Pariprashnena — Q&A Archive

One is Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Swami (formerly Mahamantra Prabhu, the only swami in ISKCON with birth defects that I know) from Vrindavana (www.bvmadhavaswami.com). He is quoted on Vedas site.

Another is Bhakti-vedanta Madhava Swami (siksa-disciple of Srila Narayana Maharaja, formerly his personal servant Navinkrishna, bengali looking obviously).

Here are the photos
http://www.caitanya.org/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/rathayatra/BV%20Madhava%20Maharaja%20Speaks%20at%20the%20Sannyasa%20Initiation.jpg (Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Swami )

http://www.hari-katha.org/image/bv_madhava_mj.jpg ( Bhakti-vedanta Madhava Swami).

BG study guide seems to be by Bhaktivaidurya Madhava Swami, formerly Rohini Kumar Swami, who left ISKCON.

What are you worried about Baker?

[quote][cite] mano54:[/cite]What are you worried about Baker?[/quote]

I am worried that I am studying the Bhagavad-gita with a possibly misleading or problematic study guide.[br]
From the study guides that I found at Vedas site, this one seemed the most useful, as it is organized by topics with a lot of questions for introspection, of what seems like manageable size.

Rays of the Harmonist is published by the followers of Srila Narayana Maharaj-Madhava Maharaj is his siksa disciple.

I find the best study guide are the commentaries of Srila Prabhupada and (after you read Prabhupada) previous acaryas - Banu Maharaja published some and some are available online at bhagavad-gita.org site. Of course you can use any guide, but really the best way to learn sastra is by reading it with the commentaries by acaryas, first read a chapter of translations and then read the commentaries.

You can also check the Gita lectures by Srila Prabhupada. They expand the commentaries and add a hole new category of significances. There are about 30 hours of lectures just for the first chapter!
http://www.prabhupadavani.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=531&Itemid=72

Please do not mean that I suggest that none of Srila Prabhupadas disciples are qualified to present this. Probably the best audio collection for study is http://www.vihe.org/audio.htm

[quote][cite] ccd:[/cite]I find the best study guide are the commentaries of Srila Prabhupada and (after you read Prabhupada) previous acaryas - Banu Maharaja published some and some are available online at bhagavad-gita.org site. Of course you can use any guide, but really the best way to learn sastra is by reading it with the commentaries by acaryas, first read a chapter of translations and then read the commentaries.[/quote]

Now that I think of it, my biggest problem actually seems to be the Why - why study scriptures, why chant, why keep the regulative principles, why ... why anything ...[br]
[br]I just cant think of a satisfactory answer, or an answer that would really matter to me.[br][br]

Didnt we discuss it before?

I apologize, we probably have. I have recently found myself stuck in ways I have never been before. Nothing seems to work anymore.

After a lengthy hiatus, I have gone back to college work to complete my course in literature and language. I am finding myself stupefied whenever I go to classes or study.
I dont know who is crazy - I, them, both of us ...
I mean, there are all these professors with PhDs whose exams I need to pass - so obviously, I have to take them seriously. But at the same time, things that are being said in lectures and in textbooks ...

For example, we are working on a novel from the early 1900s that is set in a Catholic hospital for terminally ill girls. The girls believe in Jesus and salvation, and there are many scenes of praying, discussing Jesus and so on. The textbook says that those girls have "turned to the irrational". And more such things in every paragraph.
And then the standard tirades about humanism, freedom, liberalism, self-expression and so on.

One thing is to dismiss these books, their authors and college professors as "karmis" or "mundane" or put them in the category described by BG 7.15, when one is talking about them from some safe distance, not being obligated to pass exams in the topics they teach.
Something else is to be faced with them, on a daily basis, under serious obligations.

I am having great difficulty keeping up with the lectures. In some of them, we read books and then discuss them at class. I have noticed how a lot of what the books talk about goes right past me, I seem to be unable to relate to much of the things that the book characters are thinking and doing, nor to the official reception of those books.
For example, they seem to talk with great passion and urgency about liberation from burgeois shackles, or they condemn the war, or they talk about the depths of personal creativity, about romance - and I dont feel moved by it, other than by the concern how I am going to write the exam essay.
I spend enormous amounts of time and effort trying to concoct a what seems like a tolerable interepretation of the text.

