Posts
Someone who is a reader of this blog recently sent me an interesting email. I thought it would be relevant to share it here.
My friend wrote:
"I am wondering ,...do you know any vaisnava who is really worthy of our attention and from whom it is favorable to take blessings...or for you that is only Prabhupad?
"I am noticing that you are quite critical (for sure that's your right) but still i believe there must be some souls around who are carrying more bhakti in their hearts than we have and who can invoke more of these feelings in our hearts.... Have you meet them?"
My response:
"I've met thousands of devotees, because i've been around a long time in this circle. I consider many to be more advanced in their faith than me, either by their austerities or by their service. Some i consider my friends. But on the heart plane, where we need to focus, no, i have not met anyone since Srila Prabhupada, who inspires me to place my head at his feet. I did meet Srila Sridhar Maharaj several times in Navadwip, which was a very wonderful experience. But it was not until much later that i realized he was a truly great soul.
"What i think you're talking about is someone whom when you meet him, he sits down in the middle of your heart and you feel that he knows who you are and cares about you on the deepest levels. And you are embarrassed but you say, 'Thank you for coming here to this dirty place. Please stay here and take a little water because i have nothing else to offer you.' That feeling i have only experienced with Prabhupada.
"I wish i could direct you to someone like that. But in all honesty all i can say is to follow the guidance you get from within your heart. Your ista deva (lord of your heart) is always ready to help you. We cannot expect the external environment to be favorable, but that can never prevent us from progress if we are connected with our inner heart.
"As for my sounding critical of others, Isopanisad tells us to understand side-by-side, the difference between ignorance and knowledge. Being critical of something false is an expression against ignorance. Higher knowledge is not just theory-- it's also practical-- to evaluate people and events in real life. Practical knowledge may not sound sweet to the ear or palatable to the mind. But it is progressive-- not destructive-- if it helps us to separate duplicity from devotion.
"I am writing for my own purification, not for popular approval. If this process helps me to clarify and understand my real priorities, even if my voice is sometimes shrill, why should that be a problem? If there is a fire in the kitchen, would anyone complain if someone screams?
"Of course, speaking sweetly about the Lord and always acting on the platform of love and encouragement is the nicest and highest thing we can do. But even then, let's remember: Krishna spoke the Gita--the highest wisdom-- not on a cloud or under a desire tree, but on the battlefield. It was a place where millions of warriors were about to die in a horrendous battle. He told Arjuna to fight --not to run away out of false compassion.
"Krishna also told him that to actually love God, the prerequisite is to understand Him and act for Him. So what is the value of putting on a pretense of love as a vaisnava if one doesn't know how to act like one? What is the value of a society based on love of God when there is no love and trust between godbrothers? What is the meaning of a spiritual society where 'dollars, diplomacy and duplicity' are the prominent features? When power and prestige is a surrogate for sex life? When saintly means showy?
"So for now, my motto is: 'Better to be a failed critic of bullshit than a successful bullshiter!' It makes sense to me."
Haribol :-)
Friday, July 11, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
No News is Good News
This material world-- particularly in this age of Kali-- is so intrinsically deceitful and dangerous, that the expression "no news is good news" really fits. When one reads the news or sees it on television, it's overwhelmingly based on tragedy, anxiety, envy or lies (what the politicians call "spin"). No one is bold enough to really tell the truth; hardly anyone is wise enough to see the truth.
And the truth shall set you free.
One very nice blog i would like to recommend is http://carloananda.blogspot.com/ It's by my old friend, Ananda Swarup Swami. He's got some good stuff to share. The truth about his experiences in and out of Iskcon.
One other bit of news. I decided to take down my web site: www.jauvana.com for now. It's been up on the web for almost 5 years. Its original purpose was to promote and sell my album, Jivatma Express. That was a colossal failure. I still have 1,000 cds in storage. I want to give them away now, but i need to figure out how. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
The website was nice, designed by a good web designer from Holland and it's been visited by a good number of folks, But for me, as the artist, it was static. So today i downloaded all the website's files using a very nice program called FileZilla (from Mozilla, the makers of Firefox), and put them in a folder on my desktop. Then i cancelled the web hosting for the site. So it's gone. All things must pass. Gotta close a door to open a new one i figure.
And the truth shall set you free.
One very nice blog i would like to recommend is http://carloananda.blogspot.com/ It's by my old friend, Ananda Swarup Swami. He's got some good stuff to share. The truth about his experiences in and out of Iskcon.
One other bit of news. I decided to take down my web site: www.jauvana.com for now. It's been up on the web for almost 5 years. Its original purpose was to promote and sell my album, Jivatma Express. That was a colossal failure. I still have 1,000 cds in storage. I want to give them away now, but i need to figure out how. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
The website was nice, designed by a good web designer from Holland and it's been visited by a good number of folks, But for me, as the artist, it was static. So today i downloaded all the website's files using a very nice program called FileZilla (from Mozilla, the makers of Firefox), and put them in a folder on my desktop. Then i cancelled the web hosting for the site. So it's gone. All things must pass. Gotta close a door to open a new one i figure.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Srila Prabhupada is More Compassionate than God
How can i say that Srila Prabhupada, who was a man, a jiva, is more merciful than God Himself? Am i not guilty of the worst kind of fanaticism? Of deifying a mortal man? God, of course, is universally praised as "all-merciful" (rahmani rahim in the Koran), the "ocean of mercy" (he krishna karuna sindhu in Sanskrit) and He who forgives all sinners (in the Bible). So how can i make a claim that Prabhupada was more than God in his mood of compassion?
First, I want to point out there are many controversies surrounding Srila Prabhupada. Even back in the 70's, when he was preaching, it was difficult to accept the concept that guru and God are to worshipped with equal status. It goes against our western, skeptical and impersonalist world views, to accept a human being as flawless. The typical mind, being influenced by a false sense of independence, projects ill on any claim of absoluteness. So it was difficult to accept that the acarya, even one who seemed to transparently represent the message of God, was as good as God.
