Planet ISKCON

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 18 September 2017, Mauritius, Arrival Lecture)

We tend to put the spiritual master on a scale to see how much weight he has. In our minds, we all do this. We weigh people. This one is light-weight Guru, heavy-weight Guru or medium-weight Guru. Srila Prabhupada is the Guru of all, I am part of the Guru Parampara and this system has been established by Krsna Himself. It is not just a relationship between the Guru and the disciple where the Guru has to do all the work.

At the time of initiation, the disciple hands over his life to the spiritual master and then the spiritual master gives the disciple his life back and says, “Now this life is given to you by me and you have to make good use of it because it is mine.” In all the scriptures, it is said that the Guru is the representative of Krsna. It is through the Guru that Krsna delivers the disciple. Of course, the Guru can attract the mercy of Krsna but ultimately, it is Krsna who bestows mercy.

Srila Prabhupada prayed to Krsna for the whole planet and then he simply asked us to chant sixteen rounds and follow four regulative principles. Srila Prabhupada did so much for us. He made a channel through which we can go to the spiritual world. This ‘sixteen rounds’ offer was a very meagre one for Krsna but because Srila Prabhupada prayed, Krsna accepted.

 

By Anuttama Dasa

The Mid-Term Meeting focuses on strategic, organizational and development issues, whereas the Annual Meeting focuses primarily on proposals for new legislation to become ISKCON Law. This morning’s meeting began with an update on the progress of the GBC Organizational Committee (Org Dev). Org Dev’s role is to serve the devotees of ISKCON by building ISKCON’s administrative capacity; understanding that while ISKCON has grown substantially in its first 50 years, its administrative elements have not kept up. Org Dev reported it is working on multiple issues. Continue reading "ISKCON Governing Body Commission Opens Mid-Term Meetings
→ Dandavats"

Parijata IC: Wishing a happy 10th Liver Transplant Anniversary to Shyamasundara and Gopinath Prabhus (Sam Speerstra & Amol Kulkarni). So grateful that both are in good health, happy, & blissfully engaged in service of Srila Prabhupada & Krishna. Praying both of you have many more such years of extraordinary service & good health.
Giriraj Swami: Gopinath Prabhu (Amol Kulkarni), you deserve a share of the credit for all the wonderful service Shyamasundar Prabhu (Sam Speerstra) had done since the transplant.
Yasoda-dulal Das: It took a lot of courage and surrender to have Gopinath volunteer to give part of his liver to Shyamsundar prabhu. And for you, Parijata IC, as his wife to have willingly gone along with it, with a then very young son in your lives! All glories to you both.
I am happy and proud to have you both in our life as dear friends.

“YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY!”
This is what a freshman at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis said after he accepted Bhagavad-gītā & a few smaller pieces of literature from us last week. He was so nice that after expressing his interest in reading this philosophy, he spent a few minutes thanking us for coming to his campus. He said he understood it must be a great sacrifice for us to travel & preach, & he offered his respects repeatedly.
A girl who received BG from us a year ago at IUPUI happily received a few other books this time.
While I was showing the BG to one student, another student enthusiastically interrupted & asked, “Is that the original BG w/ Sanskrit? I’ve been wanting to find that book in its entirety!” Both students accepted a copy.
An older-looking student walked by, stopped, & asked what I was doing. He ended up taking a BG & admitted, “I have no idea why I was walking down this path. I never come this way, for I have no reason to.” I told him nothing happens by chance. 😃
Next we visited the Univ. of IL. One of the first persons to accept a BG from me was an articulate young man. He explained that he grew up in the Muslim tradition but felt dissatisfied w/ its theology. He also felt dissatisfied w/ modern science’s claim that consciousness is a product of matter. Thus in addition to the BG, he eagerly took a copy of the magazine “Origins–Higher Dimensions in Science,” which has an interesting article entitled “The Mystery of Consciousness.”
More than other campuses we visit, we also find staff & faculty members at the U of I taking home some of our literature. This trip was no exception, as three professors accepted a copy of BG.
The first was in the department of Earth Sciences. She expressed her interest in meditation & Eastern thought & gave a generous donation. The second was in the department of Geology. She said, “Oh, BG. I’ve always wanted to read that book.”
The third professor was from Africa & teaches Linguistics. He speaks a half dozen languages & has high regard for Sanskrit. He graciously accepted the BG.
All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda!

