Jagat

Sampadananda Mishra Prishni shared some questions and answers about Sahajiyaism which she asked of an on-line AI program that almost instantly searches all the data available to it on the internet and is able to construct a human-like response, based purely on superpowered capacity to process information. It gave quite a good answer, but I recognized in it a kind of mechanical character: it was a collection of data points, pointing to agreements and disagreements with clinical evenhandedness. Nevertheless, Ii have to admit that it was an impressive overview of much of what has happened over a 500 or 1000-year history, something you would expect to get in a university world religions study course. It did not however show the life of a lived tradition. I do not doubt however that one could get the program to adapt to your particular preferences by refining your inquiries. For instance, you could ask, "Where can I learn about this and implement its practice in my own life, from a li...

Dr. Jayalakshmi Alankar shared this video, wherein the good doctor Lustig explains scientifically the difference between pleasure and happiness, dopamine and serotonin.. Her summary: "Pleasure is SATISFACTION derived from things and persons OUTSIDE US. Happiness is SATISFACTION derived from the CORE OF DEEPEST BEING INSIDE US." - so simple to understand :) I think prema-sukha is happiness AND pleasure. It is pleasure experienced as waves in the ocean of happiness. This thought was provoked by the sheer impossibility of tasting ALL of the rasa that is present in so many writings of so many rasika mahatmas of so many sampradayas, and knowing that I have to stick to ONE to get it. That I have to concentrate on ONE toenail or whatever, one sentence of one book. That is when the rasa hits. Not otherwise. The key to the door goes through one keyhole. And yet, the thirst -- the thirst of one with cholera -- to drink it all, even in the frustration of kn...

I have been busy trying to complete the series I started a long time ago on the three kinds of rati. The final article in the series, a full investigation on samarthā rati is still in the works, being based primarily on a summary of the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi commentaries on the relevant section of the 14th chapter, accompanied by my own insights. As I said in the beginning, the purpose is to try to understand these matters by reference to the world of experience and to see where that takes us. In the last article on samarthā rati , there was in fact very little but the straight information from the śāstras. So we look at these things and they do not register very much at first. In a sampradāya, you listen to your gurus. And you reflect on what they say. That is called manana . And then, when you have come to a solid faith in the conclusions of the śāstra, you engage in nididhyāsana , which is usually meant a constant meditation on that conclusion. [Please read the linked articles o...

A friend sent me a few comments that were made about me over on Nitai's Chaitanya Symposium . Nitai (Neal Delmonico) is an old friend, with whom I unfortunately do not keep in very close contact. Our approaches to bhakti and spiritual life differ somewhat, particularly where mood is concerned. For some reason, Nitai finds it necessary to find nothing positive in the Vaishnava movement that brought him to "Chaitanya Vaishnavism" and I do not agree with this, as I feel it impacts negatively on our sādhanā when we do that kind of thing. But that is his business. He has a good brain and is well read, so I hope the best for him and his spiritual ambitions. And whether I agree with him or not is irrelevant to the fact that he is one of the foremost scholars of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in the world and deserves respect for that fact alone. Here are some of the things that were said: Nitai : What can I say about Jagat? He at present prefers sahaja-dharma to Vaishnava dharma. His ...