Today, in the absence (at least in my perception) of a similarly empowered living representative of the divine, it's even more difficult to comprehend such a proposition. The field has become cluttered with all sorts of speculators, some purer than others. Some claim that Prabhupada was omniscient, another quality of God. But Srila Prabhupada himself rejected that concept, which is illogical also. A jiva never has the same powers of God, unless, for a particular reason, God wishes to give that power to his devotee. A pure devotee is always dependent on the Lord. He does have mystic powers. But full omniscience is something only possessed by God himself.
Other speculators with less purity claim that Srila Prabhupada was an ordinary man with flaws, but with extraordinary bhakti. Recently a feminist blog moderated and led by an educated. articulate, but in my opinion, a highly prejudiced vaisnavi, has appeared on the net. It can be found at: http://harekrishnawomen.wordpress.com
The blog's mission statement: "A place for the empowerment of our daughters, sisters, friends, mothers and wives. Also for our black bodied brothers and sisters as well as others facing discrimination in order to raise self esteem and give impetus to self empowerment. To destroy the lies of disempowerment, subjugation, lack of intelligence, and irrelevance to society that female gaudiya vaishnava bhaktas and others have been taught–is the purpose of this blog."
But when i read its posts and many of its comments, what i find is a kind of rage, resentment and envy that is typical of most body-centric philosophies and social reform movements. "Take a part of the message you like and then kill the messenger." In its protest against bias, it is so preoccupied with bias, that it becomes itself a platform for reverse bias. It selectively picks and chooses what it likes and dislikes from the mouth of Srila Prabhupada, using its own speculative voice as absolute. It promotes a feminist voice at the expense and condemnation of the voice of the guru from whom it received its inspiration and wisdom of spirit. Sounds like the "punar musika bhava" story.
Such a miserly approach is not at all attractive to those who have even a small appreciation of the sacrifice and magnanimity of Srila Prabhupada who preached the truth at his own risk in a dangerous world.
Now, getting back to my original claim, that Srila Prabhupada exhibited more mercy than God himself. Of course, real compassion is a divine quality, and is found in inexhaustible quantity only in God. But Srila Prabhupada, in his desire to serve God and lift the fallen souls of this world, in some ways surpassed God in exhibiting this quality. Here is part of a room conversation in Mayapur, on February 14, 1977.
Prabhupada: Yes. Not... He did not say possible. Iha bahya. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was interested only on the spiritual platform. He had no idea of material side. He rejected material side.
Satsvarupa: But don’t we do that also?
Prabhupada: No. Our position is different. We are trying to implement Krishna consciousness in everything. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally took sannyasa. He rejected completely material. Nishkincana. But we are not going to be nishkincana. We are trying to cement the troubled position of the... That is also in the prescription of Bhagavad-gita. We are not rejecting the whole society. Caitanya Mahaprabhu rejected everything, iha bahya. Rejected meaning, I do not take much interest in this. Bahya. It is external. He was simply interested in the internal, the spiritual. But our duty is that we shall arrange the external affairs also so nicely that one day they will come to the spiritual platform very easily, paving the way. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu, personality like that, they have nothing to do with this material world. But we are preaching. We are preaching. Therefore we must pave the situation in such a way that gradually they will be promoted to the spiritual plane, which is not required.
Satsvarupa: Varnasrama is not required.
Prabhupada: Not required. Caitanya Mahaprabhu denied, I am not brahmana, I am not kshatriya, I am not this, I am not this. He rejected. But in the Bhagavad-gita, the catur-varnyam maya srishtam [Bg. 4.13]. So we are preaching Krishna consciousness. It must be done.
Hari-sauri: But in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s practical preaching He only induced them to chant.
Prabhupada: That is not possible for ordinary man.
Hari-sauri: What, to simply induce people to chant?
Prabhupada: Hm?
Hari-sauri: He only introduced just the chanting.
Prabhupada: But who will chant? Who’ll chant?
Satsvarupa: But if they won’t chant, then neither will they train up in the varnasrama. That’s the easiest.
Prabhupada: The chanting will be there, but you cannot expect that people will chant like Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They cannot even chant sixteen rounds. (And) these rascals are going to be Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Satsvarupa: No. But if they at least will chant and take some prasada...
Prabhupada: Chanting will go on. That is not stopped. But at the same time the varnasrama-dharma must be established to make the way easy. Hari-sauri: Well, at least my own understanding was that the chanting was introduced in the age of Kali because varnasrama is not possible.
Prabhupada: Because it will cleanse the mind. Chanting will not stop.
Hari-sauri: So therefore the chanting was introduced to replace all of the systems of varnasrama and like that.
Prabhupada: Yes, it can replace, but who is going to replace it? The... People are not so advanced. If you imitate Haridasa Thakura to chant, it is not possible......
Vaishnava is not so easy. The varnasrama-dharma should be established to become a Vaishnava. It is not so easy to become Vaishnava.
Hari-sauri: No, it’s not a cheap thing.
Prabhupada: Yes. Therefore this should be made. Vaishnava, to become Vaishnava, is not so easy. If Vaishnava, to become Vaishnava is so easy, why so many fall down, fall down? It is not easy.
Srila Prabhupada was a pragmatist. By 1977, he had preached non-stop for 11 years in western countries. And he could see, that despite his preaching, despite everything he had given to his disciples, still they were falling down, they could not reach the proper standard. So he wanted to go beyond the scope of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He wanted to re-establish varna-asram, a society based on progressive values, to give people (including his own disciples) a chance to gradually come to the spiritual platform. This was even more merciful than what Krishna, as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, was prepared to do.
Mahaprabhu avoided worldly people. Even the King of Orissa at the time, Prataprarudra, who was his own devotee, had to overcome great resistance from Mahaprabhu to meet Him. But Prabhupada was eager to meet with leaders and celebrities-- he even wrote letters to Presidents and Popes-- not for any personal glory, but with a desire to beg them to help him turn a hard-core materialistic environment into a more spiritually favorable one. Of course, his disciples could not easily understand how to assist him in this. They were enthusiastic but unable to actually help him establish a more favorable social situation. In many cases, they turned a neutral situation into an unfavorable one thru their malefic or ignorant actions. And immediately after Srila Prabhupada departed, in November, 1977, the leaders of his movement turned everything upside down and sabotaged his movement. The results can now be seen as the present farce that masquerades as an international spiritual society.
