HH Indradyumna Maharaja’s Vyasa Puja

Happy Vyasa Puja Maharaja!

We are blessed to have such a pure soul in our midst.  Thank you Maharaja for being such an inspiration and shelter to all of us.  We thank Srila Prabhupada for sending you to us.

A Woman’s Dress

Fresh, feminine, fragrant and chaste.

Do you think that for a woman to dress with class is congruent with the principles of Krsna consciousness?  Or is it maya?  Who says what’s classy and what’s not?  Does it matter?

Lol…

Vaisnavis…what’s your fashion statement?  I told you mine.

Is life getting too much? Here’s some encouragement from the Supreme Lord

kathaïcana småte yasmin

duñkaraà sukaraà bhavet

vismåte viparétaà syät

çré-caitanyaà namämi tam

Things that are very difficult to do become easy to execute if one somehow or other simply remembers Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu. But if one does not remember Him, even easy things become very difficult. To this Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu I offer my respectful obeisances

CC Adi 14.1

It is My vow that if one only once seriously surrenders unto Me, saying “My
dear Lord, from this day I am Yours,” and prays to Me for courage, I shall
immediately award courage to that person, and he will always remain safe
from that time on.

This verse from the Ramayana (Yuddha-kanda 18.33) was spoken by Lord
Ramacandra.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => CC Madhya Lila 22.34

 

 

HH Sacinandana Swami on Surrender

Thanks for this Tesh!

