Re: Srila Bhaktisiddhanta on the importance of chanting Gauraanga

Dear devotees,

           Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krishna! Pranams!

           Good question. You see, the acharyas are more powerful than what we imagine -- time and time again I have repeatedly witnessed this for myself. That is also why preaching requires that much spiritual qualification and is not so simple. There are many complicated issues that you will see in real life that you won't find in a book. Some cases are so tricky that unless you actually know what people's inner thoughts are, you can never really know for sure.

            When an acharya preaches, it is never done alone. The Lord is always with his devotees. While someone can hide one's cheating from people like us or the society, no one can fool the Lord. The Lord knows fully well who is a cheater and who is not, and since His devotees are always with Him, they too know this. Externally one may look like some great Vaishnava, but what is within one's heart is really what matters. I do not know how far anyone may believe this, but logic alone can't answer trick questions regarding other people's hearts. But from my experience I can tell you, no one can fool a real devotee. One who knows real bhakti automatically knows what's fake too. That is why in spirituality, we HAVE to believe the true guru, even if it doesn't fit in with our level of experience or qualification.

          Either I can choose admit my limitations, trust the Lord, believe the scriptures and believe the guru, or else I can question everything and try to figure out everything on my own.

           The scriptures very clearly ask us to see the spiritual master as not different from the Lord, for some very good reasons. It is the Lord who speaks through the mouth of the guru, so it has to be given the importance it is due.

            Regarding proper worship, the Lord has given all the instructions on how one must be worshipped and how one must not. They are found in all the scriptures. No one can just say, "I'll do this my way..." and expect the Lord to be pleased. Unfortunately those who have preached those ideas have done great harm to real devotion over the years.

            So we accept any method of worship that is accepted by the Lord. If the Lord is happy with that type of worship, so are we. That is the criteria. Yes if someone thinks of Radha Krishna and chants their names, it is very good.  But when someone starts doing things like coming up with all the imaginations like what the Sahajiyas, mayavadis and others do...I am sorry, but anyone who claims oneself to be the Lord's follower has to stand up and speak the truth and say, "This is wrong and it is against what the Lord said."  Failure to follow the Lord's instructions can result in big offenses being committed against His devotees. It is not simply that the Lord has told us the right way to do things.

           So next you may choose to ask me, "Alright Mr. Smarts. How do YOU know that? Can you read minds and hearts?" The answer is I am NOT qualified, and I certainly have ZERO power to read what people think. I wouldn't be able to identify who's pure or not. But I prayed to Lord Nitaai to give me a real guru, and eventually He not only led me to one, but also gave me the eyes to recognise him too. I wasn't in proper company before I came here, but now I know, thanks to the devotees.

         That is where faith is required. And in my experience this is always the hardest part in dealing with people who have some interest in spirituality. Either one believes everyone is right or one believes everyone is wrong.  Both of them are not correct.  If you really want to know if the Lord approves of what some people do, just open your heart to Him and ask. Sooner or later an answer is bound to come. A sincere plea to the Lord always gets an answer. I got mine. And from my experience I've learned a bit about who's genuine and who's not. And if someday the Lord is pleased with whatever qualification I've got, I am sure He'll show me more light through the fog. Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna!

Daaso'smi,
Speaking from my personal experiences,
Srinath

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Re: Srila Bhaktisiddhanta on the importance of chanting Gauraanga

So what I hear you saying is that it is ok to use the descriptions of Radha and Krsna's (and Nityananda and Gauranga's) pastimes in our meditation to try our best to see them, but we shouldn't try to see how we will be participating in those pastimes once we attain our spiritual identity? To do so would be premature. That makes sense, because if we try to artificially imagine ourselves doing something, we might be mistaken.

Dear Neil, you have understood perfectly. Thank you so much. In addition, we have to remember one thing. We should never forget or replace the transcendental sound of the Holy Names in favor of only meditation on the Pastimes since meditation alone is for Satya Yuga not for Kali Yuga. All such meditation or visualization should be accompanied with the transcendental sound of Nityaananda, Gauraanga, and, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Raama Hare Raama Raama Raama Hare Hare, to make if actually real and effective.

Daaso'smi, BR Sadhu Swami Gaurangapada.

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Re: Srila Bhaktisiddhanta on the importance of chanting Gauraanga

Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna!

Dear Swami Gaurangapada

Thank you. This clarifies things for me.

"Unless we first realize the Names, Forms, Qualities, Pastimes and Associates of Shri Shri Radha Krishna during our chanting, we cannot approach our own svarupa or spiritual form in those Pastimes. So artificially imagining it does not makes sense. Though, one can certainly visualize the Names, Forms, Qualities, Pastimes and Associates of the Lord in our chanting meditation according to our qualification."

