaitanya in Vaishnava Gaudiya line”… and everything. But if they see this kind of bhakti in the world will they be able to recognize it? Appreciate it? Most run away. They see but don’t see. They hear but don’t hear. But those who do see and hear and appreciate start to get it.

Any comments?
........
Mahavirya: Yes. About Lord Chaitanya and Jesus… Anything transcendental...and the only thing transcendental is this manifesting of suddha sattva...this love of God…God and His devotee. That's it. It's the only thing that exists in this world… Is Me and My devotee. Everything else is illusory because it's in the modes of material nature. 

These modes of material nature… they are like clouds and these clouds open up and you see a ray of sun come down from the clouds and you say, “Oh. Is this ray eternal?” Of course it's eternal. It's part of the sun. But we're used to seeing manifestation of the clouds. You know, they're born at some time because of the mode of passion. They maintain for some time because of the mode of goodness. And they're destroyed by the mode of ignorance. So we tend to put a stamp like that on everything...Everything has a beginning, a middle and an end. But that's not the case for transcendental manifestation. They're all eternal.


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

IN RESPONSE TO MEERA PANIGRAHI - TOUCHING FEET


IN RESPONSE TO MEERA PANIGRAHI'S

     Some days I become so aware of my own false pride that I do not want to look into the face of anyone. Knowing that when they look back at me they will see my fallen state and I will see their recognition of me in their face. A mirror. This is especially true in the presence of a senior vaisnava, who by the way may be younger than me in age, but who is senior to me in devotion to the Lord. In the presence of such a person I take shelter at their feet. These practices are not just rituals. There is deep devotional significance. A culture that supports the ritual keeps the door open so that someone may hit the jackpot someday and take shelter of some real feet.

     Not to be disrespectful, please forgive me, but on the humorous side.... There is a little story in the West about a princess who was trying to find a prince to marry. She was told by a mystic that she would find her prince by kissing a frog that was really a prince. So she busily began kissing frogs. She had to kiss quite a lot of frogs before she found the prince who merely appeared to be a frog.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

GOOD SAMARITAN



And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?(25)
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?(26)
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.(27)
LUKE 10

Who is my neighbor the lawyer asks? In order to answer Jesus gives an account of a man who has been robbed by thieves and lies wounded on the side of the road.

A priest  passes him by, also a Levite (an assistant to the priests) passes him by. A man from the Samaritan community stops to help. He dresses the wound and carries the man to an inn and sees that he is taken care of there.  Who is the neighbor? The priest?  The levite? No. It is the Samaritan. That is the neighbor.

The teaching here of Lord Jesus indicates the sankirtan yajna. Those who have received the mercy of the Lord and are experiencing love of God and love of self are instructed to chant his Holy Names and dance in public. In that way those neighbors who have had their intelligence stolen and are lying wounded on the side of the spiritual path are rescued. 

PURITY IS THE FORCE


Spirit is different from matter. 
We, the living beings are spirit. 
God is the Supreme Spiritual Entity. 
He has many energies.
  
One of his energies is material:

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—altogether these eight comprise My   separated material energies.(BG 7:4)

Another of His energies is marginally spiritual:


Besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which are all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe.(BG 7:5)

BHAGAVAD GITA AS IT IS - CHAPTER 7

Words spoken for no other reason 
than to please God have spiritual potency:

God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) 
JOHN - CHAPTER 4

Friday, July 12, 2013

THE ESSENCE IS THE SAME


     I offer my respectful obeisances to Krishnananda's son, Shri Shyamananda. Leaving behind their homes and opulences, the liberated souls, souls desiring liberation, and even the materialists now yearn to taste the nectar of Lord Krishna's sweet and graceful pastimes, pastimes that have risen from the nectar ocean of Shri Shyamananda's actions.  
SHYAMANANDA SHATAKA OCEAN 3 TEXT 22 BY RASIKANANDA DEVA

Meena Devi Dasi: Just a couple of minutes ago we were reading about the glories of Srimad Bhagavatam. The Bhagavatam is conversations about Krishna... Lord Vishnu and it covers quite a lot of territory. The conversations between the devotees there are very different from the conversations that take place in Chaitanya lila although they're talking about the same Krishna. But the mood of the conversation is very different. 

