Jagat

I have had a number of inquiries lately from people who have read my old articles related to sexuality and Radha Krishna devotion. Some of my responses are given here. In a recent discussion https://jagadanandadas.blogspot.com/2020/05/priti-sandarbha-5-6-perishable-means.html As you may know from our discussions, I have tried to align my "Sahajiyaism" with the orthodoxy, and it is precisely the area where the battle is drawn. The idea of personal relationships between devotees NOT being material or mundane is precisely what motivated me to investigate the idea of human erotic relations and to try to understand them in a way that made them transformed by devotional consciousness into a positive spiritual action. Now this is not customarily accepted in Vaishnava circles, but if you look at the general argumentation about what lessons we are to take from non-dualistic statements in shastra, it is that they are intended to deny the material side of things without offering...

Chandan Goswami asked on Facebook, after hearing yet another person accuse almost everyone in the Vaishnava world of being a Sahajiya, "Have you found or met accidentally any such person in Gaudiya Sampradaya who you think is a Sahajiya?" In other words, have you met someone who fits your own description and still calls himself a Sahajiya? If there is any such thing as a "Sahajiya," it should be a person who calls himself by that name. If I call you a "Green Duck" that is me calling you something, not you yourself. If I then say "Green Ducks are like this or that" then it is clearly propaganda. Like people calling each other "Communists" or "Nazis" in political discussions. No one has asked the Green Ducks for their opinion. There are no doubt real Communists and Nazis, but before trying to define what one is, it may do well to find one and talk with that person to find out what they do and what they believe. Then your cr...

A common prejudice in the Gaudiya sampradaya, represented by ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math in most of the world, is that Radha and Krishna's love is the "highest" while human sexuality is the "lowest." This is commonly used as an argument against the type of sādhanā and philosophy that I am teaching. In my opinion, this just shows how ridiculous and marginal Krishna consciousness has become and how far from the goal of divine love or prema it has sauntered. Let me say it again, for the millionth time, Radha and Krishna have no meaning at all if there is no love in this world between men and women. You would have no ability to understand or relate to Radha and Krishna as the manifestations of the highest and purest love if you did not have some intuitive understanding based on things you have seen, heard and experienced in this world. And, by the same token, since they are the archetype of the purest form of romantic love, they can be seen and realized throug...

This continues the questions and answers from Facebook threads related to the Sex and Spirituality article. How can a married person following the  rāgānugā bhakti  path engage in sex with his wife and still cultivate his  mañjarī-svarūpa? Those who are fortunate enough to be in a married relationship with a Vaishnava or Vaishnavi who has already received a  mañjarī-svarūpa  and is practicing rāgānugā bhajana , and if they are sexually active, there is no reason at all not to try this. It is a far better course of action than “falling down” and getting all upset and feeling guilty. Just thinking you are a mañjarī  in some far off fairyland called Vrindavan is rather difficult to do. And believe, it will start to feel silly after a while. unless , you can bring Radha and Krishna directly into your lives, as living  mūrtis . And why shouldn’t you? If Radha and Krishna can appear in a  mūrti  of stone to accept your service, then w...

In the conclusion to the previous article ( Part I ), I summarized my objectives there, which was to show that since any activity engaged in with expertise is yoga, or sādhanā , therefore there was no reason to think that sex could not be a part of that. I will continue on the same theme, and in so doing, will counter one or two of Abhaya Mudra's points. First of all, let me remind everyone that we have, after great good fortune, attained the human form of life, which is the plavaṁ sukalpaṁ , the most suitable boat for crossing the ocean of saṁsāra . The guru will do the steering, and the Lord will blow the winds of grace. Why would you not take this opportunity to attain the experience of prema, the summum bonum of human life? nṛ-deham ādyaṁ sulabhaṁ sudurlabhaṁ plavaṁ sukalpaṁ guru-karṇa-dhāram| mayānukūlena nabhasvateritaṁ pumān bhavābdhiṁ na taret sa ātma-hā|| This human body is the original form [for it is God's own svarūpa , and the human being was made in God...

Just as I finished writing about my renewed sense of purpose about teaching about the role of sexuality on the bhakti path, I came across an article posted by Abhaya Mudra Dasi on the Sampradaya Sun. Abhaya Mudra is a Bulgarian disciple of Suhotra Swami who has a jyotish website with Prabhupada disciple Patita Pavan Das. At first view, her article, Sex and Spirituality , is a defense of standard ISKCON teaching on sexuality, though it adds a few interesting twists. I have personally come to the conclusion that even though mainstream Western devotees still following ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math start out deeply committed to a doctrine that marginalizes sexuality, as the years go by, a great number of them become frustrated by double standards and hypocrisy that seem endemic in the movement. The Western Krishna consciousness movement has no bigger " shadow " than sexuality. Though child abuse scandals have rocked ISKCON and repeated "falldowns" or sexual peccadill...

Radhe out, Shyama in. That is all. Actually, all such sexual meditations are dependent on a certain amount of built capacity to resist orgasm. If either partner has an orgasm, this results in a break in the meditation and thus a decrease in the pleasure. Krishna enters the kunja where Radha awaits. Radha chants Shyama. Then Radha rushes forth to greet Krishna. Krishna chants Radhe. Start slowly, meditating on the picture of Radha meeting Krisha in the kunja. Feel their bhava. Witness the union of the Divine Couple after you and your manjari companion have achieved the goal of your service and brought them together after a long separation. Feel the sights and sounds, smell the fragrances of their sacred bower. Gradually build up until the chanting of Radha and Shyama's names becomes a all-encompassing explosion absorption in the sound and all else but the names are erased from the consciousness. Continue until exhausted. Then slow down and start again. Or, simply return t...

Yesterday we were reading in the Philosophy of Hatha Yoga class the section from the Yoga-sūtras dealing with asana, i.e. 2.46-48. There is a long discussion at 2.47. Anyway, the basics are: āsanas are to be steady and comfortable (46). They can be perfected by relaxing the effort and by meditation on the infinite (47). When one perfects the āsanas , one becomes indifferent to the dualities (48). The discussion about "meditation on the infinite" (actually, Swamiji translates samāpatti by "coalescence" with the infinite, but that is a little harder to follow) was pretty interesting. I have to say that I got a glimpse of that in meditation today in relation to my sahaja-sādhanā and my siddha-svarupa . There was a moment when I was literally dancing in my Jaya Manjari form, my blue dress covered with silver sequins literally swirling in the sky and merging into the milky way. Anyway, in his discussion there, Swamiji gives two interpretations of the phrasa an...

(1) Normal Sexual Relations Someone wrote in the previous comments section that "normal sexual relations" were permitted for devotee householders. Some of the other posters there also expressed similar ideas. I just want to say that I am not in favor of "normal" sexual relations. The general attitude in Vaishnava circles is to quote the Bhagavatam, in which it is made very clear that for men (and the instructions are given for men), association with women is the door to hell (5.5.2). mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam All bad qualities come out of association with women (3.31.33). satyaṁ śaucaṁ dayā maunaṁ buddhiḥ śrīr hrīr yaśaḥ kṣamā śamo damo bhagaś ceti yat-saṅgād yāti saṁkṣayam Women are temptresses. Chota Haridas was expelled and, more or less, obliged to commit suicide because of a rather doubtful case of association with women, just so that he could be an example to all of us. So can anything good be said for...