To set the record straight: Srila Prabhupada was not in any way a bigot, a fanatic or a megalomaniac as some prejudiced observers now claim. He was absolutely liberal and revolutionary in his insistence that none of us are these bodies. That we are, in reality, spirit. And as spirit we have a birthright of liberation from this material world. He was an incarnation of mercy who was empowered to distribute that mercy and to liberate anyone who could follow him. But as he himself said, it's not easy to become a vaisnava. It is not easy to give up envy and the speculative mind and to surrender to mercy. But our disqualification-- our cataract vision and our spiritual deafness on this plane of existence-- in no way diminishes the beauty and glory that was and is Srila Prabhupada.
First, I want to point out there are many controversies surrounding Srila Prabhupada. Even back in the 70's, when he was preaching, it was difficult to accept the concept that guru and God are to worshipped with equal status. It goes against our western, skeptical and impersonalist world views, to accept a human being as flawless. The typical mind, being influenced by a false sense of independence, projects ill on any claim of absoluteness. So it was difficult to accept that the acarya, even one who seemed to transparently represent the message of God, was as good as God.
Today, in the absence (at least in my perception) of a similarly empowered living representative of the divine, it's even more difficult to comprehend such a proposition. The field has become cluttered with all sorts of speculators, some purer than others. Some claim that Prabhupada was omniscient, another quality of God. But Srila Prabhupada himself rejected that concept, which is illogical also. A jiva never has the same powers of God, unless, for a particular reason, God wishes to give that power to his devotee. A pure devotee is always dependent on the Lord. He does have mystic powers. But full omniscience is something only possessed by God himself.
Other speculators with less purity claim that Srila Prabhupada was an ordinary man with flaws, but with extraordinary bhakti. Recently a feminist blog moderated and led by an educated. articulate, but in my opinion, a highly prejudiced vaisnavi, has appeared on the net. It can be found at: http://harekrishnawomen.wordpress.com
The blog's mission statement: "A place for the empowerment of our daughters, sisters, friends, mothers and wives. Also for our black bodied brothers and sisters as well as others facing discrimination in order to raise self esteem and give impetus to self empowerment. To destroy the lies of disempowerment, subjugation, lack of intelligence, and irrelevance to society that female gaudiya vaishnava bhaktas and others have been taught–is the purpose of this blog."
But when i read its posts and many of its comments, what i find is a kind of rage, resentment and envy that is typical of most body-centric philosophies and social reform movements. "Take a part of the message you like and then kill the messenger." In its protest against bias, it is so preoccupied with bias, that it becomes itself a platform for reverse bias. It selectively picks and chooses what it likes and dislikes from the mouth of Srila Prabhupada, using its own speculative voice as absolute. It promotes a feminist voice at the expense and condemnation of the voice of the guru from whom it received its inspiration and wisdom of spirit. Sounds like the "punar musika bhava" story.
Such a miserly approach is not at all attractive to those who have even a small appreciation of the sacrifice and magnanimity of Srila Prabhupada who preached the truth at his own risk in a dangerous world.
Now, getting back to my original claim, that Srila Prabhupada exhibited more mercy than God himself. Of course, real compassion is a divine quality, and is found in inexhaustible quantity only in God. But Srila Prabhupada, in his desire to serve God and lift the fallen souls of this world, in some ways surpassed God in exhibiting this quality. Here is part of a room conversation in Mayapur, on February 14, 1977.
Prabhupada: Yes. Not... He did not say possible. Iha bahya. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was interested only on the spiritual platform. He had no idea of material side. He rejected material side.
Satsvarupa: But don’t we do that also?
Prabhupada: No. Our position is different. We are trying to implement Krishna consciousness in everything. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally took sannyasa. He rejected completely material. Nishkincana. But we are not going to be nishkincana. We are trying to cement the troubled position of the... That is also in the prescription of Bhagavad-gita. We are not rejecting the whole society. Caitanya Mahaprabhu rejected everything, iha bahya. Rejected meaning, I do not take much interest in this. Bahya. It is external. He was simply interested in the internal, the spiritual. But our duty is that we shall arrange the external affairs also so nicely that one day they will come to the spiritual platform very easily, paving the way. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu, personality like that, they have nothing to do with this material world. But we are preaching. We are preaching. Therefore we must pave the situation in such a way that gradually they will be promoted to the spiritual plane, which is not required.
Satsvarupa: Varnasrama is not required.
Prabhupada: Not required. Caitanya Mahaprabhu denied, I am not brahmana, I am not kshatriya, I am not this, I am not this. He rejected. But in the Bhagavad-gita, the catur-varnyam maya srishtam [Bg. 4.13]. So we are preaching Krishna consciousness. It must be done.
Hari-sauri: But in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s practical preaching He only induced them to chant.
Prabhupada: That is not possible for ordinary man.
Hari-sauri: What, to simply induce people to chant?
Prabhupada: Hm?
Hari-sauri: He only introduced just the chanting.
Prabhupada: But who will chant? Who’ll chant?
Satsvarupa: But if they won’t chant, then neither will they train up in the varnasrama. That’s the easiest.
Prabhupada: The chanting will be there, but you cannot expect that people will chant like Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They cannot even chant sixteen rounds. (And) these rascals are going to be Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Satsvarupa: No. But if they at least will chant and take some prasada...
Prabhupada: Chanting will go on. That is not stopped. But at the same time the varnasrama-dharma must be established to make the way easy. Hari-sauri: Well, at least my own understanding was that the chanting was introduced in the age of Kali because varnasrama is not possible.
Prabhupada: Because it will cleanse the mind. Chanting will not stop.
Hari-sauri: So therefore the chanting was introduced to replace all of the systems of varnasrama and like that.
Prabhupada: Yes, it can replace, but who is going to replace it? The... People are not so advanced. If you imitate Haridasa Thakura to chant, it is not possible......
Vaishnava is not so easy. The varnasrama-dharma should be established to become a Vaishnava. It is not so easy to become Vaishnava.
Hari-sauri: No, it’s not a cheap thing.
Prabhupada: Yes. Therefore this should be made. Vaishnava, to become Vaishnava, is not so easy. If Vaishnava, to become Vaishnava is so easy, why so many fall down, fall down? It is not easy.