It was kind of shocking going from reading from the mood of Bhagavatam a couple of minutes ago and then... whoosh... we're over here with a whole different mood of how the devotees are relating to each other. Like in the Bhagavatam you've got Sukadeva goswami and Maharaja Parksit and they're conversing about the goal of life which is to become conscious of Krishna. They're interacting... hearing and chanting... and then you come into Chaitanya lila and it's a whole different quality of intimacy, intensity and sweetness. I was just appreciating at least that much, anyway.

Gauraharidas: Personally, I don't see it as any different. I see the essence is the same. I'll point out something here:

     ...the liberated souls, souls desiring liberation, and even the materialists now yearn to taste the nectar of Lord Krishna's sweet and graceful pastimes, pastimes that have risen from the nectar ocean of Shri Shyamananda's actions.

So, Narada Muni's actions... He was going to sit and recite Srimad Bhagavatam. It's an action of a devotee... and who benefits? Even those puffed up Brahmans... they came, somehow or other they got there to hear and drink this nectar. And even danavas and demons... materialists...danavas and demons. These devotees are so empowered that they attract everybody. So respectful and so humble...they attract everyone...to hear. So it's basically...to me I see it as the same. It's just one is maybe using different words and it might be a different rasa if Bhagavatam is being recited in a certain way. Depends on what canto one is reading.

This devotee, I'm sure he was reciting Srimad Bhagavatam but also emphasizing the sweetness of the bhavas in Vrndavan and attracting people to that sweetness and not just to the opulence. 
Anyway, I see it as basically the same. I don't see any difference.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?



This is an excerpt and discussion from a reading in Chaitanya Chandradaya a play in Ten Acts by Kavi Karnapura who is accepted by most as being the author during satsanga 7-12-13. 

Renunciation:This is strange. Without pure devotional service to Lord Vishnu, expert meditation, samadhi, faith, scripture study, good works, japa, and austerity are like an actor's expert playing on a stage. They are only different ways to fill an empty belly.(17)

O Kali, well done! Well done! You brought the entire earth under your rule.(18)

Renunciation: I see that now everyone's thoughts, words, desires and deeds are all destroyed by the impurities of Kali. When will I see the Vaishnavas chanting Krishna's glories and serving Him as they shed tears, the hairs of their bodies stand erect in ecstasy, and they are equal to both friends and outsiders?(21)

Devotional Service: Renunciation, in this time of Kali, there is not the slightest trace of spiritual life. There is no real substance, only decoration.(34)
Only devotional service, which is both the goal of life and the means of attining the goal of life, can defeat Kali, material illusion, and the bonds of birth and death.(35)


DISCUSSION
Gauraharidas:... Devotional service is just like it says... is very rare. But Lord Chaitanya when He came here ... appeared here... devotional service appeared in every home. Just by talking about Lord Chaitanya and His glories and associating with His devotees it makes that devotional service appear again. That's why these devotees like Vrndavan das Thakur... they say those who read or hear the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya will awaken pure devotional service because it just like the Lord appearing by making Him appear by talking about Him...discussing His pastimes... sincerely...with faith.

Meena Devi Dasi: But prabhu, that is devotional service.

Gauraharidas: Well, you can talk about something or somebody or chant mantras but if this devotional service doesn't appear in the heart, it's like you read earlier, it's like ornaments on a dead body. The life is the devotional service...chanting the mantras with devotion. This has to appear in the heart otherwise it's dry.

Meena Devi Dasi: Ah, there's performance and activities which are recognized as devotional activities but then there's the spirit of devotion.

Gauraharidas: That's what they call pure devotional service...it's that spirit of devotion. It has to enter the heart, awaken in the heart otherwise it's just dry. It's like we just read...an actor is on stage performing these things...looking good ...uniforms and all that... but there's no life. There's no devotion... It only appeared when Lord Chaitanya appeared.