28. Dec 2008 from HH Sacinandana Swami

Letter to Disciples and Friends

Dear Disciples and Friends,   Please accept my blessings and heartfelt greetings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.   A long period has come to an end—a period when I was busy in America, Russia, and India and could not communicate with you due to the constant travel and numerous lectures I was asked to give. (On December 10 I will return to Croatia and to my service of writing “The Vedic Way.”)   But today I was thinking of you and I prayed for all of you in a Vrindavan forest near the banks of the Yamuna River. Then suddenly I felt I should write you and address you with a subject close to my heart.   But even as I thought this I realized that there are many subjects I would like to address…. Therefore I can only pray that soon we will meet again and share with one another our thoughts to our hearts’ satisfaction—the latest at my birthday celebration or whenever I come to visit you.   For now I would like to ask you to reflect on an understanding that has become more and more important in my life.     A Rare Jewel: Passive Spirituality I gained this realization at the Govardhana Retreat, and it is simply this: When we hear about Krishna and both lovingly chant His name and offer Him prayers everything becomes possible—but not by our power.   There is a plane where we clearly are no longer acting based on ego, karmic limitations, material nature, etc. How do things take place on that plane? By Krishna’s sweet and potent will. We can call this “leaf spirituality.” A leaf does not act of its own volition. Rather, it is picked up by a mighty and benevolent wind and carried effortlessly, dancingly, jubilantly, and powerfully to its next destination. We could also call this “passive spirituality.”   I saw this phenomenon with a female sannyasi from an impersonal yoga tradition who somehow wandered into our retreat. She has been living in Himalayan caves, drinking water from the Ganga’s streams, and eating whatever forest roots she could gather along with anything she was able to humbly beg from the homes of the kindhearted. This woman was accustomed to practicing hours of silent meditation at a stretch. Dressed in saffron robes, the tiny bag over her shoulder held all her possessions. Our sannyasi attended the first session of the retreat and spontaneously decided to participate in all the sessions that followed, including japa and kirtana, lila-katha, and discussions with the devotees.   What influence was at work here?   Giriraja’s sweet mercy storm lifted this yogini up and made her dance in the devotional current of His mercy—a leaf in the wind of grace.   At the end of the retreat she came forward excitedly—maybe even a little afraid of her newfound courage—and said to me, “Forty years of deep meditation on the Brahman have left an open wound in my heart—a wound that expands every day. It is the wound of discontent. Here in Vraja I have discovered the medicinal balm that can cure my pain—and she called this balm “the mind-attracting sweetness of Sri Krishna.”   How nicely put. Her words confirmed my deep conviction about “passive spirituality.” Most of us have been taught to be achievers, to actively work to make things happen. This is actually the school of anxiety.   Real spiritual life means to be in “receiver’s mind”—the state in which we receive divine grace. That is the school of overwhelming bliss. In this school the highest attainment, the priceless jewel, is bhakti—divine love, which is always a gift from above.   As we begin to taste Krishna consciousness, we should water our taste with the nectar of hearing about Krishna and chanting His holy names in the good company of steady devotees. Be assured that if you do these two things, your taste will grow.   And when taste grows, quite often the unexpected fruit of divine love will drop into your heart and you will find yourself crying tears of ecstasy.   Sometimes, a beginner is given a preliminary sip of that nectar—like yesterday, when this Himalayan yogini cried beautiful, soft tears during kirtana, tears that washed away any remaining resistance to the Lord’s arrangements for her.   All glories to Sri Krishna’s powerful mercy, which can enable all souls to obtain the Lord’s loving sidelong glance and one day, His direct darshan.     Reflections on Krishna’s Mercy and the Gradual Process of Surrender At the beginning of our spiritual life we might have experienced something quite similar to the yogini—a sudden rush of conviction and the strength to move forward. But after this initial investment from above we might find ourselves no longer quite as strong or willing to surrender. We usually also find that the surrender required of us cuts deeper. What should we do?   I feel compassion for sincere devotees whose surrender is halted either by attachment, fear, or rebellion. We should know that Krishna Himself helps such devotees by sending them tests—tests that force them to take shelter of Him. When such tests come our way, somehow He also grants us the intuition that we can pass them only if we surrender more. Confronting God-sent tests may surprise us at first. Then, when our strength seems insufficient to overcome the obstacle, we feel helpless, then hopeless. Strangely, it is often from the place of hopelessness that we find hope again—but only if we finally surrender to Krishna through it all and seek His help.   Whenever Krishna tests us He remains nearby, hoping we will become wise enough to turn to Him. But He is aware that many souls take their time to surrender. He says,   After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.   Let’s try not to keep Krishna waiting for so long. Instead, let’s meditate on the advice given in text 83 of the Sanat-kumara Samhita:   The wise say: “I surrender to Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. Whatever is mine is in truth Their property. Everything is for Their sake. Everything is meant for Their enjoyment. It is not meant for me.”   I acknowledge that it is not always easy to maintain such consciousness. Rather, we tend to find this level of surrender either when we’ve been brutalized by our karma or overwhelmed by love of God. These are, of course, extreme states, and most of us live somewhere between these extremes—therefore we don’t find it so necessary to come to this surrendered point.   But take courage! Surrender is an incremental process. To help yourself, think about the five gemlike statements made in the above verse of the Sanat-kumara Samhita The same book lovingly encourages us in the next verse to “think of these five ways of surrender day and night. Never become tired of thinking of them.”   The day we surrender fully we will probably ask ourselves, “This feels so wonderful. Why did I take so long to do it?”   Krishna’s dear associate Uddhava, who was previously attached to intellectual understanding, finally learned about full surrender in devotion. He said:   My dear Lord, for one who is being tormented on this terrible path of birth and death and is constantly overwhelmed by the threefold miseries, I do not see any possible shelter other than Your two lotus feet, which are just like a refreshing umbrella that pours down shower of delicious nectar.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.19.9)   May we all experience this cooling and refreshing shelter as soon as possible.

D.A.S.I replies…

Hare Krsna Caitanya Dasa

I read your irresponsible letter.

Such a simple matter could have been easily straightened out by approaching a senior authority in ISKCON. Yet you chose to create international furore instead….

Very well, with the intention of returning to you the initial joy you found in the shelter of ISKCON and on behalf of the general community of devotees, that you took liberty to blaspheme with your comments, I respond:

1. You refer to the GBC as an entity inimical to Srila Prabhupada, but you forget that it was Srila Prabhupada who gave them managerial authority over ISKCON.

2. The GBC is made up of a very large body of devotees. To get that many people to deliberately contrive against the welfare of the society in general, is not possible.

3. The GBC is there to represent the community of devotees and to protect the integrity and honour of the illustrious Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya.

4. The GBC is on our side. If you have a problem with their management, then you can take it up with them. Its an open system. You know that from personal experience – you felt that it was wrong to change Srila Prabhupada’s books – when you informed them – they passed an amendment.

5. The GBC are not oppressors! You and every member of ISKCON has the right to protect ISKCON. You can accomplish far more by working with the GBC through your local authorities, and putting your concerns on the table than by rebelling against the whole society and working on your own. You are against them, but they are not against you!

6. The GBC has made and will make many mistakes. Big mistakes. But remember, the GBC is only a little over 30 years old. Such a great administrative undertaking is no joke. Other religious institutions have had a few thousand years to get it together, and still fail miserably. Priests are constantly in the news for raping their subordinates, cheating and fraud is rife, huge debates about their very scriptures devides existing religions into millionths.