Srila Prabhupada was a pragmatist. By 1977, he had preached non-stop for 11 years in western countries. And he could see, that despite his preaching, despite everything he had given to his disciples, still they were falling down, they could not reach the proper standard. So he wanted to go beyond the scope of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He wanted to re-establish varna-asram, a society based on progressive values, to give people (including his own disciples) a chance to gradually come to the spiritual platform. This was even more merciful than what Krishna, as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, was prepared to do.
Mahaprabhu avoided worldly people. Even the King of Orissa at the time, Prataprarudra, who was his own devotee, had to overcome great resistance from Mahaprabhu to meet Him. But Prabhupada was eager to meet with leaders and celebrities-- he even wrote letters to Presidents and Popes-- not for any personal glory, but with a desire to beg them to help him turn a hard-core materialistic environment into a more spiritually favorable one. Of course, his disciples could not easily understand how to assist him in this. They were enthusiastic but unable to actually help him establish a more favorable social situation. In many cases, they turned a neutral situation into an unfavorable one thru their malefic or ignorant actions. And immediately after Srila Prabhupada departed, in November, 1977, the leaders of his movement turned everything upside down and sabotaged his movement. The results can now be seen as the present farce that masquerades as an international spiritual society.
To set the record straight: Srila Prabhupada was not in any way a bigot, a fanatic or a megalomaniac as some prejudiced observers now claim. He was absolutely liberal and revolutionary in his insistence that none of us are these bodies. That we are, in reality, spirit. And as spirit we have a birthright of liberation from this material world. He was an incarnation of mercy who was empowered to distribute that mercy and to liberate anyone who could follow him. But as he himself said, it's not easy to become a vaisnava. It is not easy to give up envy and the speculative mind and to surrender to mercy. But our disqualification-- our cataract vision and our spiritual deafness on this plane of existence-- in no way diminishes the beauty and glory that was and is Srila Prabhupada.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
1008 Down
Sometimes in life we're forced into situations or duties that we would prefer to avoid. Actually, this is more common than most of us care to admit. We are masters at self deception and internal fraud which find expression in various acts and misadventures .
But the hand of Krishna is on everyone, especially on one who attempts to pay some attention to Krishna, however imperfectly. That was shown to me recently when i went down to Florida, first to see, and then to perform the funeral rites for my uncle. When i made the booking one evening for my flight to Miami, my uncle was in the hospital. By the time i landed the next afternoon, he had died. Naturally i felt not just sad, but uncomfortable. But i was comforted by a couple of very trivial things that reminded me how Krishna is always present under all circumstances.
First, the record locator or confirmation code for my ticket to Miami was a series of letters that started with OM. I thought that was cool. And when i got to Miami, i took a short train ride from the airport to Ft. Lauderdale, about 25 miles north. After i sat down on the train with my carry on luggage i looked up and noticed the number of the train car i was riding in (bogey number they call it in India). It was 1008. Certainly auspicious, i thought. Later i realized that i had used that same number: one zero zero eight, in the intro to my song, Jivatma Express. "One Zero Zero Eight Down is now leaving from platform number"....a voice over says in English and Hindi as the music starts. So there i was, riding on my own 1008 Down, presiding over a funeral!
So no matter what life throws at us, and it definitely throws all kinds of curve balls, if we can only remember that the sweet Lord is the real controller, the real pitcher, He shows us his presence in all kinds of interesting ways.
Somehow or other, by hook or by crook as the expression goes, always remember Krishna. And never forget Him. This is one of the essential sutras left to us by our beloved guru and eternal well-wishing friend, Srila Prabhupada.
But the hand of Krishna is on everyone, especially on one who attempts to pay some attention to Krishna, however imperfectly. That was shown to me recently when i went down to Florida, first to see, and then to perform the funeral rites for my uncle. When i made the booking one evening for my flight to Miami, my uncle was in the hospital. By the time i landed the next afternoon, he had died. Naturally i felt not just sad, but uncomfortable. But i was comforted by a couple of very trivial things that reminded me how Krishna is always present under all circumstances.
First, the record locator or confirmation code for my ticket to Miami was a series of letters that started with OM. I thought that was cool. And when i got to Miami, i took a short train ride from the airport to Ft. Lauderdale, about 25 miles north. After i sat down on the train with my carry on luggage i looked up and noticed the number of the train car i was riding in (bogey number they call it in India). It was 1008. Certainly auspicious, i thought. Later i realized that i had used that same number: one zero zero eight, in the intro to my song, Jivatma Express. "One Zero Zero Eight Down is now leaving from platform number"....a voice over says in English and Hindi as the music starts. So there i was, riding on my own 1008 Down, presiding over a funeral!
So no matter what life throws at us, and it definitely throws all kinds of curve balls, if we can only remember that the sweet Lord is the real controller, the real pitcher, He shows us his presence in all kinds of interesting ways.
Somehow or other, by hook or by crook as the expression goes, always remember Krishna. And never forget Him. This is one of the essential sutras left to us by our beloved guru and eternal well-wishing friend, Srila Prabhupada.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Path to Liberty
The following are the words of the great spiritual master, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur:
"The Bhagavata teaches us that God gives us truth as He gave it to Vyasa: when we earnestly seek for it.
Truth is eternal and unexhausted. The soul receives a revelation when anxious for it. The souls of the great thinkers of the bygone ages, who now live spiritually, often approach our inquiring spirit and assist in its development. Thus Vyasa was assisted by Narada and Brahma.
Our Shastras, or in other words, books of thought, do not contain all that we could get from the infinite Father.
No book is without its errors.
God's revelation is absolute truth, but it is scarcely received and preserved in its natural purity. We have been advised in the 14th Chapter of 11th Skandha of the Bhagavata to believe that truth when revealed is absolute, but it gets the tincture of the nature of the receiver in course of time and is converted into error by continual exchange of hands from age to age. New revelations, therefore, are continually necessary in order to keep truth in its original purity. We are thus warned to be careful in our studies of old authors, however wise they are reputed to be.
