Great Devotees Cannot Be Recognized By Their External Appearance
Snan Yatra 2014 at Iskcon Ghaziabad, India (Album 45 photos)
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London’s Most Famous Landmarks Awash With Sound an Color for the 46th Ratha Yatra Festival
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On Sunday 15 June, London's most famous landmarks were brought to life in a dazzling display of sound, music and colour, as thousands of devotees from across the country came to the streets of London's West End to celebrate the 46th annual Rathayatra festival. Three beautifully decorated Rathayatra chariots began their journey in Hyde Park and were pulled by hand to greet a huge gathering of devotees, visitors and tourists in the city's iconic Trafalgar Square.
Autobiographical Writing in Vaishnavism
→ The Spiritual Scientist
As an author, I am often asked questions about the different kinds of writing that devotees can engage in. One genre whose authenticity comes up for questioning is the genre of autobiographical writing in Vaishnavism. The most prominent example of this kind of writing is The Journey Home by His Holiness Radhanath Maharaj, but several other devotees have also written or are writing their memoirs or autobiographies e.g. Diary of a Traveling Monk by His Holiness Indradyumna Swami, Lost and Found in India by Braja Sevika Devi Dasi and Urban Monk by Gadadhar Pandit Das.
In this article, I address common questions about autobiographical writing.
Are there any precedents for this kind of writing in Vaishnavism?
Yes, there are many.
Some examples of sharing one's own story of spiritual evolution to encourage others on the path of spiritual evolution are:
1. In the Bhagavatam (1.4 and 1.5), Narada Muni shares his own story with Vyasadeva
2. In the Mahabharata (Vana Parva), Marakandeya Rishi shares his story with the Pandavas, Narada Muni and even Krishna himself.
3. In the Gaudiya tradition, Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote his Sva-likhita Jivani, a significant portion of which deals with his pre-devotional and non-devotional life.
4. In ISKCON's official magazine, Back to Godhead, Srila Prabhupada encouraged devotees to share their stories in the feature "How I came to Krishna consciousness."
The scriptural examples refer to great souls. Today’s devotees are not on their level, so how can the example of those souls be relevant?
Then whose examples would be relevant? Scriptural precedents of neophyte devotees? That raises the obvious question: would scripture record the example of some neophyte seeker who never rose to the level of becoming exalted? And even if somehow scripture did contain such an example, that example would be subject to dismissal with the charge: this was just a neophyte devotee and so was not an example to be followed.
So the net reasoning becomes: the advanced devotee is too advanced to be an example for us and the neophyte devotee is too neophyte to be an example for us. Such an argument is a lose-lose discussion, something like a rigged toss: Heads I win; tails you lose. Does that sound reasonable?
While scripture cautions us against imitating great souls, that caution is primarily when those souls do something against standard scriptural moral or spiritual principles eg. Shiva drinking bhang and Krishna dancing with the gopis. But as a matter of general principle, scripture tells us that the behaviour of great souls is what we have to follow e.g. Bhagavad-gita 3.21 yad yad acharati shreshtas ... and Mahabharata Vana Parva 313.117 mahajano yena gatah sa panthah..
So unless scripture gives a specific caveat against doing something that the great souls have done, we can reasonably and safely consider scriptural precedents as examples to be emulated. While emulating their example, we don’t claim equality in spiritual stature with those great souls; we simply gain authorization for following in their footsteps, while acknowledging that our footsteps are lilliputian as compared to their giant footsteps.
Would such autobiographical books focus on the author and not convey the essence of Krishna consciousness?
That’s a possibility, but it’s by no means an inevitability.
Without a clearly stated and universally accepted definition of what comprises the essence, this charge is vague and insubstantial. To understand what the essence is, ISKCON devotees can rely primarily on the books of Srila Prabhupada. Let’s consider the example of The Journey Home. It talks about the difference between the body and the soul, the chanting of the holy names including specifically the Hare Krishna mahamantra, the superiority of bhakti-yoga over other forms of yoga and indeed over other forms of sadhana, the four regulative principles, Krishna as the sweetest manifestation of divinity higher than the impersonal brahman, the supreme charm of Vraja and the unparalleled compassion of the pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada. Anyone who has studied the teachings of Srila Prabhupada can easily recognize that these are the essence of the message that he gave to the world through his books.
Srila Prabhupada was resourceful in using outreach strategies that could ensure that Krishna's message reached the world. Thus, whereas his spiritual master's Western outreach was centered on the book "Sri Krishna Chaitanya" by Nishikant Sanyal, he chose to center his own outreach on the Bhagavad Gita. And he encouraged his followers to be similarly resourceful: to present the message he gave in the language of the people. Thus, for example, he asked devotee-scientists to present our philosophy in scientific language. And he approved wholeheartedly books such as "The Scientific Basis of Krishna consciousness" by Dr T D Singh (Bhakti Swarupa Damodar Maharaj) - and even wanted that book to be distributed vigorously. If one is obsessed with imagining that the essence of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is something esoteric, then this book would fall far short of such an essence: it focused primarily on one point - the existence and intelligence of God, Krishna, as the Supreme Scientist. In fact, in terms of coverage of essential themes of Krishna consciousness, Journey Home would score far higher than The Scientific Basis of Krishna Consciousness. This comparison is not meant in any way to minimize the latter book, but simply to point out that books based on contextual outreach strategies have been recommended and appreciated by our founder-acharya.
