tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post140275029151058288..comments2024-03-26T13:06:41.178-04:00Comments on Jagat: Individualism and the Flaw in MayavadaJagadananda Dashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887720845815026518noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-57841249728113599592009-08-10T04:37:10.180-04:002009-08-10T04:37:10.180-04:00Maximus ( of Constantinople)speaks of "a univ...Maximus ( of Constantinople)speaks of "a universal presence...unrecognizably binding all things together, yet dwelling in each being in a different way; this presence holds the individual parts of the whole together, in itself and in each other, unconfused and inseparable, and allows them, through this very relationship of creative unity, to live more for each other than for themselves."Nirgunanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-58038462767806009612009-08-06T20:13:08.034-04:002009-08-06T20:13:08.034-04:00Advaita's last remark is indeed a shining exam...Advaita's last remark is indeed a shining example of why Gaudiya Vedanta is in absolute crisis, stuck in mud and in profound irrelevance today. He says,<br /><br />- - -<br />I experience this myself all the time. I wonder if shastra has something to say to confirm this.<br />- - -<br /><br />Did Gallileo have to say anything about subatomic physics relevant today? Did Archimedes had to say something about 21st century mathematics to confirm it?Socratesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-1833836076654599492009-08-06T12:14:47.956-04:002009-08-06T12:14:47.956-04:00Well, to be honest, I am rather glad that this par...Well, to be honest, I am rather glad that this particular idea appeals to you. My way of dealing with tradition has always been a little different from yours. <br /><br />Because of the arguments you cite, I have come think that our relation to tradition is one of "continuation" rather than "emulation." <br /><br />The key element of tradition, though, is gratitude. This is why I consider myself a stauch defender of the tradition, even though others think otherwise. I am grateful to my gurus, all of them, because whatever the case may be, something very central and transformative came into my life as a result of contact with them. <br /><br />It is like Raghunath Das's verse that starts "nAma-zreSTham" and lists all the things that he is grateful to his gurus for. It ends with "aho rAdhikA-mAdhavAzAM." The word "aho" really touches me in that verse, almost bringing tears to my eyes every time. The progression builds to this pinnacle. But I have to use all my faculties to cultivate these gifts.<br /><br />It is a bit complicated, rather like translation, but where the language is one of spiritual experience. <br /><br />I have to recognize who I am, circumstantially, as a being living in a particular time and place, with a particular linguistic, educational and psychological profile, and how all these things create biases and blockages as well as giving me valid tools for interpretation of my experience.<br /><br />Then I also have to try to understand, as objectively as possible (phenomenologically, if you will) what the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition represents historically, i.e., how it was experienced by those who created and lived it. <br /><br />Then I have to find where the real meaningful connections are. I cannot deny myself, my conditioned subjectivity in all this. Even as I follow the essentials of the tradition as practice--sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam--parallel to that, I also have to honor my own circumstance as God-given; honor that circumstance and my reason as a service to the tradition, because without it, I cannot make the tradition real to anyone else. <br /><br />And ultimately, if we cannot make it real to anyone else, it becomes weak even for ourselves.<br /><br />Jai Radhe.Jagadananda Dashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05887720845815026518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-89718354488778896452009-08-06T00:32:13.860-04:002009-08-06T00:32:13.860-04:00The whole blog was excellent but I was particularl...The whole blog was excellent but I was particularly struck by:<br /><br />"It is entirely wrong to think that one's spiritual realization will be exactly the same as anyone else's, and by that I include even the realization of one's gurus. You cannot BE anyone but yourself; no matter how rigid your orthodoxy and obedience to the past, no matter how powerful the charisma, intellectual brilliance or powerful the mythos of previous acharyas, there are too many factors related to your personal environment and experience for there to ever be absolute homogeneity."<br /><br />Each individual is unique and can therefore never be a copy of one's beloved Master/Teacher/Role-model. Being different from them does not mean one does not love them or is not surrendered to them. I experience this myself all the time. I wonder if shastra has something to say to confirm this.advaitadashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11562361400492002096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-27811112969638796432009-08-05T14:56:12.779-04:002009-08-05T14:56:12.779-04:00I am honored that you still read my blog on occasi...I am honored that you still read my blog on occasion and I appreciate your favorable comment.Jagadananda Dashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05887720845815026518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-23716392218503659272009-08-05T00:35:05.542-04:002009-08-05T00:35:05.542-04:00Jagat, you know that I usually find your thought a...Jagat, you know that I usually find your thought and conduct objectionable to say the least, but sometimes you are definitely brilliant and this blog is one of your finest, especially the paragraph starting with <br /><br />"It is entirely wrong to think that one's spiritual realization will be exactly the same as anyone else's...." etc.advaitadashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11562361400492002096noreply@blogger.com