Jagat

Jai Sri Radhe! Well, I have to confess (ha ha) that I have been having misgivings about embarking on this adventure. But I made a decision and I will carry on with it, the consequences are in Radharani's hands. Let's go through Demian's diatribe. I am not going to spend too much time on accusations 1-4, which contain the faintest seeds of truth that have metastasized in the manure of his malice. Let me say first that as soon as Demian's letter was posted on the Paundraka Vrindavan Today, I immediately wrote to Babaji and told him that I would resign from Jiva Institute on the spot if he felt that the accusations made in this letter were going to diminish the Institute's reputation. So far, Babaji has not asked me for a resignation. Indeed, he has expressed to me that Demian's posting on that website was a de facto admission that he was siding with individuals who had made enmity to him their purpose in life. This obviously is not a situation that can endu...

This is Part 8 of a series called "Confession and the Authentic Self." 1. Prologue . 2. Setting the scene. The saga of the Paundraka Vrindavan Today . 3. Staking out the high ground. The frequentations of swans and crows . 4. Confession, a religious act. A concealed provocation. 5. A profession of love and respect for Babaji. 6. Aiming again at the high ground, and a concern troll 7. Bhakta Demian challenges me to confess more. When I finished reading Demian's twelve points, I decided to remain mum for the reasons I have already given previously. But nevertheless, I continued to think that surely I can find a way to soften his heart and to come to a position where he will see what the character of a devotee is like. So I thought that I should praise him first. The letter that I posted on Facebook was also posted on the thread on the Paundraka Vrindavan Today because I wanted Demian to read it. Now, Demian's answers are given below and you will see that ...

This is Part 7 of a series called "Confession and the Authentic Self." 1. Prologue . 2. Setting the scene. The saga of the Paundraka Vrindavan Today . 3. Staking out the high ground. The frequentations of swans and crows . 4. Confession, a religious act. A concealed provocation. 5. A profession of love and respect for Babaji. 6. Aiming again at the high ground, and a concern troll We are now closing in on the purpose of this series of posts. When I published my response to Alex's publication of my "confession letter" on May 31, Bhakta Demian posted as a comment the letter you see below. On reading it, I had to almost laugh at the venomous diatribe, the pent-up nastiness, and the utter absence of any sign of genuine spiritual insight or understanding, the kind of visceral hatred that should be completely absent from the heart of a devotee... well I refer you to my comments on the first article in this series. Even now as I read this article, the s...

It has been a while since I posted in this blog anything of real interest. I have been feeling a little unrest of late and this has prompted me to enter into a period of reflection, which has now backed up to the point that it needs to come out in public expression. So for the next few days I will first of all review the experiences of the past few weeks and then try to analyze what the effect of these experiences has been on me. The core of the I realized that I do indeed have to confess. Now first of all, in order for you to understand that statement I do have to contextualize it, and I will begin to do so tomorrow. Being honest publicly about personal matters has been, to a great extent, a defining element of my public career, or whatever you call it when you are known to more than one or two people. As a blogger, I have become some kind of self-styled public figure, and though I may be insignificant to most of the world; it is a part of who and what I am, a sva-dharma as it we...

The amazing Ed Bryant (Advaita Prabhu Das) just received here at Jiva the final proofs for his new book, "Yoga in the Krishna Bhakti Tradition" to be published by the same company that did his Yoga Sutra, Macmillan. He has promised to give me a few excerpts for Vrindavan Today, so look for them in the coming days. For all my friends in the AHYMSIN tradition, I will just say that Swami Veda Bharati wanted me to do something like this, research yoga in the Bhagavata Purana. He even had Ram Charit photocopy and paste all the relevant verses from BhP so that he could have it as a ready reference. And I even wanted to do it, and if I hadn't committed to Vrindavan  and the Sandarbhas project , I may have gotten around to it. Swamiji was planning projects that he knew he could never ever finish to his final day. Anyway, his desire has been fulfilled by a reputable scholar and, I may say, a great admirer of Swamiji's work. He relied on it heavily for his own Yoga Sut...

I posted on Facebook: Message from Prabodhananda Saraswati: If you respect me, you have to respect Hit  Harivansh  Goswami. Explanation: Yesterday was my birthday, and as I had just arrived the day before from Rishikesh, I went on parikrama . Parikrama for me started near Kaliya Daha, which is where the little frequented samadhi temple of Prabodhananda Saraswati lies. I think that the coincidence of having Prabodhananda, the author of Vṛndāvana-mahimāmṛta right at the beginning of the parikrama , as the first major spot on the circuit, to be a fortuitous and particularly inspiring accident. I have cherished Prabodhananda Saraswati ever since Ananta Das Pandit Maharaj first "turned me on" to Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi more than 30 years ago. I made up my mind to do the following for my birthday: I would go to Prabodhananda's samadhi , recite a few verses from his work, and then go to Banke Bihari, Radha Vallabha, then Radha Damodar to visit the samadhis of Sri Rup...