Re: Diary of chanting aspirant

Dear Damodara Svarupa dasa, Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna! Jaya Shri Guru Parampara! Pranams!

Yes, that is what it is. This is a friendly, open yet honest discussion, not at all meant to offend or whatsoever.

Thanks so much for kind understanding.

While looking through the glasses of my Christian background, I�m trying to understand what You�re saying and why You�re stating things. And these so-called differences (between our cultures) are not always easy to comprehend.

I can fully understand. Differences in cultures and language do take a lot of effort on our part to reach to the truth. Christianity in it's original pure form is quite similar to the pure Vaishnava philosophy. Presently there are so many branches, different philosophies, paths etc. under the broad umbrella of Christianity which may be quite different to Christianity in it's original devotional form as taught by Jesus, which is what makes it more difficult. Especially if the impersonal or formless philosophy seeps in then it becomes quite different from the pure devotional path. I have not studied all the different paths or philosophies in Christianity to actually discuss them.

There�s been a lot of writing on the live of St Benedictus. And he had lots of �devils� to deal with.  Thanks to the vivid hagiography by Pope Gregorius, we learn a lot on how St Benedictus overcame his �devils�, even his mundane �devils�. This teaching by example is what I�m looking for. It shows the process how a man gradually becomes a pure devotee and by the Grace of God becomes a saint.

There is a difference in the biographies of two different kinds of saints. There are nitya-baddha souls who slowly elevate themselves to an advanced position. They have to struggle and attain success. They are quite glorious because they accomplish an almost impossible task of overcoming Maya by the mercy of the Lord. There are nitya-siddhas who directly descend from the spiritual world (associates of the Lord). In their case, there may or may not be struggles in their lives. And if there are struggles they are different than in the first case. They are deliberately orchestrated in their lives by the Lord Himself to glorify them further in this world. The nitya-siddhas never have to struggle actually because Maya cannot even come close to them as they are already perfected souls. Their lives may look like a struggle but it is not. They never come under illusion or Maya's influence nor do they have to internally struggle with any 'devils'. Thus, their biographies have to be written in an even more careful and very very respectful manner so as not to spread wrong information about them or make them look like nitya-baddhas. Thanks again. I am thankful you are kindly trying so sincerely to understand this discussion inspite of the cultural and language differences.

Daaso'smi, Swami Gaurangapada.

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