7. At least we are consolidated – Can you say the same of Christianity/Islam/etc?

8. You cite chakra.org as a reference for your condemnation of Hridayananda Maharaja. Do not do this in future. Chakra.org is not a site recognised by ISKCON. How do you even know that what written on there is true?! It’s just a gossip column! You cite it as if its sastra!

9. You give the example of your bhakta leader as a representative of all the leaders of the society. What an unfair generalisation. It is very unfortunate that you were subject to that kind of mistreatment. No bhakta deserves such a terrible experience. However, you can’t say that the whole society is like that. I have been in the movement for 22 years, and I have never experienced anything of the sort.

10. Fanatical religious people exist. In all religions. Its a fact you have to embrace.  Choose your association wisely. Srila Rupa Goswami, wrote a wonderful book called Nectar of Instruction, in which he clearly describes the characteristics of a neophyte, intermediate and advanced devotee.  Use that to decide who to take shelter from.  Think twice before you put your faith in people – there are dangerous people in this world, and it is unfortunate that some of them dress as devotees. Krsna consciousness advocates simplicity, but not that you be a simpleton. Be streetwise. Like you would in any other situation.

10. You feel that ISKCON cannot attract educated professional people. How absurd. Just open your eyes and look around. Besides, Krsna gives His devotees all the intelligence they need to rid themselves of the cycle of birth and death. Can any education of this material world compare to that?

11. There is nothing wrong with the process of surrendering to authority. In fact it is required. Without surrendering to senior devotees, you cannot learn how to surrender to Krsna. Just make sure you know who a senior devotee is, and how to recognise him, before you surrender ‘blindly.’

12. A bhakta leader is a very small person in the greater scheme of things. He may be important to his little group of bhaktas, but in terms of the society, he is an easy person to overlook. This is why his bad conduct may have gone unnoticed. I understand that you were emotionally traumatised and trapped in the situation, but for others reading this: the appropriate course of action would have been to approach HIS senior to rectify the situation, rather than try to cope with it on your own. This would be a pro-active rather than reactive response.

13. Following authority is always there…and when done in an appropriate way brings joy and fulfillment in the heart. Our process is to be the servant of the servant (a concept I know that you want to imbibe, because you signed your letter with ‘your servant.’)

14. Sure, misinformed people are promoting feminism to their detriment. It is they who are being contaminated, not ISKCON. Just as no amount of mud can make the Ganga impure, no amount of feminism can destroy the purity of Sri Caitanya Mahaparabhu’s sankirtan movement, which is non-different from Himself.

15. You made a point inconsistent with feminism. The introduction of female gurus has nothing to do with the equal rights of women. Man or woman – we are spirit souls. We do not distinguish between devotees on the basis of their bodily characteristics. To do so is not philosophically sound.

16. You mentioned that Srila Prabhupada did not introduce female gurus. This is true. Maybe he didn’t meet a woman who was qualified in his time. However in the history of our sampradaya, there is Sri Jahnava, the wife of Lord Nityananda, who became a guru and had many disciples. In fact, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura took first initiation from a guru in the disciplic succession descending from her.

17. You don’t agree with the movies being shown at that theatre. You feel that this is a misrepresenation of Srila Prabhupada. Good observation! We need devotees like you, who can be vigilant and protect the honour of Srila Prabhupada in conjuction with the local authorities and the GBC. Now you will leave ISKCON, do nothing about it, and let the denigration of Srila Prabhupada’s movement continue? Stand, and fight! But with love and good wishes for the welfare of the society in your heart, rather than a vague sort of anger that won’t do anyone any good.

18. You got so uptight about Srila Prabhupada’s teachings becoming watered down, but you want to reject the house he built for the whole world to live in, ISKCON? Is this gratitude? When you see that the paint is wearing off and that the windows are dirty – you want to run away? Like a good son, you should stay, and build up ISKCON until it is better than it ever was. But you? You would rather run a way and see it dilapidate.

19. After “long consideration”, YOU feel that the purity of ISKCON will not be maintained?? “After all, history shows that once something degrades, it is extremely difficult to bring it back up to it’s original pure position.”