Here we have full liberty to reject the wrong idea, which is not sanctioned by the peace of conscience. Vyasa was not satisfied with what he collected in the Vedas, arranged in the Puranas and composed in the Mahabharata. The peace of his conscience did not sanction his labors. It told him from within, "No, Vyasa! You cannot rest contented with the erroneous picture of truth which was necessarily presented to you by the sages of bygone days. You must yourself knock at the door of the inexhaustible store of truth from which the former ages drew their wealth. Go, go up to the fountainhead of truth, where no pilgrim meets with disappointment of any kind." Vyasa did it and obtained what he wanted. We have been all advised to do so.
Liberty then is the principle which we must consider as the most valuable gift of God. We must not allow ourselves to be led by those who lived and thought before us. We must think for ourselves and try to get further truths which are still undiscovered. In the Bhagavata we have been advised to take the spirit of the Shastras and not the words. The Bhagavata is therefore a religion of liberty, unmixed truth and absolute love."
A religion of liberty, the Thakur tells us, is not one of slavery to fashion, bureaucracy, group think or blind ritual. Coercion thru words or actions is never the means to liberty. Individual austerity, spiritual habits, tolerance of our own karma, humility and kindness to all jivas is the path to liberty.
"The Bhagavata teaches us that God gives us truth as He gave it to Vyasa: when we earnestly seek for it.
Truth is eternal and unexhausted. The soul receives a revelation when anxious for it. The souls of the great thinkers of the bygone ages, who now live spiritually, often approach our inquiring spirit and assist in its development. Thus Vyasa was assisted by Narada and Brahma.
Our Shastras, or in other words, books of thought, do not contain all that we could get from the infinite Father.
No book is without its errors.
God's revelation is absolute truth, but it is scarcely received and preserved in its natural purity. We have been advised in the 14th Chapter of 11th Skandha of the Bhagavata to believe that truth when revealed is absolute, but it gets the tincture of the nature of the receiver in course of time and is converted into error by continual exchange of hands from age to age. New revelations, therefore, are continually necessary in order to keep truth in its original purity. We are thus warned to be careful in our studies of old authors, however wise they are reputed to be.
Here we have full liberty to reject the wrong idea, which is not sanctioned by the peace of conscience. Vyasa was not satisfied with what he collected in the Vedas, arranged in the Puranas and composed in the Mahabharata. The peace of his conscience did not sanction his labors. It told him from within, "No, Vyasa! You cannot rest contented with the erroneous picture of truth which was necessarily presented to you by the sages of bygone days. You must yourself knock at the door of the inexhaustible store of truth from which the former ages drew their wealth. Go, go up to the fountainhead of truth, where no pilgrim meets with disappointment of any kind." Vyasa did it and obtained what he wanted. We have been all advised to do so.
Liberty then is the principle which we must consider as the most valuable gift of God. We must not allow ourselves to be led by those who lived and thought before us. We must think for ourselves and try to get further truths which are still undiscovered. In the Bhagavata we have been advised to take the spirit of the Shastras and not the words. The Bhagavata is therefore a religion of liberty, unmixed truth and absolute love."
A religion of liberty, the Thakur tells us, is not one of slavery to fashion, bureaucracy, group think or blind ritual. Coercion thru words or actions is never the means to liberty. Individual austerity, spiritual habits, tolerance of our own karma, humility and kindness to all jivas is the path to liberty.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Maharaj Yudhistira's Words
I just returned to Boston from Miami where i officiated at my uncle's funeral and cleared out his apartment in a condo resort inhabited by seniors. It's a beautifully landscaped property with a small lake and tropical flora in South Florida. It has the look and feel of an upscale kibbutz for wealthy Jewish 90 year olds. The vast majority of residents are semi-invalids who use walkers or wheelchairs to move around. Many have one or two caregivers (the new term for 'servant') to assist them. During the day, the residents come downstairs for their meals in a large dining hall cum restaurant. They then sit outside on lounge chairs, discussing their medications and health problems, or go into a large room filled with tables and chairs where they play cards with their peers or listen to guest speakers on subjects of interest to them. A few of the more savvy ones use the two computers in the card room to play solitaire. This is their public life.
My uncle was the most fit amongst them. Although he had just turned 91, he looked 15 years younger and walked around without any aids or servants. He took a lot of health supplements, being one of the early adaptors of vitamins. He ordered and swallowed thousands of dollars of alternative supplements every year. Perhaps it helped him, but in the end, he died from liver failure. I wonder if all those supplements were too much of a burden on his liver.
What struck me the most when i was cleaning out my uncle's apartment and living in this somewhat surreal world of well-off 90-year-olds are the words that Maharaj Yudhistira spoke to his father, Yamaraj, when asked about the most wonderful thing in this world. He famously answered that while death is all around everyone in this world, no one thinks that death will touch him.
While this is universally true for young people and even the middle-aged, by the time someone reaches 90, they know that death is approaching. They make out their wills; they see their relatives and friends dropping one by one; they look in the mirror and are sometimes stunned when they see the irrepressible force of old age. But a lifetime of habits and beliefs cannot be undone at the fag end of life. I observed my uncle during several visits before his final illness, and he basically carried on as best he could, with the habits he had established 50 or 60 years ago, when he was young. He didn't have the energy or passion he once had, but he tried to follow (or was forced to follow) the same basic patterns that took root during his youth and middle age. I'm sure he had thoughts about his own death, but he was helpless to do anything to prepare himself for it. So he continued to take those vitamin supplements, and hope against hope that the inevitable might be delayed.
I think the moral of this story is not to wait until old age to realize that death is indeed very close at hand. It's a neighbor one cannot get rid of, one can never move away from. The smart thing to do is to change one's habits to conform to this reality. Our mortality is alive and well, and this fact renders activities that are averse to the Supreme Spirit-- however attached we may be to them-- null and void of value.
The purport behind Maharaj Yudhistira's prescient observation is a lesson for us to take to heart. It means: don't follow the crowd blindly. And don't be a leader to blindly try to change the world. Stop following your mind and follow a mahajan. Change your habits accordingly and change your heart, while you still have blood pumping thru it.
My uncle was the most fit amongst them. Although he had just turned 91, he looked 15 years younger and walked around without any aids or servants. He took a lot of health supplements, being one of the early adaptors of vitamins. He ordered and swallowed thousands of dollars of alternative supplements every year. Perhaps it helped him, but in the end, he died from liver failure. I wonder if all those supplements were too much of a burden on his liver.
