Jagat

After Karttik Purnima I came down with a cold and a bit of exhaustion, and have been either sleeping or sitting here sipping brahmastra tea and catching up with international news of various kinds. Though many things, mostly same old same old, are features of the current world situation, I would summarize the following three principal points: . (1) The American empire is expanding at a speed that I never would have imagined. If anyone had any illusions that Obama was progressive on this front when he promised to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is now clear that this was a smokescreen. The Military-Industrial Complex in the USA is the single most dominant force in dictating the international situation. The technological capacity to survey, control, and coerce ordinary citizens, combined with the total domination of the media in [at least] the USA for propaganda and control of information, is at levels that Communist and Fascist dictatorships of the past could only marvel a...

I mentioned sādhāraṇī-karaṇa in my poem the other day, and though it might be worthwhile to revisit the subject not only in this context, but also in the context of the discussion about Chandi Das and another post that will be coming up soon, O Mind! Meditate on Radha's Breasts . Without understanding what Rupa Goswami intended by sādhāraṇī-karaṇa , we will be severely handicapped in understanding mañjarī-bhāva , what to speak of Gaudiya Vaishnava rāgānugā sādhanā . Furthermore, a proper understanding of sādhāraṇī-karaṇa will be helpful in transcending the minefield that is the kaniṣṭha adhikārī 's confusion about myth and rational understanding. I have tried to explain these things before, but it is time to revisit the subject; hopefully I will be able to make myself clear and I hope this helps to get an insight into Rupa Goswami's concept of sādhanā . The process of identification Any such discussion has to begin with the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , so I will quot...

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...

Madhavananda's second objection to Sahajiyaism is based in those numerous verses that I call misogynistic in character. Such verses tell us that there is nothing worse for a person's devotional life than the association of women. This is a question that needs to be explored in much depth and I will try to make a preliminary assessment of the subject. My daughter visited recently. Among the little bits of bitterness that she served up in relation to her Iskcon experience was a reference to the Gita's verse: māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te'pi yānti parāṁ gatim Those who take shelter of me fully, even those of sinful birth, women, merchants or common laborers, they too can attain the supreme destination. (9.32) My daughter uttered the words "even women" with portentous disdain--women are considered inferior beings in the bhakti world view. They have, according to different sources, two, four, six or eigh...