You stupid boy. Do you not know that the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya has been in existence since the time of creation? Brahma first received this knowledge from Krsna, and since then it has passed down, unadulterated, for millions and millions of years. Do you think attempts weren’t made in the past to stain its purity?? This movement is under the direct protection of the Supreme Lord. And in Kali Yuga, the reign of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is TEN THOUSAND years, of which only five hundred or so have passed. ISKCON has not lost the plot, you have.

20. “Krishna is so beautiful and sweet that I am bewildered as to how I could have wasted even a moment absorbed in mundane political/institutional affairs.”

You are right. Because you have entered the politics of the institution without the spiritual maturity to handle it, you have become completely bewildered and lost.

21. Based on bewilderment, you have come to the incorrect conclusion to leave ISKCON. Without the association of devotees you cannot make advancement. Outside of ISKCON, association of devotees will be very rare. You think you can survive spiritually by just reading Srila Prabhupada’s books on your own?  You are mistaken: accepting his books but rejecting his ISKCON is aparadha.

22. “Many devotees both inside and outside of ISKCON feel that ISKCON is seriously lacking in care and compassion- towards it’s own members and towards the society at large.”

I agree with you.  It was not a deliberate evolvement however.  You must know that the tide is turning though …based on the enormously effective system of care propounded by the devotees of Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha (CHowpatty, India) under the direction of HH Radhanatha Maharaja. Temples around the world are beginning to institute a similar model of care.

It is a comprehensive system of caring for a devotee through every stage of his life – childhood, adolescence, engagement, marriage, and retired/elderly life. This care is holistic, and comprises a mentorship programme and group support system. It also includes the provision of facilities like medical care, education, as well as employment for the devotees. Their congregation is made up of the highest density of professional people in the world and numbers into the thousands.

I suggest that you go to Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha Temple in Chowpatty, India. Spend some time there. There, you must request to meet one of the senior devotees who will remind and teach you what love between devotees means.

23. I see that you are sincere about your spiritual life, but have lost trust in the management of ISKCON. Remember: management is different from leadership. ISKCON may screw up on managerial issues, but it is leading the world through Srila Prabhupada’s books and the Holy Name of the Lord. There cannot be any impurity in that. Separate yourself from management and just try to be a good devotee in ISKCON.

24. If you leave ISKCON, where will you go?

25. You said you wanted to leave ISKCON. But you haven’t, and you can’t…because I can see that your heart is bound up in the very fibres of ISKCON: a service attitude to the devotees (you end with vancha kalpa taru bhyas ca), loyalty to Srila Prabhupada (you are dedicated to maintaining the standard which he set) and the urge to develop one’s love for Krsna.

Your very name is “Caitanya Dasa” – servant of the all-magnanimous Lord Caitanya. May He always protect you and keep you close in His sankirtan party.

Hare Krsna!

Someone Wrote This…

At first, we didn’t want to put this kind of rubbish up on our site.  Then, we thought…it’s important to air issues like this and put them in perspective…be sure to read our response in the next post titled “D.A.S.I. replies”

XXX

Why I am leaving ISKCON

Why I am leaving ISKCON

By Caitanya dasa

Dear devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

As you may have guessed from the title, I have finally come to that point that I always felt I would eventually come to- leaving the ISKCON institution. In case you are wondering, I am the same “Caitanya dasa” that used to maintain a blog titled “Hare Krishna Diary, Sankirtan Diary”, which unintentionally created a large controversy (http://www.dandavats.com/?p=5872) last year in May 2008 by some of my writings which appeared on that blog.

 

I would like to explain a few of the reasons I have decided to leave ISKCON. I will first explain the social, cultural, and personal reasons, and then lastly I will explain the spiritual reasons.

 

The first reason is a philosophical reason. As many of you are aware, last year in 2008, the GBC tried to pass a resolution (GBC Resolution 311) to add footnotes or annotations into Srila Prabhupada’s books, effectively changing the meaning behind many of Srila Prabhupada’s purports. Most devotees felt that the GBC was minimizing or rejecting Srila Prabhupada’s authority by doing this, and it was met with such a large public outcry that the GBC very quickly rescinded the 311 Resolution to change Srila Prabhupada’s books. I was the creator of a petition to rescind the resolution, and the response was enormous. The petition received over 800 signatures within only two weeks. Here is a link to the petition, http://www.petitiononline.com/GBCre311/petition.html

 

Please read some of the comments written by devotees on the petition. Many devotees were very, very angry and upset by the GBC’s decision to change Srila Prabhupada’s books, and many of them threatened to leave ISKCON if the GBC dared to change Srila Prabhupada’s divine books.