What struck me the most when i was cleaning out my uncle's apartment and living in this somewhat surreal world of well-off 90-year-olds are the words that Maharaj Yudhistira spoke to his father, Yamaraj, when asked about the most wonderful thing in this world. He famously answered that while death is all around everyone in this world, no one thinks that death will touch him.
While this is universally true for young people and even the middle-aged, by the time someone reaches 90, they know that death is approaching. They make out their wills; they see their relatives and friends dropping one by one; they look in the mirror and are sometimes stunned when they see the irrepressible force of old age. But a lifetime of habits and beliefs cannot be undone at the fag end of life. I observed my uncle during several visits before his final illness, and he basically carried on as best he could, with the habits he had established 50 or 60 years ago, when he was young. He didn't have the energy or passion he once had, but he tried to follow (or was forced to follow) the same basic patterns that took root during his youth and middle age. I'm sure he had thoughts about his own death, but he was helpless to do anything to prepare himself for it. So he continued to take those vitamin supplements, and hope against hope that the inevitable might be delayed.
I think the moral of this story is not to wait until old age to realize that death is indeed very close at hand. It's a neighbor one cannot get rid of, one can never move away from. The smart thing to do is to change one's habits to conform to this reality. Our mortality is alive and well, and this fact renders activities that are averse to the Supreme Spirit-- however attached we may be to them-- null and void of value.
The purport behind Maharaj Yudhistira's prescient observation is a lesson for us to take to heart. It means: don't follow the crowd blindly. And don't be a leader to blindly try to change the world. Stop following your mind and follow a mahajan. Change your habits accordingly and change your heart, while you still have blood pumping thru it.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Jackie Warner 1917-2008
My uncle, Jackie Warner, just passed away at the age of 91. Uncle Jack was an unusual person. He was from the depression and WWII generation and his politics and life views were molded by those times. But his heart and spirit belonged to show business. He was trained as a classical dancer and went on to work as a professional dancer in night clubs and on Broadway. Later he worked in television and in theatres around the world as an actor, producer and director.
He looked and acted 15-20 younger than his natural age, and he even had a driver's license and passport to prove it! He was someone who wanted to entertain people. He was also a humble man, making others feel important by always being very personal with them and appreciating even the least positive reciprocation.
Uncle Jack was independent-minded and eccentric. Pink was his favorite color for shirts and socks, although he was not gay in the least. He could never say 'no' to anyone who asked him for charity, and he gave away tens of thousands of dollars to people he never met. He was a generous and talented person who had an interesting life.
He tolerated the indignities and loneliness of growing old. He didn't complain, but didn't like it either. His sudden passing away on his 91st birthday was, i believe, a gift to him. I'll miss him. But my sadness is far outweighed by my certainty that he's going on to a bright new engagement in a fresh body. And this time, he's going to be dancing for the Lord.
Uncle Jack: May Krishna smile on you and the sun shine on you, forever.
He looked and acted 15-20 younger than his natural age, and he even had a driver's license and passport to prove it! He was someone who wanted to entertain people. He was also a humble man, making others feel important by always being very personal with them and appreciating even the least positive reciprocation.
Uncle Jack was independent-minded and eccentric. Pink was his favorite color for shirts and socks, although he was not gay in the least. He could never say 'no' to anyone who asked him for charity, and he gave away tens of thousands of dollars to people he never met. He was a generous and talented person who had an interesting life.
He tolerated the indignities and loneliness of growing old. He didn't complain, but didn't like it either. His sudden passing away on his 91st birthday was, i believe, a gift to him. I'll miss him. But my sadness is far outweighed by my certainty that he's going on to a bright new engagement in a fresh body. And this time, he's going to be dancing for the Lord.
Uncle Jack: May Krishna smile on you and the sun shine on you, forever.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Krishnaland
For readers who have seen a lot of my posts, you know how critical i am of today's Iskcon. The truth is, internally i was critical of Iskcon almost since i joined, because i have the kind of mind that cannot overlook or justify exploitation and abuse. And there was plenty of that from the leaders of Iskcon that i saw with my own eyes--and much, much more that i didn't see but heard about-- since the early '70s. The simple fact that Krsna Consciousness is both a process and a goal based on "relationships," the Achilles heel of Iskcon has always been the betrayal of relationships between its temporal leaders and followers.
But in fairness to Iskcon, there have been and still are relationships between devotees that were/are not abusive. Even in today's Iskcon, while i complain and am disgusted by the unresolved issues of the past, and the lack of competence, sincerity and vision of most of its present-day leaders, there are still lots of nice vaisnavas and situations where Iskcon serves the higher purpose that it was created for: to help jivas reconnect with the Supreme Lord thru sadhana bhakti.
I slept last nite at the Chicago temple. Got up for mangal arotik and attended the morning program. Perhaps because i joined in Chicago, way back in 1970, when it was a small, freezing storefront manned by a handful of insanely blissful devotees, i have a soft spot for this temple. It has gone thru many incarnations: at least 3 locations and probably more than 20 Temple Presidents. I was here when a devotee named Rudra was its first TP, and later, when Sri Govinda installed the deities of Sri Sri Kishore Kishori. They asked Prabhupada, who named the deities, why Radharani's name came after Krishna's, when the standard form is that Her name is first. Prabhupada, charmingly replied something to the effect: "We decided to save the best for last."
The current TP in Chicago is an African American devotee, an anomaly in an organization that is run by Indian Americans and some old-timer Iskcon apparatchiks. He appears to be an exceptionally low-key, humble guy. And the temple is basically a brahmacari ashram now, which helps keep the atmosphere free from drama. There are brahmacaries from India, a few from Russia. And one American devotee: a very nice godbrother who has lived in the temple since around 1975. He let me spend the nite on a sofa in the temple library.
When i arrived the Sunday Feast was in full swing. Of course, as usual, it was an Indian American affair. Fat middle aged Indian ladies in saris and gold bracelets, waddled like ducks around the temple. Middle aged men in shirt and pants followed them with their large "pakora" bellies. Lots of young Indian professional couples with their well behaved one, two or three children, were snapping digital pictures right and left of the deities and themselves. It reminded me of a kind of Disneyland where exceptionally pious people go with their families. You can call it Krishnaland.