So what I hear you saying is that it is ok to use the descriptions of Radha and Krsna's (and Nityananda and Gauranga's) pastimes in our meditation to try our best to see them, but we shouldn't try to see how we will be participating in those pastimes once we attain our spiritual identity? To do so would be premature. That makes sense, because if we try to artificially imagine ourselves doing something, we might be mistaken.

I guess I am just anxious to be in Divine Navadwip and Divine Vrindavan. I really don't like the material world and wish I could go to the spiritual world sooner rather than later!

Thank you for the  clarification!

- Neil in LA

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Re: Srila Bhaktisiddhanta on the importance of chanting Gauraanga

practice of giving manjari svarupa and a manjari name at the time of initiation. From the very beginning, their initiates would claim to have understood their position as a manjari (intimate gopi assistant of Srimati Radharani). Sarasvati Thakura did not approve of such a process and would say, �FIRST CHANT THE NAME OF GAURANGA".

Dear Neil, Nityananda!! Gauranga!! Hare Krishna!! Here Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada is not objecting or preventing anyone to become a devotee of Shri Shri Radha Krishna. He is just not approving the process of "siddha pranali" or "manjari diksha" for his own followers since this is not something to be attained by imagination but by purification and realization. This "process" of the Guru telling the manjari svarupa or name to the normal disciples at the normal process of f initiation is not authorized or explained in any scriptures or by any Acharyas.

The Guru imparts the Holy Names to the disciple and the Names in turn  impart the spiritual svarupa and the eleven characteristics of our spiritual body at the time when the disciple becomes qualified to receive it i.e. when the disciple attains rasa, rati and sthayi bhava. The Guru gives it in the form of the seed in the Name and leaves it to Naama Prabhu to reveal this at the correct time when the disciple becomes advanced and qualified. At that time, the disciple can approach the Guru and confirm these revelations of one's siddha svarupa.

Since the Guru imparts Naama Initiation to disciples who are on different levels of Bhakti, it will be an improper transgression for the Guru to tell all of these disciples to start imagining their svarupa after imagination. That would mean that the Guru does not have faith that the Naama will reveal the svarupa to the disciple at the right time when the disciple is qualified. We cannot force our way into the pastimes of Shri Shri Radha Krishna simply by imagination. It is only possible by adequate  purification via the causeless mercy of Shri Shri Guru and Gauranga.

If the Guru tells a disciple, who has anarthas or misgivings, to think about his or her svarupa, then it may have an opposite effect because the disciple is trying to attain it without proper purification and qualification. dusta phala karibe arjana. Unless we first realize the Names, Forms, Qualities, Pastimes and Associates of Shri Shri Radha Krishna during our chanting, we cannot approach our svarupa or spiritual form in those Pastimes. So artificially imagining it does not makes sense. Though, one can certainly visualize the Names, Forms, Qualities, Pastimes and Associates in our chanting meditation according to our qualification.

And to do so, our Acharyas state that one requires to first approach and realize the more merciful Holy Names, Forms, Qualities, Pastimes and Associates of Shri Shri Nityaananda Gauraanga. That said, sometimes an Acharya can reveal the svarupa to one's disciple along with imparting the Naama, if he find that the disciple is sufficiently advanced to practice Bhajana on that level. But certainly, this should never be done as a general practice to attract followers, otherwise it may have an opposite effect i.e. to take us away from the Pastimes of Shri Shri Radha Krishna due to the offense of approaching it without proper qualification and patience. That is why Shrila Sarasvati Prabhupada did not approve of this method for the common people as it totally negates or nullifies the basic practice and importance of practicing vaidhi bhakti in order to progress to the higher stage.

You can further read two articles: Qualification to Hear Radha Krishna Lila and Prakrita Rasa Shata Dushani, to understand the full depth of this matter. I hope this helps.

Daaso'smi, BR Sadhu Swami Gaurangapada.

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Re: Srila Bhaktisiddhanta on the importance of chanting Gauraanga

Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna!

Please forgive me if I am being disrespectful, but  this post  brings up a question  for me.

How can we make a blanket statement and say that people who worship Radha but do not follow our line exactly are worshipping falsely?

Doesn't that presuppose that we know everyone else's innermost heart?

How can we say another person's worship of Radha is false?

To me, anyone who worships Radha is a friend. Granted, I might not want to follow their method of worship, but I wouldn't expect them to follow my method of worship either.

I can't expect that Gauranga would say that anyone who worships Radha is "false."  I think that Gauranga would be extremely happy if anyone thought of Radha and Krsna at all. Isn't that the reason Gauranga came here? To get all people to think about Radha and Krsna and chant their names?

Am I misunderstanding something you are saying?

- Neil in LA

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