 

The next reason is a cultural one. About two months ago, Hrdayananda Maharaja gave his public blessings and support to a homosexual male devotee couple to get married (http://chakra.org/announcements/persFeb01_09.html). I found this to be so completely absurd that I could not believe it at first. That Hrdayananda Maharaja could even think something like this calls into question his very qualification to act as a spiritual master. Srila Prabhupada never, ever supported anything like this, and he never encouraged homosexuality or gay marriage. Hrdayananda Maharaja has been publicly supporting the idea of gay marriage/monogamy for the past few years. The GBC has of yet made no public condemnation of Hrdayananda Maharaja for this (Hrdayananda Maharaja is also a GBC, in case you didn’t know), and thus I come to the conclusion that the GBC supports such ideas as gay marriage. Silence means consent.

 

The next reason is a philosophical/organizational reason. Many devotees have a problem with the current authority structure in ISKCON. In short, we believe that ISKCON’s culture of absolute control and blind following is not conducive to spiritual advancement. I will give an explicit personal example of this.

 

One of my first bhakta leaders was a follower of this tyrannical policy of “just surrender”, absolute control, and blind following. We were simply supposed to follow his every order, no matter how absurd, and if we didn’t, we would get severely chastised for being an “independent demon”, “anti-authority”, etc. On a few occasions, he even threatened to inflict physical violence on me if I didn’t “surrender to his authority”.

 

Even though at that point, any sane or rational person would have called the police, being a blind, naïve, and “surrendered” bhakta, I continued to blindly accept and follow his authority. Sometimes though, I would become so frustrated that I would become almost suicidal, telling myself “I would rather die than remain a part of this ISKCON”. I feel that one of the reasons that ISKCON cannot attract normal and intelligent people to join this movement is due to this culture of blindly following authority, no matter how wrong or abusive the authority happens to be.

 

The next reason is a social/cultural reason. I see the degrading influence of feminism (aka “women’s liberation” or “equal rights”) to be increasing within ISKCON. The “ISKCON Women’s Ministry” has been promoting feminist policies for over a decade now. Aside from being a very socially destructive policy, feminism is clearly against Srila Prabhupada’s teachings. Simply search for “equal rights” in the Vedabase and you can see for yourself how strongly Srila Prabhupada was against the idea of “equal rights”. Those devotees who are promoting feminism are actually rejecting Srila Prabhupada’s teachings. It is also an interesting observation to note that most of the people promoting and supporting feminism are western devotees- thus suggesting that the source of this problem is their own western conditioning. Generally, you never see Indian devotees promoting feminism.

 

The latest manifestation of feminism in ISKCON is the GBC’s latest decision to acknowledge and even accept the idea of “female diksa gurus”, something which Srila Prabhupada himself never established (this idea would also be unthinkable to anyone coming from a traditional Vedic background). I will not get into a lengthy discussion on this issue of feminism at present, because that is not the intention of this letter to do so. I will simply request you to read a few links that I feel strongly prove that ISKCON is indeed being contaminated by feminism.

 

Feminists Want to Change Prabhupada’s Books
http://www.vnn.org/world/WD9905/WD03-3779.html

Feminists Openly blasphemy Srila Prabhupada
http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9912/ET06-5033.html

Srila Prabhupada was blasphemied, and the GBC remained silent
http://rails.bharatavarsa.net/articles/show/7337
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Feminist Theories and their Effect on ISKCON
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/05-08/editorials2928.htm

Feminists violently Disrupt the Vrindavan Kartik Festival
http://www.vnn.org/world/WD9912/WD09-5048.html
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A Philosophical Refutation of ISKCON GBC’s 2000 “Women in ISKCON” Resolution
http://iskconjiva.blogspot.com/

Notes from a Think Tank (a very detailed exposition of feminism)
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/05-08/nftt.doc

Madhusudani Radha (Maria Eckstrand), Editor of Chakra.org blasphemies Lord Rama
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/05-08/madhusudani.doc

Debate about feminism in ISKCON on Dandavats.com
http://www.dandavats.com/?p=2232#comment-1476

 

Another reason that I have chosen to disassociate myself from the ISKCON institution is because I, and many others, feel that ISKCON has become compromised, or “watered down”, from following Srila Prabhupada’s teachings purely and strictly. I will give one such example out of the many “compromises” and deviations in ISKCON. Remember the “Govinda’s Movie Theater” in Sydney, Australia? (www.govindas.com.au) It is run by a couple of Prabhupada disciples. They were showing a movie called “Sex in the City” at the Govinda’s Movie Theater. It isn’t very difficult to realize that it is probably NOT very pleasing to Srila Prabhupada to show such pornography at an ISKCON center (the Govinda’s Movie Theater address is listed in the ISKCON.com website directory- http://iskcon.com/worldwide/centres/australasia.html).