I arrived after the lecture, so i cannot give my impression of that, but the feast was simple but tasty and the kirtan in the temple was sweet, sung by a devotee who learned how to do kirtan in Vrindavan. The guests stayed for the last arotik and even longer, and the temple shop and a prasadam stand sold their wares. The brahmacaries kept mostly to themselves, but everyone was at mangal arotik six hours after the last guest had left. Another nice thing was there were no high profile gurus or GBCs, and the morning class was given by Srila Prabhupada, from a conversation that was recorded in Bombay! I've been so critical of Iskcon in this blog that i wanted to share something more positive.
So here's the bottom line: There is hope when simplicity and following of the basic mood given to us by Srila Prabhupada becomes prominent. With that as the criteria, there is great hope. Practically, the current generation of leaders should resign en masse from their posts and allow vaisnavas to act like devotees, to have honest relationships with each other where there is less drama and more service. I would gladly renounce all my criticism if such a reality came to be. Of course, that won't happen anytime in our lifetime. But still, i challenge everyone, including myself, to help create such a bright new world, based on honest relationships and a Krishna centered, rather than ego-centered, world. That was the world Srila Prabhupada lived in, and the world he risked his life to give to others, and it remains the most noble object of sacrifice.
But in fairness to Iskcon, there have been and still are relationships between devotees that were/are not abusive. Even in today's Iskcon, while i complain and am disgusted by the unresolved issues of the past, and the lack of competence, sincerity and vision of most of its present-day leaders, there are still lots of nice vaisnavas and situations where Iskcon serves the higher purpose that it was created for: to help jivas reconnect with the Supreme Lord thru sadhana bhakti.
I slept last nite at the Chicago temple. Got up for mangal arotik and attended the morning program. Perhaps because i joined in Chicago, way back in 1970, when it was a small, freezing storefront manned by a handful of insanely blissful devotees, i have a soft spot for this temple. It has gone thru many incarnations: at least 3 locations and probably more than 20 Temple Presidents. I was here when a devotee named Rudra was its first TP, and later, when Sri Govinda installed the deities of Sri Sri Kishore Kishori. They asked Prabhupada, who named the deities, why Radharani's name came after Krishna's, when the standard form is that Her name is first. Prabhupada, charmingly replied something to the effect: "We decided to save the best for last."
The current TP in Chicago is an African American devotee, an anomaly in an organization that is run by Indian Americans and some old-timer Iskcon apparatchiks. He appears to be an exceptionally low-key, humble guy. And the temple is basically a brahmacari ashram now, which helps keep the atmosphere free from drama. There are brahmacaries from India, a few from Russia. And one American devotee: a very nice godbrother who has lived in the temple since around 1975. He let me spend the nite on a sofa in the temple library.
When i arrived the Sunday Feast was in full swing. Of course, as usual, it was an Indian American affair. Fat middle aged Indian ladies in saris and gold bracelets, waddled like ducks around the temple. Middle aged men in shirt and pants followed them with their large "pakora" bellies. Lots of young Indian professional couples with their well behaved one, two or three children, were snapping digital pictures right and left of the deities and themselves. It reminded me of a kind of Disneyland where exceptionally pious people go with their families. You can call it Krishnaland.
I arrived after the lecture, so i cannot give my impression of that, but the feast was simple but tasty and the kirtan in the temple was sweet, sung by a devotee who learned how to do kirtan in Vrindavan. The guests stayed for the last arotik and even longer, and the temple shop and a prasadam stand sold their wares. The brahmacaries kept mostly to themselves, but everyone was at mangal arotik six hours after the last guest had left. Another nice thing was there were no high profile gurus or GBCs, and the morning class was given by Srila Prabhupada, from a conversation that was recorded in Bombay! I've been so critical of Iskcon in this blog that i wanted to share something more positive.
So here's the bottom line: There is hope when simplicity and following of the basic mood given to us by Srila Prabhupada becomes prominent. With that as the criteria, there is great hope. Practically, the current generation of leaders should resign en masse from their posts and allow vaisnavas to act like devotees, to have honest relationships with each other where there is less drama and more service. I would gladly renounce all my criticism if such a reality came to be. Of course, that won't happen anytime in our lifetime. But still, i challenge everyone, including myself, to help create such a bright new world, based on honest relationships and a Krishna centered, rather than ego-centered, world. That was the world Srila Prabhupada lived in, and the world he risked his life to give to others, and it remains the most noble object of sacrifice.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Two Worlds-- Or Is It?
The other day i was at the Apple Store to take a tutorial, a one-on-one class with an Apple creative employee. For $100, you get one tutorial session per week, for one year. That's less than $2 for a private class. Another brilliant marketing idea for Apple. The more familiar people are with their computers and software, the more popular they'll become. During the class, the Apple guy asked me if i was going to the "Opening" of the new Apple Store in Boston that evening. I had not heard about it, but he told me the Boston Store will be the largest Apple Store in the world and that evening they were giving away some goodies to everyone who attended the opening. So i thought, why not?
I thought i would just walk in, underestimating the popularity of the Apple brand. When i arrived at the Store, there were queues of over 500 people standing behind police barricades, waiting to get in. The security guys were allowing groups of 10 or so people in at a time. The Store itself was typically design perfect. Three floors of a transparent glass front, with the famous white Apple Logo built in to the glass on the third floor. Inside were lots of camera crews from the local news stations and almost as many Apple staff as guests. They cheered each guest as they entered and exited the store. For some reason, i thought: this is something Srila Prabhupada would envision for the opening of a new temple. There would be a Tilok Logo instead of the Apple, and devotees would greet each guest with a warm welcome, maybe a flower garland and sweet words. Then, after the guests had darshan, they would be given a plate of sumptuous prasadam to take with them. In this way, Krishna consciousness would become part of the popular culture.
Awakening from my daydream, i decided that i had no interest in standing in line for over an hour simply to visit the Apple Store and possibly get a small gift. So i left the scene with the Boston Police, the barricades and queues of curious Apple customers, and walked about five blocks to the Iskcon temple.
