Jagat

I was trying to find an old article I wrote and it wasn't on the blog. I will need to rewrite and comment on Jiva Goswami's vicāra-mārga and ruci-mārga , an important discussion that I often find myself refering to and need to have a link to send people to. So, looking for that I found this, which probably was on some on-line forum 15-20 years ago and never put on this blog. So, for the record. It is relevant to my earlier post about Jordan Peterson and meaning . Someone wrote: The Vaishnavas also say they believe in the oneness of God. That it is a fundamental doctrine of the Vaishnava creed. But really guys, come on, you have so many "deities" floating around. Are the Muslims right when they accuse you of "idol worship" and "dividing the ONENESS?" I have heard Vaishnavas say "we are not "idol worshippers" like the Hindus or Pagans. But it looks the same. What is the difference? The word "pagan" evokes all kin...

This is a combination of four articles that were posted on Gaudiya Discussions from April 10, 2004. Since I am engaged in a bit of reminiscence, this fits in right about here. I. Ritual and Structure: The meaningful organization of symbols One thing I learned about in the phenomenology of religion course during my university days was to look for structures in religious rituals. As I have stated many times, religious symbols are inexhaustible sources of meaning. They should contain all the elements of a dialectic within them, so that each completion of the dialectic circle results in a deepening of perception of one's ultimate religious concern. A great religion generally has a little something for everybody--a saint, a demigod, a little myth or legend, a theological interpretation. These all expand out of the great central constellation of myths. A religion's rituals generally recapitulate these myths communally, so that they are reinforced by their performance. T...

On Saturday there was a tremendous amount of rain, but on Sunday afternoon I managed to get down to Jeanne Mance Park and join the devotees in their annual Festival of India. This year, I had the specific intention of distributing some of those Madhurya Kadambinis that I worked on a couple of years ago. The first thing I did was go to Bhakti Marg Swami and give him a copy. He is always nice to me, always recalling our sankirtan days in Toronto. I asked him if he minded me distributing Madhurya Kadambinis on the Rathayatra grounds and he graciously agreed. He was also very grateful for the gift. What I really enjoyed about the book distribution was talking to devotees about the book--about Vishwanath Chakravarti, his writings, Rupa Goswami and the Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, etc. About the different stages of devotion. It was a great chance to meet with old devotees and make new friends also. Debnath Bhoumick said that he would like to get books in Bengali, so I think I will see about orde...