SACRED TREES AND RITUALS-SLIDE SHOW



Meena Devi Dasi: Nice. Very nice. Thank you for the slide show documentary. You have a forte for slide show presentation. As a Westerner these presentations really help me to get some color and flavor for the deep cultural roots in India. And so my appreciation increases. It is from the roots that the tree grows. 

Sudha Pandey: Well said.

Meera Panigrahi: The whole Human kind is one large tree . The roots are the Faith we have the trunk our solidarity, the branches our spirit swelling out, the leaves our individual selves. We taste the fruits of god love.

Meena Devi Dasi: Sometimes the tree grows up and sometimes it grows down........... 

     The Supreme Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down, and the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas. (Bg. 15.1) 

Bhaktivedanta Swami: Here the material world is described as a tree whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We have experience of a tree whose roots are upward: if one stands on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down. The branches go downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there is substance and reality. In the desert there is no water, but the mirage suggests that there is such a thing as water. In the material world there is no water, there is no happiness, but the real water of actual happiness is there in the spiritual world. 

Thursday, July 11, 2013

KSHIR CHORA GOPINATHA AND MADHAVENDRA PURI -SLIDE SHOW



Meera Panigrahi:  KSHIR CHORA GOPINATH AND MADHAVENDRA PURI - SLIDE SHOW

Meena Devi Dasi: Thank for the lovely pictures and synopsis... 

I found this verse in Chaitanya Charitamrta that illuminates the super-excellent position of Madhavendra Puri in the pastimes of the Lord in His incarnation as Sri Krishna Chaitanya.

Śrī Mādhavendra Purī, also known as Śrī Mādhava Purī, belonged to the disciplic succession from Madhvācārya and was a greatly celebrated sannyāsī. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was the third disciplic descendant from Śrī Mādhavendra Purī. The process of worship in the disciplic succession of Madhvācārya was full of ritualistic ceremonies, with hardly a sign of love of Godhead; Śrī Mādhavendra Purī was the first person in that disciplic succession to exhibit the symptoms of love of Godhead and the first to write a poem beginning with the words ayi dīna-dayārdra nātha, "O supremely merciful Personality of Godhead." In that poem is the seed of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's cultivation of love of Godhead."
CHAITANYA CHARITAMRTA ADI LILA CHAPTER 9 VERSE 10

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

HEART VERSUS MIND


Eman Eam: I have one of Mahanidhi Swamis books of meditation techniques to do when chanting, goes through all the symbols on Krishnas and Radhas feet, I haven't gotten round to doing that but I meditate on Krishnas feet while chanting often. Very hard to control the mind sometimes
 
Meena devi dasi: Just got a flash, reading your comment... There are two different centers. One is the mind and one is the heart. Maybe chakra stuff. The heart is where the chanting comes from. Chanting from the mind is useless. Even trying to control the mind is simply to give it more energy. Like arguing with someone. Avoid the argument altogether. The mind is like the other senses, tongue, nose, ears, etc. It is sometimes referred to as the 6th sense. 
 
The heart is different. It is not a sense organ. That is where the chanting comes from. If trying to visualize Krishna it would be successful to visualize Him within the heart, not the mind. Mind will automatically recede into the background just like the other senses.  Thanks for commenting, got me to thinking more deeply..

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT LOVE WAS



When I lived in Eugene , Oregon in the early 1980's I was very confused about what was going on in ISKCON. At that time there were so many gurus and each guru had their own Vyasasana in the temple room. There were so many Vyasasana's there was no room for the devotees. I mean that literally. In NY temple there were seven big seats plus the one for Srila Prabhupada. It was bizarre.

I left the movement and traveled across country with Gigi. It was a very spirit-filled time. She loved Lord Jesus and was living in the Holy Spirit of love of God. I was devastated in my path since I had been so heavily weighted towards rules and regulations and Brahmanism which I found impossible to follow with the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada. But Gigi rescued me with her pure love of God.

