Jagat

Today's Facebook memories are more copious than most other days. There are reflections on Weber's charisma, thoughts on Vrindavan and Vrindavan Today, Thomas Merton and " The Monastery ." I am a bit surprised that none of this was previously on the blog. I was in Rishikesh when I wrote this as the book was in Swami Veda's library. FB Memories July 9.

Facebook memories from June 25:  A fairly heavy day with lots of comments: Many of the items are on the  blog.  The headline  article  is from Longfellow's poem that inspired Bhaktivinoda.  Another post from 2011 about a revised and educated faith that comes after a life of engaging with doubt.

Sun rising over canal between Rishikesh and Haridwar Yesterday was an unusually quiet day for FB memories. That is made up for today. There are a couple of political comments about Modi's win in 2018. Of course  political opinions are pretty unstable as new infor mation co mes up so I  may  or  may not be ready to defend any of the m . More on Vrindavan Today difficulties in 2018. A Vrindavan walkabout and a discussion of the Vrindavan being for "shallow thinkers", a quote apparently attributed to Bhaktivinoda Thakur, coming via Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. I find it very hard to believe. Prema Madhuri broke her hip and we are in the hospital awaiting attention. She may need an operation. It is Ekadasi, so there is something of an enforced vrata. We are getting a close up on socialized medicine in Canada. Patience required. FB Memories May 28. 2018 Actually where Vrindavan Today is concerned, I am getting a lot of love from the devotees. It somehow did not seem li...

Thank goodness today's post has something more edifying in it. The negative Vrindavan Today memories have been coming back from 2018 and they are here too. I would rather not remember that whole episode, but I am keeping to the discipline of cross-posting the memories being sent daily by Facebook. At the very least, I am finding it interesting to observe.  There is always something redeeming, however, and the post from last year is one such. I keep talking about Prīti Sandarbha, and the progress is slower than it should be. I am doing practically nothing else for the time being. I was rather surprised to see it had not been posted here before. And I added some material about Bhagavata Niwas, since there are more memories related to this place, which is just around the corner from Jiva and with which Babaji has been long connected due to his guru's having been intimately involved with the history of that locale. It has a powerful aura. (Memories from May 20.)

"Give me one Gaur Govinda Maharaj over any of these backbiters. For association, give me just one Fakir Mohan Das, one of the nicest sweetest, humblest and learned Vaishnavas I have ever met, likely one of the most advanced Gaudiya Vaishnavas in the whole state of Orissa, who has done tremendous service to Mahaprabhu by discovering and publishing many rare Orissan texts written by associates and followers of Mahaprabhu."  (Jagadananda Das, shared by Ashok Harichandana 2019) 2018 Unfortunately, our situation at Vrindavan Today has become a little more difficult due to the work of Alexander Shenkar, who has decided to be a thorn in our side for as long as the evil energy possesses him. https://www.facebook.com/vrindavantodayofficial/ At any rate, we humbly ask all our friends to like our new FB page and help us to circumvent the trouble he is causing. 2015 यदा नेच्छति पापानि यदा पुण्यानि वाञ्छति। ज्ञेयस्तदा मनुष्येण हृदि तस्य हरिः स्थितः॥ yadā necchati pāpāni yadā puṇ...

I thank God that entering Vrindavan is so arduous. Arduously pleasurable at every step. I thank God that Radha and Krishna's sweetness is infinite, and that it will take an infinity of lifetimes to relish it, but that even then I will still not be filled. And I thank God for Srila Rupa Goswami's insight into the Divine Couple. Jai Sri Radhe! May everyone see the sweet presence  of Radha and Krishna in all phenomena, in separation and union, relishing the rasa. (9 years ago)

Today was the conclusion of the third year of the Jiva Tirtha program. The audience was small as a number of the students had already trickled back to their homes elsewhere in the world before our final end-day ceremony. Swamini Radhika is also a widely known senior scholar, writer, poet and artist. She has been sharing her appreciation of the vernacular bhakti poets and shared her insights each week to a core group of dedicated listeners. Altogether there was a lot of mutual thanking going on. Babaji complimented the students: It is actually amazing that even this many students have been sufficiently inspired to come and spend six months at their own cost to hear the scriptures from Babaji and, in many cases, to learn Sanskrit. Babaji particularly noted how Manu had managed to convince his boss to have a six months leave every year and still be able to come back to his job in the spring. Many of the students offered testimonials to the transformative nature of hearing shastr...