If one neglects this strategic dynamism demonstrated by our founder-acharya and stays locked in some frozen definition of the essence of Krishna consciousness, then one may end up committing offenses to many of Prabhupada's learned and dedicated followers, who by their books have brought intellectual respectability to our tradition amidst the contemporary intellectual ethos. Some such books are Searching for Vedic India by Devamrita Maharaj, Mechanistic and Non-mechansitic Science by Sadaputa Prabhu and Human Devolution by Drutakarma Prabhu. What to speak of offending venerable Prabhupada's followers, one may even end up offending Prabhupada himself, because some of his books such as "Easy Journey to Other Planets" could be accused of not conveying the core truths of Krishna consciousness.
Wouldn’t such writing be a form of self-glorification that is opposite to the principles of bhakti?
Yes, it’s possible. But writing autobiographically doesn’t necessarily have to be self-glorificatory. In fact, when an author uses an autobiography as a vehicle to go on an ego trip, such autobiographies rarely become popular, even in the mainstream culture - hardly anyone likes an egotist. To be done effectively, autobiographical writing is a delicate and elusive skill that has to be learnt by finding. developing and sticking to a non-bragging voice.
Moreover, the essential principle of bhakti is neither self-glorification nor self-condemnation, but Krishna-glorification – and doing whatever is required for that.
The Mahabharata on one had condemns self-glorification as poison in the Karna Parva and on the other hand contains many instances of self-glorification by even virtuous characters, whenever the context calls for it. For example, Arjuna praises his own prowess when Yudhisthira asks him in the Bhishma Parva how quickly he can defeat the Kaurava forces; when Krishna cautions him in the Drona Parva that reaching Jayadratha on the fourteenth day would be a near-impossible task; and when (during the same incident in the Karna Parva that contains the condemnation of self-glorification) Arjuna assures Yudhisthira that he will soon slay Karna.
What to speak of the Mahabharata, even the amala-purana, the Bhagavatam contains several instances of self-glorification such as when Bhishma calls himself a pure devotee (1.9.22: ekanta bhakteshu).
The purpose of a devotee's speech is neither self-glorification nor self-vilification, but Krishna-glorification. If Krishna's purpose can be served by glorifying one's own abilities so as to raise the morale of others in Krishna's service (as is done by Arjuna and Bhishma), then self-glorification can also be used according to the principle of yukta-vairagya.
What is the need for this kind of autobiographical writing?
Because it has special authenticity in the contemporary cultural-intellectual ethos known as post-modernism.
In modern times (which are now considered outdated in the West), people there had faith in reason and science, which they considered as reliable means to certain knowledge. Prior to modern times, people had faith in revelation and scripture, but that faith was assaulted by science which apparently showed certain mistakes in the biblical scriptures. However, science didn’t reign on the human intellect for long; the influential works of historians of science like Thomas Kuhn have shown how science is not objective and how scientific theories are formulated, popularized and accepted based on the prevailing cultural and intellectual biases. Consequently, people in today’s post-modern times have faith neither in science nor in scripture as a reliable source of knowledge; they view with deep suspicion any source of knowledge that claims to be absolute. They consider all claims to final, indisputable knowledge as flawed and base their lives solely on experience, and so consider as authentic those teachers who speak based not on dogma but on experience. The enduring popularity of “Autobiography of a Yogi” is a testimony to this attractiveness of experiential spirituality. Many Mayavadis, Buddhists and Christians have popularized their philosophy by presenting it according to post-modern sensibilities, but not many people have done the same for Gaudiya Vaishnavism. In fact, the post-modernist fascination with experiential spirituality opens a great opportunity for us to share Krishna consciousness, because bhakti-yoga is highly experiential; it gives direct perception of the self by realization (pratyakshavagamam, Bhagavad-gita 9.2). Acknowledging this experiential potency of bhakti, Sanatana Goswami enthrones experience as the highest of all pramanas (ways of acquiring knowledge).
So sharing our experiences in our search for bhakti and the practice of bhakti enables us to tap a hitherto untapped opportunity to share Krishna consciousness opened by post-modernism. Through this genre, we can get around the post-modernist phobia towards value judgments and exclusivist ideologies, and skillfully and sensitively assist people to gain appreciation for the bhakti core of Krishna consciousness.