We traveled in a rickety old van and chanted in the streets all across the country. She had a beautiful voice, wrote poems and songs and could play different musical instruments. She was like an angel and she loved to chant Hare Krishna for Jesus. We read and studied Prabhupada's books together. We also had Back to Godhead magazines to distribute. We met a lot of people in this way and they would invite us to go to their homes and teach them and their family and friends to chant and dance.

Gigi had to constantly remind me that I was lovable. That God loved me. That she loved me. I think that is why I kept going back to the rules and regulations type of worship, deep inside I didn't see how anyone could ever love me. I felt I was rotten to the core and that my only hope was to try to get the good graces of God by following rules and regulations. Learning scriptures. Then the whole thing about love didn't have to enter into it.
That was what Gigi forced out of me. She loved me as she loved God and she would tell me this over and over. I could not say I loved her in the same way but I hung on for dear life. There was nothing mundane or nonsense about our relationship. It was pure. She loved everyone. She loved the animals. Her loved poured over me and I bathed in it. But I was like a rock. I took and took and took but my heart remained as hard as rock. I was always filled with mistrust and fear. But she never stopped loving God, everyone or me and never took my fears seriously. She never wavered. She was always like the sunlight. 

We reached the West coast and decided to stay in Eugene, Oregon and maintain a spiritual center there. But I became confused. I wrote to Satsvarupa m. and told him what we doing and he chastised me, saying it was too independent from the movement and we should be engaged in service under the direction of a temple president somewhere. By listening to his negativity it weakened my faith in the Holy Spirit and I began to think that rules and regulations were the real shelter. This drove a wedge between Gigi and myself and the spirit of love of God we had been serving with such joy and wonder. 

I became morose and distrustful. She received a check from her sister and I ran away to Portland so that she could not find me, leaving her to figure out what to do without me. I got a job in an engineering company and lived in the van in a campground. I got mail through a message service run by a woman named Brandy. She was very different from most people and I used to like to talk with her. She was a new member in a Pentecostal church that was changing her life. She invited me to come to their worship service. 

Alone, no association whatsoever and confused about my spiritual path I accepted Brandy's invitation as the Lord trying to help me. Their worship was in the Holy Spirit. The preacher, whose name was Pastor Crook (ha ha funny name for a pastor, but he was alright, it was just his funny name) would pray and pray before the service. If he didn't feel the spirit that was it. No service. That happened a couple of Sundays. Everyone was there; we sat there while he prayed and prayed. Nothing happened and everyone went home.

But when he felt the spirit it was quite animated. With lots of spontaneous shouts of "That's right", "Say it" "Jesus"etc. they would start speaking in funny sounds with a lot of energy behind their outpourings. Like a strange language. They would get up and start to dance all around the room. Sometimes in a line like a train, with lots of arm waving in the air and twirling and jumping as they sang different songs. They really like the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." One time one of the men just threw his shoes in the air and shouted "Hallelujah!"

I spent some time with them and received baptism by water but I didn't get the fire. I didn't criticize. I just marveled at their spontaneous displays. They were very stable family people. Many of them 3rd generation in the same church. I felt very loved and protected with them. I didn't eat their food. Only Brandy was a vegetarian. But the spirit was so strong I didn't let the meat eating get in the way of what I really needed; to be at least near people who recognized the joyfulness of the spirit of love of God even if I couldn't enter in at that time. I knew at some point I would be able to. I was willing to wait. It was worth waiting for that was for sure.

Then again the call of Brahmanism and rules and regulations pulled on me and I moved to San Francisco to try to find shelter in the ISKCON Temple there which was being managed by Tripurari m.  That's a whole 'nother story.

It's taken me so long to accept that God loves us no matter what. He doesn't just maintain us like it's a chore or something and really just wants to kill us for not loving Him. No He actually loves us, even if we don't love Him. Unconditionally. We don't have to earn His love, we just have to accept it. Thank you for loving me, when I didn't even know what love was.