I am really experiencing a complete crisis here.

This is the whole idea of modernist education, to brainwash everyone with the modernist paradigm. Thats typical for Kali yuga. Read SB 12.2-3.
One can either endure it, get a degree and live a decent material life with some devotional service (laymans way) or one can distance from all this, ideally moving to a country, and try to live as a fulltime devotee (monks way).

Seems that you dont fit in modernist university. Its rather unusual that you cant relate to those books. Do you know about your previous life? I wouldnt be surprised if you were a Buddhist monk in Asia...

I have actually written to a swami about this. He said I should do my college work for Krishna.
I do not know what that means, or how to do that. I do not have the kind of faith or philosophical prowess to be able to productively deal with what I have to study at college and to devote it all in the service of Krishna somehow. - Although I suppose that such could actually be done, by someone expert in the faith and philosophy.
Literature, especially the modern one, brings up a vast number of topics, especially in the fields of the meaning of life, human nature, human action. I imagine that someone who is able to handle them all would be really advanced.

Years ago, when the only theism I knew was the Catholic one, I wanted to become a nun - I appreicated the austere life and the devotion to the Highest. But I was quite sure I would not pass the admission interview as I could not accept all of the Catholic theology. When I was engaged in Buddhism, I also was looking to ordain someday.
I dont think I have the faith or the skills to qualify to be accepted to a temple, nor do I have the means to live by myself a hermits life. So I suppose worldly work is my only option.

As for my previous life - given my fancy for climbing trees and eating fruit, I am sure I was a monkey. Not sure how previous that life is, though ...

Baker:Now that I think of it, my biggest problem actually seems to be the Why - why study scriptures, why chant, why keep the regulative principles, why ... why anything ...

These why, why, why are not answerable. Just do them for the sheer joy of doing them.

[quote][cite] Skanda:[/cite]These why, why, why are not answerable. Just do them for the sheer joy of doing them.[/quote]

I do not feel any joy doing them.

Do you feel joy with anything? Do it thinking of Krishna, or chanting and that will spiritualize your life, and in time the Holy Name will adjust everything.

Do you feel joy with anything? Do it thinking of Krishna, or chanting and that will spiritualize your life, and in time the Holy Name will adjust everything.

No, I dont feel joy in anything.

As for thinking of Krishna - this is tough. I keep returning to my same old problem - Who is the right God: Krishna or Jehowah? I hope it is Krishna, but I am afraid it is Jehowah. Nothing seems to work against this fear.
No matter what I do, it feels wrong.

Baker: my kids are homeschoolers. I gave up the idea that the established society can give us anything. They are learning what they are passionate about and that surely will give them a wholesome life. "What are you going to be in society" dos not scare me or my kids anymore as 21 century is changing the very paradigms that they still teach at schools.

> No, I dont feel joy in anything.....I keep returning to my same old problem.....Nothing seems to work against this fear. No matter what I do, it feels wrong.

....fear, doubt and weak-heartedness forcing one to inaction and stagnancy. Our constant companions.

Krishna had some wise words to say to a dear friend of His who was in the same predicament, gripped by fear, could not see joy anywhere, was unsure what to do and just wanted to throw it all away and put his head in the sand. Will you stand and fight or will you be the Arjuna who ran to the cave? If you run, you will always hang your head in shame. But if you fight you will be glorious, even if you lose.

Baker, I guess you missed our Connections section (esp. Judaism, Egypt). Bhaktiananda M. specifically linked YHVH, Amon-Ra (some of His forms are leonine, see links) and lion-headed Apademak.

http://www.touregypt.net/amen.htm
http://www.touregypt.net/amenra.htm

And I dont know why to be afraid of YHVH since theres a bhakti movement in Judaism (Chasidim) who glorify Him as joyfully as we glorify Sri Nrsimha.

I do not see how any of that matters?