 

One particularly disturbing trend in ISKCON, and which is also supported and encouraged by the leadership, is the acceptance of western education, especially secular university education. A few prominent sannyasi leaders have gone to secular universities, even though Srila Prabhupada very strongly called the modern academic institutions “slaughterhouses”. In many ways, ISKCON has become so watered down that you can’t even quote a statement from Srila Prabhupada without someone freaking out. As the previous examples illustrate (feminism, GBC changing Srila Prabhupada’s books, homosexuality and gay marriage), even the ISKCON leadership, the GBC, encourage and support these deviations. The mood of strictly following Srila Prabhupada “as it is” has been lost to a great degree. Instead of following Srila Prabhupada absolutely, “as it is”, many devotees simply follow what they want to follow, and they reject whatever they don’t want to follow. What it actually comes down to is a lack of faith in Srila Prabhupada’s absolute purity and position. I find such an offensive and disrespectful attitude towards Srila Prabhupada too hard to tolerate, and thus I have no choice but to simply remove myself from an organization that tolerates such an offensive attitude. If you love somebody, it is very difficult to tolerate blasphemy of them.

 

Of course, there are some noble devotees within ISKCON who are trying to defend Srila Prabhupada and his teachings from this attitude of compromise, but after long consideration, I feel that in the long run, they won’t be successful maintaining Srila Prabhupada’s pure teachings and standards within the ISKCON institution. After all, history shows that once something degrades, it is extremely difficult to bring it back up to it’s original pure position.

 

Finally, the real reason, main reason, that I am leaving ISKCON is for spiritual reasons. This human lifetime is simply too short to waste being absorbed in political or institutional affairs, rather than in Krishna consciousness. When I really think about it, I honestly do not feel that I have made much real advancement in Krishna consciousness. How much attraction have I actually developed for Krishna? How much love or affection have I actually developed for Krishna? Sometimes I feel that instead of developing Krishna consciousness, I have been cultivating political or institutional consciousness. And I simply cannot bear to waste any more time in that direction. Krishna is so beautiful and sweet that I am bewildered as to how I could have wasted even a moment absorbed in mundane political/institutional affairs.

 

This human life is so short- I am only 24 years old, and I could die in 40 years, or in 4 years, or in 4 days, or even in 4 minutes. And at the end of my life, will I want to experience the great disappointment of having missed attaining Krishna and His association simply because I have wasted so much time being absorbed in political/institutional consciousness instead of Krishna consciousness? The only thing that matters at the time of death is how much Krishna consciousness we have developed.

 

When I look at myself, I do not feel that I have developed any real Vaisnava qualities. Instead of developing compassion, I have developed bitterness and anger. Instead of developing love, I have developed envy and hate. Instead of developing humility, I have developed pride and intolerance. Narottama dasa Thakura’s famous words of humility actually apply to me:

 

Ki mora duhkhera katha, janama gonainu vrtha

Dhik dhik narottama dasa

 

“This is the sad story of my life. I have spent my life uselessly absorbed in distressful topics. What a shameless life I, Narottama dasa, have led.”

 

I do not want to waste my human form of life. I desperately want to become a humble, sincere, and serious Vaisnava. In my own case, I feel that remaining a member of ISKCON will not be conducive towards that goal.

 

Many devotees both inside and outside of ISKCON feel that ISKCON is seriously lacking in care and compassion- towards it’s own members and towards the society at large. There is such a great pressure put on making new members, collecting money, building temples, that if we are not careful, we may even miss the entire point- which is to develop love for Krishna. Ultimately, bhakti means love- love for others and love for Krishna.

 

Basically, I do not feel that my spiritual desires are going to be fulfilled in ISKCON. So it is because of this main reason, as well as the other above stated reasons, that I can no longer conscientiously consider myself to be a member of the ISKCON institution.