Recognizing our SMIS Graduates
→ Mayapur.com
On Monday, June 6th, a wonderful ceremony was held to celebrate the graduation of six students from Sri Mayapur International School. Gourangi Gandharvika dd, Ananga Gopi dd, Shevaanni Pillai, Vrinda Carol, Bhavatarini Moreira and Nandarani Dasi have all successfully completed their Advanced level education (A-levels) in accordance with Cambridge International Examinations. The program commenced with […]
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June 19th, 2014 – Darshan
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Könyves András asks a series of questions about lying and honesty
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Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-06-19 09:59:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-06-19 09:57:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-06-19 09:54:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-06-19 09:50:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-06-19 09:48:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-06-19 09:46:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-06-19 09:44:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-06-19 09:35:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
World Cup: Baby Elephants Playing Soccer
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Scenes from yesterday’s Harinama in New York City (Album 10 photos)
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Is Watching Baby Elephants Playing Soccer Better Than Watching The World Cup?
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Invitation to the Kolkata Ratha Yatra
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Flood Ravage and the Dams of Uttarakhand – The Untold Story
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HH Tamal Krishna Goswami’s Vyasa Puja in Iskcon Dallas (Album 29 photos)
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Beautiful Snana Yatra in Mayapur (Album 196 HR photos)
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Charlie Chaplin visits the Sunday program in Istanbul! (Album 62 photos)
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Ratha-Yatra in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania (Album 18 photos)
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sadhu sanga retreat north carolina 2014 day 1 acyuta gopi
→ Gouranga TV - The Hare Krishna video collection
sadhu sanga retreat north carolina 2014 day 1 acyuta gopi
New Vrindaban’s Transcendental Throwback Thursday – 06/19/14
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit
New Vrindaban’s Transcendental Throwback Thursday – 06/19/14.
Each week we highlight an earlier era of ISKCON New Vrindaban.
This week’s challenge: There are no people in this photo and we’re looking for answers to when and where. Can you identify the location?
Extra credit: What year do you think it was taken?
What to do: Post your guesses on the “who, what, when, where & why” in the comment section at the New Vrindaban Facebook Page.
Technical stuff: We share a photo Thursday and confirm known details Sunday. Let’s keep it light and have a bit of fun!
Special request: If you have a photo showing New Vrindaban devotees in action, share it with us and we’ll use it in a future posting.
Mahabharata Characters 31 – Bhima 01 – Growing stronger through danger and disaster
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This talk is a part of the "Fascinating Mahabharata Characters" series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com
HG Deva Darsana Prabhu / BG 9: The Most Confidential Knowledge
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HG Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu / SB 10.63.39
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New Vrindaban Daily darsan @ June 10, 2014.
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Srimati Radharani’s maidservants are very beautiful. The vines of their arms and wrists are charmingly decorated with bracelets and armlets. The bells on their sashes and anklets tinkle melodiously. Their jewelled earrings are lovely. Their glistening braided hair is charming and splendid and the flower buds of their breasts are nicely decorated with necklaces of jewels. They have given all their love to their mistress, Sri Radha. In this way please meditate on the golden-complexioned maidservants of Srimati Radharani.
Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, Sataka-2, Text-59, Translation.]
Roof Top Rounds
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Loud chanting can be very beneficial, especially when the mind slips into monotony or the ghosts of desire surface from the depths. At times like this a brisk walk in the fresh air, and a few loud "roof top rounds" will help revive one's interest and attention in japa."
From Art of Chanting Hare Krsna
by Mahanidhi Swami
Transcendental Vision
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening program lecture)
Jagadananda was a great devotee and he had a very strong individualistic mind. He also had a temper and he had his own ideas of what service he wanted to render. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was in this world, the Supreme Lord was playing the part of a devotee, now in the dress of a sannyasi, but he was the Supreme Lord without a doubt.
Jagadananda was not going to be bothered with this temporary external feature. He was more interested in the eternal, true nature of the Lord and not what he showed to people here on earth, who are all entangled in their own network of karmic activities.
Although externally Lord Caitanya was acting as a sannyasi, Jagadananda understood the real truth. Therefore he did not follow the principles of sannyasa but offered the Lord a big clay jar with scented oil. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu refused to accept it. He said, “You give this oil to the deities, not to me. What will I do with it?”
Jagadananda became so angry that he took the oil, went to the courtyard of the house and smashed the jar with great force on the ground. It made a loud crash and everyone exclaimed, “What happened? What happened?”
Even Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to see what happened. Jagadananda said, “Nothing happened! Nothing!” and then he went home and started fasting.
He refused to eat, so after some days Caitanya Mahaprabhu sent his servant to Jagadananda and asked him to come and cook. That he did. He cooked and Caitanya Mahaprabhu took some of it and asked Jagadananda to take the remnants. That he did.
So in this way, the devotees of Caitanya Mahaprabhu had transcendental vision. They could see his transcendental nature. It is always like that – that there is a minority that can see. A few can recognize the Supreme Lord. Others do not.
Govardhan Hill and the Cows
→ HH Bhakti Caitanya Swami
The Dust Of Their Feet
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Harinama Samkirtan
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Tamal Krishna Gosvami Vyasapuja Celebration in Iskcon Radha Madhava Mandirr (Album 121 photos)
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Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-06-18 10:33:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-06-18 10:31:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-06-18 10:29:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Making yoga into a lifestyle starting with cleanliness and eating habits (Part 2)
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Friday’s talk in Istanbul.
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