Prema Mandir, now the number one attraction in Vrindavan. I wrote the following article at the request of Steve Rosen , the editor of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies , for an issue about tirthas, so I tried to distinguish Braj from other tirthas in India. I have written a lot about Vrindavan over the past decade and it was something of a task to extract the essence of my experience of Vrindavan and express it in the present moment. I will publish the article on this blog in three parts. Part I of this three part series. [Introduction, Places of Pilgrimage: Tirtha, Kshetra and Dham, Vaishnava criticisms of tīrtha-yātrā, Braj/Vrindavan is a dhāma] Part II of this three part series. [How a Gaudiya Vaishnava performs pilgrimage to the Dham, The eternal glory of residence in the Dham] Part III : Sattva-guṇa and Nirguṇa, Globalization and the Dham, Can a culture truly be translated? Introduction The town of Vrindavan, now a part of the municipality of Mathura-Vrindavan , ...

Memorial to Harivansh at Madan Ter This post came after a long hiatus -- as has often been the case with these Vṛndāvana-mahimāmṛta postings on VT. This one and those that followed were inspired by Premananda Baba [ here also ] after I went and heard one of his VMA classes at Madan Ter. I wrote in my introduction that these VMA commentaries "serve as my Vrindavan Today philosophy," which I have been developing as I actually live in Vrindavan. The idea is that there is a philosophy behind living in the Dham. You can read here and here , though some of this material is also being employed in these VMA commentaries. This makes for an interesting reflection as I prepare to return to Vrindavan in a couple of days after two months in Gauda Mandala Bhumi. Living in Vrindavan is not an easy matter or given to everyone. This verse follows on nicely from the previous ( 1.83 ). tad-akhila-bhagavat-svarūpa-rūpā- mṛta-rasato’py atimādhurī-dhurīṇam| kuvalaya-kamanīya-...

Originally posted on Vrindavan Today . Widows come to Vrindavan especially from Bengal. To help them live in the Dham is a service that will help your Braja-vasa sadhana. Previous 1.72 , "If you can't give up the world, then meditate on Vrindavan" introduces the subject that is continued in today's verse. vastuḥ koṭi-guṇaṁ śrutaṁ hi sukṛtaṁ vāso’nna-vāsādibhiḥ tīrthe vāsayituḥ svayaṁ hi tarati dvau tau sa yat tārayet | premānanda-rasātma-dhāmani pare vṛndāvana-vāsakas  tv  āścaryāṁ vṛṣabhānujā-priya-ratiṁ prāpnoty anāyāsataḥ || We have heard that one who serves those who live in a holy place by giving them housing, clothing and food has millions more pious activities to his credit than one who simply lives there. And one who helps others dwell in sacred Vrindavan, the abode that has the nectar bliss of pure love as its essence, easily attains the amazing feeling of love for the beloved of Vrishabhanu Raja’s daughter, for he not only crosses over himse...

Satyaraj Prabhu asked me to write about Vrindavan as a tirtha for the upcoming edition of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies. I have written so much over the years, you would think that I had some kind of clear idea of what I want to say. I have been spending my time looking over the old material and trying to reduce it all to around 5000 words and to make a coherent presentation. The problem is, as always, what do I want to say? What is my “big” realization of the moment? Or the inspiration that guides my understanding of the Dham? Well, first of all I think it is necessary to distinguish the tirtha from Dham. Tirtha is a place you visit, the Dham is a place you stay. I think that needs to be narrowed down a bit more. Dham includes tirtha, but tirtha does not include Dham. A tirtha is usually primarily about expiating sins, one's own or those of one's forefathers. Its primary goal is mukti, whereas the Dham is about bhakti and enhancing one's devotion to Krishna. Resid...

When Mr. Shenkar started his little anti-Vrindavan Today mission , in a rather grandiose fit of hubris and malevolence, possessed by the spirit of some other kind of self-righteousness, he decided to "out" Jagadananda by reprinting a 20-year old letter I had written to Nirmal Chandra and Bhaktimati Devi Dasi, both of whom I had known as devotee children when they were babies and I was just a new devotee in Toronto. To see their pain about the abuse expressed in such a public way brought out many reflections that had come to me as a result of my experiences in Iskcon and the various Iskcon Gurukulas I had been involved with for most of my time in the movement. This was also after five years of living in Nabadwip and spending another eight or nine years in university in Canada and London, so I had had plenty of time to reflect on these matters. The letter thus reflects my state of mind at the time, and it is quite true that the experience in Iskcon's Gurukulas had been ...