 

I will be maintaining a small blog where I will share my own personal realizations and how my spiritual life is going: http://harekrishnadiary.blogspot.com/

 

I will end with a prayer:

 

Vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca

Krpa-sindhubhya eva ca

Patitanam pavanebhyo

Vaisnavebhyo namo namah

 

das,

Caitanya dasa

Question of the Week

Is chanting Hare Krsna the most important activity?

This is a soul-searching question…requiring a deep and honest answer.

Can’t Fool A Real Sadhu

Once upon a time, in the 18oo’s, there lived a very famous landownder in Navadvipa.

He was renowned because not only was he very wealthy, but people everywhere accepted him as someone very advanced in spirital understanding.

One day he came to see Srila Gaura Kisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja.  He appeared to be trembling so much due to transcendental ecstacy, that a friend had to support him.  He couldn’t walk on his own.

As he approached the assembly of Babaji Maharaja, the devotees there all offered their obeisances to him.  The landowner was introduced to Babaji Maharaja with the following glowing introduction…

“This man is a landowner, but is completely detached from sense gratification.  Last night, some thieves came to his house and stole 45 000 rupees, but rather than despair, he has come to obtain your darshan.  He has a very confidential question to ask you regarding the conversation between lord Chaitanya and Ramananda Raya found in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta.”

Srila Gaura Kisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja did not speak directly to the landowner.  Instead he spoke to his friend, “I see that you are sincere.  Give up the association of this imposter.  Find an authentic devotee of the Lord and enquire from him submissively.  You should hear Sri Caitanya-caritamrta 100 times in the association of real devotees, and then you will be able to understand this deep conversation between the Lord and His devotee.  Now do not disturb us…the devotees here want to perform sankirtana…we have no time to waste.”

With that, loud sankirtana was started.  During the kirtana, the landowner and his friend left, disgraced.

The devotees were flabbergasted.  They could not understand why Babaji Maharaja had treated such an ‘advanced’ soul so badly.  Srila Gaura Kisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja later explained…

It does not matter whether one displays symptoms of ecstacy hundreds and hundreds of times, what really matters is whether one is developing attachment to Krsna internally in his heart.

Vaisnava C.A.R.E

Caring for the terminally ill requires a special depth of realisation. This site is avenue for the whole international devotee community to both give and receive shelter. This amazing Vaisnava organisation for the terminally ill does wonderful work. Look at their site to find out more…www.vaisnavacare.com

From Vaisnava C.A.R.E, you can:
– Gain solace if you are suffering from a terminal disease, have a loved one who is, or are grieving for someone
– Send in prayer requests to the devotee community
– Get Krsna conscious advice for dealing with end-of-life questions such as Why me? Why now? What is the meaning of life?
– Ask about medical information regarding diseases like epilepsy
– learn life skills
– learn communication skills

This was an article that appeared on their site to give you a taste of wholesome depth available in their work…

To our readers at Vaisnavas C.A.R.E.,

I was given this poem on the subject of listening. It was written by Ralph Roughton, a man I never met, but one who obviously knows the true meaning of being a good listener. Being a good listener is a large part of being a good caregiver to a patient. It is also a skill to be used everyday with every person we speak with. I hope this helps you the next time you are asked to listen to someone who really needs you to hear what they are saying.

Your servant,
Sangita devi dasi

On Listening
By Ralph Roughton

When I ask you to listen to me and you start by giving advice, you have not done what I asked.

When I ask you to listen to me and you begin to tell me why I shouldn’t feel that way, you are trampling on my feelings.

When I ask you to listen to me and you feel you have to do something to solve my problem, you have failed me, strange as it may seem.

Listen! All I ask is that you listen, not talk or do…just hear me.

When you do something for me that I can and need to do for myself, you contribute to my fear and inadequacy.

And I can do for myself. I’m not helpless. Maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.

But when you accept as simple fact that I do feel what I feel, no matter how irrational, then I can quit trying to convince you and get about the business of understanding what’s behind this irrational feeling. And when that’s clear, the answers are obvious and I don’t need advice.

Irrational feelings make sense when we understand what’s behind them.

So, please listen and just hear me. And if you want to talk, wait a minute for your turn, and I will listen to you.
***

Multimedia Portal!

I just want to draw your attention to a great site…www.iskcondesiretree.com

It is run by ISKCON Chowpatty and contains a wealth of lectures, videos and other media to inspire you closer to Krsna! Really cool (although I do hope access won’t be blocked for those using internet at work).

Enjoy!