A walk through Rajaji National Park

I think that today's edition contains the last instalment of my reactions to the Paramadvaiti debacle (2021). This is a final reflection. Other than this there are several memories of Rishikesh, especially the walk through Rajaji Park, which I used to enjoy on a regular basis while there. (FB Memories: May 10)

2021

Over my doorway, I have had a painter write the following verses from the Chaitanya Bhāgavata:

ব্রাহ্মণাদি কুক্কুর চণ্ডাল অন্ত করি

দণ্ডবৎ করিবেক বহু মান্য করি

এই সে বৈষ্ণব ধর্ম সবারে প্রণতি

ধর্ম ধ্বজী সে যার ইথে নাহি রতি

brāhmaṇādi kukkura caṇḍāla anta kari

daṇḍabat karibeka bahu mānya kari

ei se baiṣṇaba dharma sabāre praṇati

dharma dhbajī se yāra ithe nāhi rati

"One should prostrate oneself with great respect to everyone from the Brahmin to the dog and dog-eater. This is the Vaishnava dharma, to bow down to everyone. One who does not have an affection for doing so is just pretending to follow this dharma."

I put this over my doorway both to remind myself of something I loved most about the Chaitanya path, and as a gentle reminder to others also.

I have noticed that, especially when there has been some bad feeling, people react to one's prostrated obeisances as though it were merely a manipulative device.

Let me assure you, it takes humility to bow down to someone who is angry with you. It takes humility to bow down to someone who is your social inferior. But pride is a hard nut to swallow and I am amazed by how much the paying of respectful obeisances has been lost to the present-day Vaishnava culture. T'was not like this in the good old days.

Of late, I have been accused of offensiveness to women and perhaps it is true. But if I have been, it is completely unintentional and an accident of speech alone.

Could I, who am a worshiper of Radha, the queen of bhakti and prema, ever feel anything other than respect and love for those who embody the female form?

Could I, who believes that the presence of God inhabits every atom of creation, think that the same presence of God does not inhabit the female form, when woman is the shakti which animates all her sons and daughters?

When in transcendence there is neither male nor female, it is to be understood that sex is an accident of material conditioning. The challenge of sexual difference is to overcome it and find unity in the Supreme.

I do not think that a woman's birth is any different from a male birth in this world of suffering and death, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam. Men and women are meant to be complementary, to love one another and to help each other spiritually.

Each of these bodies has its advantages and disadvantages. Misunderstandings are natural because of the differences in temperament, because of attachments and expectations, and so on, but that is simply the challenge of life. The only cure is to develop the character of a Vaishnava.

I am an aspiring Vaishnava and a priori a friend to everyone. I try to see Krishna in every living being. I believe in speaking the truth kindly. If I fail, then that only means I have to learn better how it is done.

I did not come here to cause trouble to anyone. I am in Vrindavan in order to attain the lotus feet of Radha and Krishna and not to engage in fights with women. God help me, that is hell on earth.

If anyone has received another impression, I sincerely apologize.

vande nanda-vraja-strīṇāṁ
pāda-reṇum abhīkṣṇāśaḥ
yāsāṁ hari-kathodgītaṁ
punāti bhuvana-trayam.

---

2016

kṛṣṇo varīyān puruṣeṣu sad-guṇaiḥ
śrī-rādhikā strīṣu guṇaiḥ varīyasī |
saṅgaṁ vidhātus tv anayoḥ parasparaṁ
dhātur narīnarti guṇajñatā-yaśaḥ ||

By virtue of their good qualities, Krishna is the best of men and Radhika is the best of all women. When the two are brought together by the Creator, then naturally his fame as a knower of virtue dances incessantly throughout the world. (GLA 11.138)

śrī-rādhayānanya-samordhvayā hṛtaṁ
mano harer dhāvati nāparāṅganām|
sarojinī-san-madhu-lampaṭaḥ sadā
vallīṁ parāṁ prāñcati kiṁ madhuvrataḥ ||

Krishna's mind has been stolen by Radha,
who has no superior or equal.
So it does not run towards other women.
A bee, devoted to honey, is always greedy
for the superior honey of the lotus.
So why would it wander off to any other flower?

---

2015

[I wrote this partly because I want to condemn the Ritvik philosophy. The faultfinding tendency is so strong in the ISKCON universe that no one is of any merit whatsoever. Despite my own journey having diverged considerably from the ISKCON world view, I nevertheless consider the achievements of many of Prabhupada's disciples to be noteworthy and worthy of commendation.]

I have been watching a learn-harmonium tape by Niranjana Swami and Govinda Swami. I quite like Niranjan Swami's style, and I found myself singing his tunes all day long.

The two Swamis' seriousness and dedication as well as love for the Holy Name and their service to the Holy Name, it is truly humbling.

Actually, I see their true humility. They are pioneers who did some real self-sacrifice for the sake of preaching the Holy Name. It is clear that the Holy Name both sustained them and was the source of their grace. If Russia is filled with lovers of the Holy Name, it is by the grace of the Holy Name coming through their lips.

Who will dare find fault with a movement that produces individuals such as these? Who will look for limitations in someone who serves so selflessly the Unlimited Holy Name?

---

2014 Rishikesh

I went to meditation for the first time since arriving. When one returns to situations that were previously experienced, one always has comparisons to make. And those comparisons are more than just superficial, they put your entire life into perspective, as though a frozen picture from then is being held up and contrasted to the one that is now.

Krishna says in the Gita that there are two niṣṭhās, or paths, one is outward facing, the other inward. The two paths are meant to meet, but the meeting means that one has accomplished the ends of both. The inward path finds God within and then by the glow of that meeting sees God everywhere; on the other, one starts by finding God outside through living in and interacting with the world and from there working inward.

A master is someone who has mastered both the inward and the outward path.

---

2013

...Who shall I thank? I will thank EVERYONE dammit. Guru has descended to me in a million forms. I see my guru daily. I talk to my guru on the telephone! I walk with my guru, I talk with my guru, I hold hands with my guru in the galis of Vrindavan. What does it matter to me if others see it or not? 

---

2009

Had a bit of a headache from sunstroke, I think, on my walk to Ram Jhula. I figure I chant about one mala every 200 meters.

---

Chakra Exercise

This morning we did a meditation with Swami Veda. He gave an exercise for connecting the heart and eyebrow centers. I was a bit dehydrated and hadn't done any exercising today, so my concentration was not very good. But I still managed to get something out of it.

The ājñā cakra is the intellectual center, whereas the anāhata is that of the emotions. The purpose, or one of the purposes of this exercise is to balance these two tendencies.

The essence of the prayoga or prakriya is to breathe in through the heart and up to the ājñā, out through the ājñā and into the heart. Several different techniques were involved, one of which was to enter the cave of the heart and see the thin pencil of light descending from the ājñā and connecting the anāhata.

In doing these exercises, one can immediately feel the distinct characters of the two chakras. The expansiveness of the heart and the narrowness of the ājñā. Even though Swamiji warned that when meditating on the heart chakra there is a danger of becoming a "chest-breather." (Better than a mouth-breather, but still, awful.), you can still feel the chest opening as the diaphragm fills.

The heart expands, enlarges and fills. It is by nature expansive and inclusive. But it is as though the expansiveness that is in the heart--the tendency of love to innocently embrace the world--has to be narrowed intellectually to achieve its full strength.

The difference is like that of the light of the sun and the light of the laser.

At the same time, the intellectual center needs the nourishment of anāhata. How can the intellect be of any use if it is not concentrated love?