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Q1:- Possessiveness of Krishna happens at Prema, but is the seed of it in Sādhana?

In sādhana our relationship to Krishna is only a theory that we try to emulate or live up to. Maybe we have a theory that Krishna should be our sweetheart, for example. It is just a theory, not a reality. And we practice seeing the world and ourselves through that theory. In prema, it becomes a manifest reality.

Q2:- As you mentioned that Hanuman doesn’t lack anything but then in comparison to Gopi Prema there is lack. But then isn’t Prema a completely subjective thing, so how can we objectify the different Rasas?

Sugarcane is sweeter than coconut. That doesn’t mean everyone likes sugarcane more than coconut.

Objectively sugarcane is sweeter. Subjectively, some like coconut better.

Q3:- Shouldn’t a Dasya Bhakta be getting complete satisfaction in relation with Bhagvan as much as a Madurya Rasa Bhakta?

Yes, just as a coconut fan gets complete satisfaction from eating coconuts, and isn’t wanting for the taste of sugarcane.

Q4:- Can the initial interest/attraction for Krishna be just very generic meaning one is just attracted to His sweetness or may be greatness or some other aspect, like Bhakti is the best thing that one can do?

Yes, while knowledge of Krishna is vague, attraction is vague. The more knowledge increases, the less vague. The more knowledge matures into experience, the more concrete.

Even in prema, the rasa can go first into śuddha-svacca-rati (a generic love) and later mature into something more specific. We will cover this when we cover the sthayi-bhavas.

Q5:- Can the initial attraction(Shraddha) to Krishna be an attraction to experience the Bhakti of a Vrajavasi – to how that particular Vrajavasi feels for Krishna and experiences Krishna on account of that feeling; rather than being attracted to a specific Guna or Rupa of Krishna?

Technically this is OK, and is rāgānugā-śraddha. But they way many people think of this is a lot like saying you want to know what a sugarcane fan experiences, but you are not interested in sugarcane.

Q6:- If someone gets attracted to say Prasadam or some other feature of an organisation promoting Krishna Bhakti, then could such an attraction be categorised as Shraddha in Krishna Bhakti?

They have śraddhā for prasādam, not for bhakti or anything else. If their understanding of prasādam is very deep, śraddhā for it can be the gateway for śraddhā for bhakti and Krishna.

Śraddha for Thing A is Śraddha for Thing A. Maybe it will lead to Śraddha for Thing B, but unless and until it does, there is no Śraddha for Thing B.

Q7:- If at a particular point one finds that one is not able to nurture one’s Krishna Bhakti in a particular organisational set up, though one may have started from there, then can one switch tracks?

Yes. Best to do it with blessings from the persons in the organization you are leaving. That may not be possible (due to their attachments), but we should at least make a sincere effort for it.

Q8:- Would such switching of tracks be tantamount to being an Apradhi thereby not letting one experience Bhakti? 

Don’t unnecessarily use round-about logic – determining A by evaluating B. Use direct logic whenever possible: Evaluate A to figure out A. Evaluate B to figure out B.

Being an aparādhī is being an aparādhī, switching organizations is switching organizations. A person may be one, the other, both, or neither.

If you realize you made a mistake in identifying your guru, try to get that person’s blessings for your change. As I mentioned, its unlikely that you will get such blessings without a great deal of equivocation and strife. This just confirms that you were correct about their spiritual stature, as this reluctance to bless and wish well is a clear symptom of a petty self-concept still plagued by personal and socio-political attachments and ambitions. However we should sincerely try to make it an unoffensive transition, done with blessings from the person formerly considered the guru.

Q9:- How can it be decided if a person is an Apradhi? 

Aparādhā as a noun means “hate.” If you feel hatred towards bhaktas or bhakti, that is anartha, and if you express it, that is aparādhā as a verb.

People who have a lot of anartha are very easy to offend, because they have much self-interest. We should try to tiptoe around them, or even humiliate ourselves to placate them, but it is too exhausting and distracting to do that forever, so we should try our best to leave their company on amiable terms.

 

 

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