Re: Some Personal Thoughts
When we are tasked with something, we can either take up ownership of the assignment and give it our all to produce the best results possible, or do it just because circumstances require it, and not care about the outcome. Similarly, when Hinduism is being discussed, different people may have different reactions (based on their sense of ownership) to the things being said about it.....
____________________
daily deals, online shopping sites, hot deals, best deals
Re: Some Personal Thoughts
Namaste Believer ji,
Agreed. The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Sampradāya is beautiful and uniquely suited to modern times. It teaches that the purpose of our lives is love. It teaches that there are no social divisions among devotees and that all devotees must be permitted to enter the temple. It has had at least two female gurus in its remarkable history. It is probably the most welcoming and helpful tradition to potential adoptees. And it has several branches, including ISKCON, the Gauḍīya Maṭh of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, and International Pure Bhakti Yoga Society of Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was recognized as a divine incarnation in his lifetime, in accordance with the scriptures. I once came across a list of all of the scriptural passages that foretold his incarnation and his life. I was frankly blown away. It was huge.
As some of the HDF members like to point out, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy of Acintya-bhedābheda (Inconceivable Oneness and Difference) was a harmonization of all Vaiṣṇava philosophies. This is a great gift to all Vaiṣṇavas, pointing to the underlying unity of all Vaiṣṇava traditions.
praṇām
Re: Some Personal Thoughts
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Believer
I got an affirmative response about my interpretation of the said post. So, the Bhagwad Gita needs to be rewritten to make it valid for the current era.
yikes!
iti śivaṁ
Bhagwad Gita backed discussions
Namaste,
There are many debates/discussions/fights/arguments in the forum, sometimes civil and other times downright mean spirited. In each case the issue at hand is inconsequential and forgotten the next day. But our ego wants to win the debate, however trivial the topic might be. So, we reach into our back pocket and pull out a verse from the Bhagwad Gita or some other scripture to justify our position and to trump the person holding the opposing point of view. Did Krishnaji stand there in the middle of the Kaurav and Pandav armies to give us Bhagwad Gita, so that some day we may pull out a verse from it in support of something silly? Really? Was that His entire purpose, so that we could discuss trivia in this forum with His backing? How childish does that sound? And yet, we do it over and over again.
Next time you are in a discussion and have that insatiable urge to win, use your intellect and logic. Please leave the Bhagwad Gita and other scriptures out of debates on petty subjects. Krishanji did not give us this spiritual knowledge so that we may use it to support trivial matters and look smug. If you have neither the desired intellect nor the power of logic, then just fold up and withdraw from the conversation. Don't drag the sublime into the arena of mediocre. Leave your respect for the Bhagwad Gita and other scriptures intact.
Pranam.
Reading Between the Lines
Namaste,
Guru Nanak taught the concept of 'wund chchakkiya', which is sharing your meals with others less fortunate than you.
The ISKCON literature, according to some, seems to have declared, "The Russians are unaware that in the Śrimad-Bhāgavatam the socialist philosophy is most perfectly described. The Bhāgavatam instructs that whatever wealth exists - all natural resources (agricultural,mining, etc.) - is created by the ultimate creator, and therefore every living being has a right to take part of them."
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar declared Krishanji to be a communist for propagating the concept of sharing/giving.
In each of these instances, what hits me in the face is the concept of 'daana' or charity or 'giving to/sharing with the less fortunate ones'. That is one of the basic tenets of Hinduism and in fact of most major religions. Because of their limited knowledge of the English language, their improper use of words/expressions and their lack of desire to consult with English speaking devotees on the correct way to express their thoughts, many Gurus/Acharyas have fallen flat on their faces and written/said what sounds offensive to Westerners. The authors are less than polished to fully express themselves. Under the circumstances, what needs to be done is to READ BETWEEN THE LINES. Instead of hanging on each word, the concept being brought out needs to be understood. In America the words 'liberal', 'socialist' and 'communist' are offensive terms and people are conditioned to take them so. Cloaking charity with those terms creates negative emotions. In India, they can say anything they want, but when they cater to the American audience, the usage of certain hot button words creates negative images. So, the adoptees can either choose to grasp the gist of the message or move on to another sampradaye that will have its own quirks; which will result in a life long mission to shop for the one perfect non-existent sampradaye. Many a times we examine everything with our limited knowledge/intelligence and everything comes up short for one reason or another. The key is to not look at things at a superficial/peripheral level but to go deeper beyond the author's words, into his head and into the real meaning of the scriptural verses. 'Communication gap adjusters' can be helpful, but they are not always around. :)
Similar thing happened when Yesudas recently muttered some words. Overnight the educated ladies in India and in the forum turned into Faministas :) and men started talking about provocation/seduction. Instead of having a discussion to resolve the basic issues of controlling male sexuality and females not flaunting their curves; the dialog gravitated to a discussion of the sub-text of the right of females to wear jeans ( http://hindudharmaforums.com/showthr...estern-clothes ). What a waste of time!
Pranam.
PS If you are still wound up about what some guru said, watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1tiXO4HtKE and chill!
-