tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post517464810195082847..comments2024-03-26T13:06:41.178-04:00Comments on Jagat: Interfaith Seminar; Subject: DeathJagadananda Dashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887720845815026518noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-26725540886708528092009-06-27T07:59:39.876-04:002009-06-27T07:59:39.876-04:00I feel in a somewhat strange position vis-a-vis Is...I feel in a somewhat strange position vis-a-vis Iskcon and the Gaudiya Math. In many ways I admire and appreciate their accomplishments and respect their good qualities. And even now, I find more in common with IGM devotees than I do with 90% of the world.<br /><br />Furthermore, I have respect for IGM because of my own historical relationship with it. I would not be who I am were it not for IGM.<br /><br />Moreover, I have a sense of nostalgia for some of the good qualities that IGM fostered in me and have diminished since I left it.<br /><br />Nevertheless, there are too many things that I do not agree with to ever be a participant or a wholehearted supporter of either Iskcon or any Gaudiya Math.<br /><br />I like to be honest and give credit where credit is due. You are quite right in what you say, but I am not the type to go on and on harping on the blemishes of either organization. It seems self-evident to me that the KCM has reached a kind of impasse in the West, and that impasse is based in several causes, one of them being things Prabhupada said, as you yourself mention, and the inability of Iskcon to consolidate such statements with their commitment to the guru doctrine.<br /><br />Overall, the principal problem is a crisis of faith based on an overly literal approach to Krishna consciousness, a lack of sophistication in theological understanding. I don't think this can be solved easily, as there will always be devotees on different levels of understanding. The problem mainly lies in the lack of a milieu or institutions for those who have with a more mature or sophisticated approach.<br /><br />I might say, moreover, that there are many critics, but few who have either the character or the spiritual acumen to provide a suitable alternative. By which I mean something that provides the possibility for sadhu-sanga that is both intellectually and spiritually satisfying. That is the real need.Jagadananda Dashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05887720845815026518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-13975867785418200352009-06-26T16:00:14.448-04:002009-06-26T16:00:14.448-04:00I don't think its a matter of drinking the ba...I don't think its a matter of drinking the bath water. Prabhupada also left a legacy of great errors that need addressing. If you want to really glorify Prabhupada perhaps you should mention also that the absurd statements on blacks, women, etc. that he made were in fact crass mistakes that he should never had made. And which it should absolutely be thrown out quickly lest it kills a much too precious baby.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-46676148666885756042009-06-19T11:36:39.303-04:002009-06-19T11:36:39.303-04:00Jagat,
This has nothing to do with your most rece...Jagat,<br /><br />This has nothing to do with your most recent post, so I apologize. But I just wanted to say hello. I've been reading your writings for some years and always appreciated them, as well as your GGM work. I have been out of the loop for some time, but found this blog recently.<br /><br />I've started a blog as well to process my thoughts and experiences in and out of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. If you should ever read something there, I encourage you to comment, as everything is open to discussion.<br /><br />Wishing you the best back in Canada!<br /><br />Zack.zvshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14012923886278477659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-5595705769666504012009-06-18T15:45:35.591-04:002009-06-18T15:45:35.591-04:00Well, one measures by the standards that one sets,...Well, one measures by the standards that one sets, by the examples one has received. Shivdattaji, at the same session, spoke about his guru's disappearance. Apparently he was sitting in meditation on the train, after having shown no signs of flagging energy or diminution of his enthusiasm to spread his teachings and mentor his disciples. At some time during his meditation he left his body, and those around him never even perceived that he was doing anything but experiencing a deep samadhi.<br /><br />But, look, it is not a question of measuring everything in terms of Prabhupada, but that does not change the role that Prabhupada played in my life and the way that continues to inspire and motivate me.<br /><br />I am not, like some people, going to throw the baby out with the bathwater; but neither am I going to drink the bathwater, as some others do.Jagadananda Dashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05887720845815026518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-89386027046432363652009-06-18T11:44:08.582-04:002009-06-18T11:44:08.582-04:00Wise words, as always. Only I felt a tiny ripple t...Wise words, as always. Only I felt a tiny ripple there at the mention of Prabhupada; I thought, "but, as a matter of glory, as a matter of meaning, and as a model of how and where to triumph, isn't there at least a few other such glorious deaths in the world for us to know of?" I mean to say, must everything be measured in terms of Prabhubapa?<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, I deeply respect Srila Prabhupada, being indebted to him as I am forever, but it seems to me this constant resorting to Prabhupada as the ultimate personality/event, well its beginning to produce the opposite effect. It has created an unrealistic perspective of saintlyness, at the least. <br /><br />Granted, Prabhupada's death was glorious, as was his life, however, in my humble opinion, there is more to be gained presently by bringing up the humaness in Prabhupada than from again zooming in his super-humaness. At this point in the history of Prabhupada's legacy, treating the matter of how, why and where he erred will make him more glorious than referring to his glory by itself. My humble two cents.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-56393595752362835672009-06-17T16:59:03.088-04:002009-06-17T16:59:03.088-04:00So nice! It maybe does or doesn't connect, bu...So nice! It maybe does or doesn't connect, but reading the "Nectar of the Holy Name", esp Sri Sri Manindranath Guha's Dedication of the Second Edition (quote of Cca, 139)resonated when I read this post. We are our own battle, each one of us are our own enemy and ally. To follow faithfully or not the path marked out by Sri Sri Panca-Tattva and the Goswamis.<br />I think of my own useless, common death. Another foolish westerner half-heartedly picking up Gaudiya Vaishnavism like a trinket from a curio shop: well-loved but for how long? When my time comes will I fight for each breath to chant loudly with great relish or ask for more medication or for the nurse to change the channel? Or, perhaps more dire, will I chant without relish hoping against hope that it provides something, anything, a childish totem to concentrate on besides my own dwindling life airs?<br />Thank you for the gravity.<br />Radhe Radhe!skippy longbeachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05640462922707850162noreply@blogger.com