I could also formulate my dilemma like this:
If I cannot refute something, may I still act in a way that is actually against it? And if I do act that way, how can I have any peace or certainty that I am not wrong?
Does the fact that I find something morally repugnant or absurd, justify me not to act on it and free me of whatever negative consequences my actions may have?
How can I act in line with what I see fit, without fearing that whatever peace, justification or happiness I may feel is actually just a profound delusion?
How can I be sure that I will not burn in hell for all eternity if I choose the Vaisnava path?
How can I be sure that God indeed isnt like what the fire and brimstone Christians say?

Vaisnava philosophy can provide many rational, reasonable, common sense answers and explanations. But all of them are nothing when faced with a fire and brimstone Christian. They are nothing when faced with the possibility of something absurd or morally repugnant. Perhaps God actually is a petty tyrant. Perhaps the Vedas are man made and misleading. Perhaps all the devotees are profoundly in illusion. Perhaps we are to God no different than pots are to a pot maker - disposable items. Perhaps it indeed is love that God tortures some of His children for all eternity with no chance of redemption. Perhaps the true nature of some living entities is that they are eternally opposed to God and will suffer for ever and ever - unless they do that which they find impossible.

I do not see how I can decide about any of these things. Yet I will be the one to bear the consequences.

Baker --- I had a partner in business once .. and the business we were involved in was a little risky and dangerous. He had a good saying which goes like this:

If youre going to do it, dont worry. If youre going to worry, dont do it.

Seems to me that the whole dilemma of whether Christianity is the right path or is Vaisnavism the right path causes you great distress and uncertainty. Maybe its better to forget the whole thing. Perhaps you have other issues you need to deal with first and when you feel better about yourself and arent so fearful and filled with doubts then come back to seeking your path to enlightenment.

Baker, these questions were already answered here. If you cant analyze equally the Christian teachings side by side with Vaishnava teachings, then you wont understand how theyre similar/different/related. Irrationally and blindly accepting one as default while trying to analyze the other (with lack of knowledge as seen from perhaps this, perhaps that) wont work.

[quote][cite] portnoy:[/cite]Baker --- I had a partner in business once .. and the business we were involved in was a little risky and dangerous. He had a good saying which goes like this:

If youre going to do it, dont worry. If youre going to worry, dont do it.

Seems to me that the whole dilemma of whether Christianity is the right path or is Vaisnavism the right path causes you great distress and uncertainty. Maybe its better to forget the whole thing. Perhaps you have other issues you need to deal with first and when you feel better about yourself and arent so fearful and filled with doubts then come back to seeking your path to enlightenment.[/quote]

I appreciate your concern. I have several times already forced myself to disengage with my search for God, forcefully put it on hold, for weeks or months. But as it turns out, the only thing worse than looking for God, is not looking for God. As painful, bewildering and tedious as it may be.

[quote][cite] VEDA:[/cite]Irrationally and blindly accepting one as default while trying to analyze the other (with lack of knowledge as seen from perhaps this, perhaps that) wont work.[/quote]

You are right, I am guilty of such irrationality and blindness. I have been wanting to "just get rid of my Christian problem," willing to do all kinds of things, as long as they seemed to promise a quick solution. Yet this is not an appropriate devotional mood, so its no wonder I havent been successful.

>How can I be sure that I will not burn in hell for all eternity if I choose the Vaisnava path?

Choose the Vaisnava path and if hell happens choose the indian hell not the regular hell.

Small Joke:

A man dies and is met by Saint Peter at the Gate. '93Before you can get in you must spend six months in hell. You have a choice: either the regular hell or the Indian hell.'94 '93What is the difference?'94 asked the man. '93In the regular hell,'94 explained Saint Peter, '93they tie you to a stake, pour gasoline over you, strike the match, and you burn for twelve hours and then you rest for twelve hours.'94 '93And the Indian hell?'94 '93They tie you to a stake, pour gasoline over you, set you on fire and you burn for twelve
hours and then rest for twelve hours.'94 '93But I don'92t see the difference,'94 said the man. '93If I were you,'94 advised Saint Peter, '93I would take the Indian hell -- somebody usually forgets the matches or the gasoline...'94

Real religion is one which makes you fearless not fearful.