Jagat

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...

Dear friends, First of all, my apologies for the lengthy silence. Silence is something of a fetish around this ashram, though I am publicly teased for being a rather noisy fellow around here. I am learning, though. So, do I have anything at all to say? Well, in general terms: I am still a Vaishnava, but I am, moreover, an acintya-bhedābheda-vādī . The more I study any text of any kind, I realize that my philosophical position holds squarely to both the personal as the surface of spiritual life and the impersonal as the unifying underlying ground of that life. This has ramifications everywhere, and it only becomes stronger with my sādhanā . But, of course, I have become identified with my Sahajiyaism, and I think that most or at least many people who read on this site are inquisitive about that. But it must be made clear that my Sahajiyaism is based on a solid philosophical and theological basis--many of the points which I have already raised and indeed which are familiar to t...

With regard to Radha and Krishna as Rati and Smara (Kama): ratiḥ sākṣād rādhā sakala-jaḍa-cil-loka-paramā ramādy-atyāścaryāmbuja-dṛg aniśaṁ prārthya-dṛg-aṇuḥ smaraḥ sākṣāt kṛṣṇo'navadhi-rati-tṛpto'khila-paraḥ pareśaḥ pronmīlad-ruci-jaladhi-vardhaika-rug-aṇuḥ Love (Rati) is Radha herself, the highest truth of all the material and spiritual worlds. So all the goddesses from Lakshmi on down, whose eyes are as beautiful as lotuses, all pray constantly for her merciful glance. Desire (Kama) is Krishna himself, the Supreme Lord beyond everything, who always takes satisfaction in his unlimited lovemaking, who [like the moon] causes the ocean of beauty [that is Radha] to overflow with just a single ray of his light. [Prabodhananda, VMA 11.46] What is interesting about this verse is that it makes Rati and Smara the subject and Radha and Krishna are the nominal predicates. In both cases, the word sākṣāt is used to indicate complete identity. I have often pointed to the Brahma-saṁhit...

The RRSN class yesterday was wide-ranging, but one thing I spoke on was the following verse ( Govinda- līlāmṛta  10.16, CC 2.8.209) in glorification of Radha’s dasis. Here it is with Gadadhar Pran’s (orthodox) translation and commentary: sakhyaḥ śrī-rādhikāyā vraja-kumuda-vidhor hlādinī-nāma-śakteḥ sārāṁśa-prema-vallyāḥ kiśalaya-dala-puṣpādi-tulyāḥ sva-tulyāḥ siktāyāṁ kṛṣṇa-līlāmṛta-rasa-nicayair ullasantyām amuṣyāṁ jātollāsāḥ sva-sekāc chata-guṇam adhikaṁ santi yat tan na citram Nandimukhi goes on: “And look! As Radha and the sakhis’ pleasure is synonymous, the sakhis are one with Radha. Krishna is like the moon for the ‘lilies of Vraja’ (the gopis), and Srimati Radhika is the essence of his pleasure potency. She is likened to a desire creeper of prema ( prema-kalpa-lata ) and the sakhis are the leaves, flowers and new buds on this creeper, and as such are non-different from her. So it isn’t surprising that when the Radha creeper is nourished by the shower of Krish...

I spent the last few weeks travelling and on my return to Rishikesh became involved with other preoccupations, so I have neglected this blog. It is hard to gauge changing times, but certainly Madhavananda's departure from our little virtual world of scattered devotees, some barely "limping along," as Advaita Dasji put it, makes me think that perhaps there is some significant tectonic shift taking place. I had accumulated things to say, but most of them have withered into silence, where in all likelihood they belonged. Wheat and chaff are separated by the steady sighs of time. I spent a little more than two weeks at Gadadhar Pran's. On the whole it was a good stay, but the encroaching Ganga has Gadadhar feeling as though he is under siege. Nothing new there: if you are a raganuga bhakta in the domain of Iskcon and the Gaudiya Math, their animosity is like a steady tide that wears at the banks of your self-assurance anyway. But it is a cruel blow to have Nature attack o...

My idea behind Krishna as “Bhangi Bihari” was only partly joking. In fact I am quite serious. Even though I realize that the use of the term may be considered offensive, insulting or politically incorrect, I used it because of its similarity to Banke Bihari. No other names for the sanitation workers, who now prefer to be called Valmikas, are as alliterative, so though I am changing most of the uses of the word "bhangi" in the article to either of the above, I am leaving the title as is with apologies to anyone who might be offended. I will not do it again. There is a widespread cultural problem involved and to counter that, values have to be instilled by whatever means possible. My proposals here can be judged in relationship to the kind of myth and symbol-making procedures that I have been discussing in my last couple of posts, a theme that I intend to pursue further. Let us put it this way: There are several values related to environmental and social issues that have n...

I just caught the last bit of a CBC interview with Robert Jensen, author of Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity . There was a great deal in this man’s ideas that resonated very strongly with me. Indeed, the words with which he ends his book verbalize one aspect of my own core concept very clearly: “I renounce masculinity and choose instead to be a human being.” Commenting on this statement, Jensen says that the model of masculinity that is the norm in our society, and is promoted in pornography (“a window to the sexual imaginations of our culture”) is toxic. It is based on ideas of conquest and control and hence leads directly to aggression and violence. It perpetuates and enhances sexual and racial stereotypes that have well-known negative consequences for both men and women. The increasingly pornographic culture of the West, and the predatory corporate capitalist system behind it, promote a cruel and misogynistic vision of women. It undermines the essential feminine q...

Someone has asked for a little more clarification on the relationship between manjari bhava and the practices I am talking about. Anyway, I don't see how this ties into manjari bhav sadhana. If both the male and female partners identify as a manjari, then how can they engage in sexual relations with each other while maintaining that inner identity? Two little girls on the brink of Kishorihood who just want to assist their Swamini in meeting with her Priyatam are now having sex with each other? What is up with that? That's why I say that yes, Vaishnava couples can and do have creative intimate lives, but while doing so they can't and do not identify themselves in the same way they identify themselves during their sadhana time. When I say "can't" above it is not meant as "it's impossible", but it means I can't see how it would work. So could you address this issue please Jagat? I have written a number of articles that deal with this topi...

For the occasion, and oldy but goldy from Gaudiya Discussions, July 22, 2004: olo ! āmarā rāiera dāsī ! āmarā rāiera dāsī ! āmarā rāiera sevā bhālovāsi Listen everyone! We are Radha's dasis ! We are Radha's dasis, and we love to serve Radharani. rāi jokhon je bhāve thāke, āmarā ghire basi rāi kāndile āmarā kāndi, hāsile āmarā hāsi Wherever Radha is, in whatever mood she is, we gather all around her. If she cries, we cry; and if she laughs, we laugh. rāi śyāmake bhālovāse, tāi āmarā-o bhālovāsi rāi ānugatye śyāma sevā kori, dekhe rāi boṛo ullāsī Radha loves Shyam, so we love Shyam, too. When she sees that we serve him according to her directions, she becomes ebullient. rāi śyāma-nāma bhālovāse, tāi āmarā nāme piyāsī rāi sukhe nāma kori bale, sei bhālovāse kālośaśī Rai loves Shyam's name, so that makes us thirst for it. And because we sing his name for her pleasure, she loves him even more. rāiera mukhe kṛṣṇa-kathā śuni, mora soba divāniśi ...