Being a weeknite, the temple was empty, except for three young Indian professionals who were singing kirtan during the evening arotik. A young Indian couple also entered during the arotik. Afterwards, the kirtaneers invited the young couple to take some prasadam upstairs. I stayed and chanted some rounds. I was happy to leave the crowds at Apple behind and be in front of the Lord. OK, i thought, it's not popular but it's real. That's a relief.
Today was Narasinga Caturdasi, so i decided to go again to the temple. Today the temple, being Sunday and a holy day, was packed. Again, it was 90% Indian. I arrived during a fire yajna. Fire yajnas were never one of my favorite things. They are Vedic, but in my opinion, Iskcon overdoes them. And why? Because it's a way to get their donors, the Indian community, to give more. It's a ritual they can relate with. I stayed for the yajna and then had darshan of the deities, as the devotees led Guru Puja for the murti of Srila Prabhuapada who sits on a vysasan at the back of the temple. Call me cynical or call me a pasandi (atheist), but i felt not an iota of bhakti in their kirtan. To my ears, it was a show. It appears to me that Iskcon is now a religion like all others, this one catering to its congregation of pious Hindus. And cultivating its donor base. Preaching? Yeah, to the choir.
Maybe if Steve Jobs had met Srila Prabhupada things could have turned out different. It might be just as materialistic, but at least it would have been better designed.
I thought i would just walk in, underestimating the popularity of the Apple brand. When i arrived at the Store, there were queues of over 500 people standing behind police barricades, waiting to get in. The security guys were allowing groups of 10 or so people in at a time. The Store itself was typically design perfect. Three floors of a transparent glass front, with the famous white Apple Logo built in to the glass on the third floor. Inside were lots of camera crews from the local news stations and almost as many Apple staff as guests. They cheered each guest as they entered and exited the store. For some reason, i thought: this is something Srila Prabhupada would envision for the opening of a new temple. There would be a Tilok Logo instead of the Apple, and devotees would greet each guest with a warm welcome, maybe a flower garland and sweet words. Then, after the guests had darshan, they would be given a plate of sumptuous prasadam to take with them. In this way, Krishna consciousness would become part of the popular culture.
Awakening from my daydream, i decided that i had no interest in standing in line for over an hour simply to visit the Apple Store and possibly get a small gift. So i left the scene with the Boston Police, the barricades and queues of curious Apple customers, and walked about five blocks to the Iskcon temple.
Being a weeknite, the temple was empty, except for three young Indian professionals who were singing kirtan during the evening arotik. A young Indian couple also entered during the arotik. Afterwards, the kirtaneers invited the young couple to take some prasadam upstairs. I stayed and chanted some rounds. I was happy to leave the crowds at Apple behind and be in front of the Lord. OK, i thought, it's not popular but it's real. That's a relief.
Today was Narasinga Caturdasi, so i decided to go again to the temple. Today the temple, being Sunday and a holy day, was packed. Again, it was 90% Indian. I arrived during a fire yajna. Fire yajnas were never one of my favorite things. They are Vedic, but in my opinion, Iskcon overdoes them. And why? Because it's a way to get their donors, the Indian community, to give more. It's a ritual they can relate with. I stayed for the yajna and then had darshan of the deities, as the devotees led Guru Puja for the murti of Srila Prabhuapada who sits on a vysasan at the back of the temple. Call me cynical or call me a pasandi (atheist), but i felt not an iota of bhakti in their kirtan. To my ears, it was a show. It appears to me that Iskcon is now a religion like all others, this one catering to its congregation of pious Hindus. And cultivating its donor base. Preaching? Yeah, to the choir.
Maybe if Steve Jobs had met Srila Prabhupada things could have turned out different. It might be just as materialistic, but at least it would have been better designed.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Parama Karuna
One of Srila Prabhupada's favorite Bengali bhajans is a song by Srila Locan das Thakur, Sri Sri Gaura-Nityanander Doya. It's commonly known as "Parama Karuna," from the first two words of the song.
Those two persons, dui jana, who are the supremely kind divinity, are actually Nitai and Gauracandra. They are the most precious of all jewel-like transcendental avatars. Amongst divine incarnations who descend from Vaikuntha, these two are the best. In this descent, they don't kill any big demons with weapons. They deliver the demoniac masses with the power of their Ecstatic Love.
The songwriter then tells the listener: dear brother, with firm faith, let go of your material addictions. Give up the imaginary pursuit of pleasure and prestige in this world. Absorb yourself in Nama prabhu. Chant his names and connect to the Lord.
Then he says: Don't worry, you will never find anyone in this universe more merciful or more generous than these two Brothers. They will easily deliver you. Even birds and animals taste ecstasy and stones melt just by hearing of their transcendental qualities.
Finally, Locan das laments on our behalf. It seems that death will force him to suffer the reactions of his karma, because he stubbornly clings to his material identity. He cries that he is unable to aspire for the lotus feet of Nityananda and Caitanya.
Prabhupada's singing of this bhajan is wonderful. Two versions: CDV 21-05 and CDV 23=05 in the Vintage Series. There are also English purports spoken by Prabhupada after each song.
Those two persons, dui jana, who are the supremely kind divinity, are actually Nitai and Gauracandra. They are the most precious of all jewel-like transcendental avatars. Amongst divine incarnations who descend from Vaikuntha, these two are the best. In this descent, they don't kill any big demons with weapons. They deliver the demoniac masses with the power of their Ecstatic Love.
The songwriter then tells the listener: dear brother, with firm faith, let go of your material addictions. Give up the imaginary pursuit of pleasure and prestige in this world. Absorb yourself in Nama prabhu. Chant his names and connect to the Lord.
Then he says: Don't worry, you will never find anyone in this universe more merciful or more generous than these two Brothers. They will easily deliver you. Even birds and animals taste ecstasy and stones melt just by hearing of their transcendental qualities.
Finally, Locan das laments on our behalf. It seems that death will force him to suffer the reactions of his karma, because he stubbornly clings to his material identity. He cries that he is unable to aspire for the lotus feet of Nityananda and Caitanya.
Prabhupada's singing of this bhajan is wonderful. Two versions: CDV 21-05 and CDV 23=05 in the Vintage Series. There are also English purports spoken by Prabhupada after each song.
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