This is head on collision -- from Tripurari Swami
Apr 29, 2015 21:29:48 GMT -6
Nityānanda dāsa likes this
Post by Nitaidas on Apr 29, 2015 21:29:48 GMT -6
Let me clarify some of my remarks. I don't really think that Tripurari is a buffoon. He would only be a buffoon if he belonged to the Caitanya tradition and made such claims. I think the best way to regard people like Tripurari and other IGMers who present teachings and claims that would be considered apasiddhanta in Caitanya Vaisnavism is to think of them as belonging to another tradition altogether. In fact, this is the case. Since Bhaktisiddhanta never offered himself to Krsna through initiation by a guru in our tradition, he really doesn't belong to our tradition. He is the founder of a new religion and a new tradition. He can teach what he wants and for this new tradition it is not apasiddhanta. It is for them siddhanta. So be it. Who am I to say whether it is right or wrong? For our tradition, those of us who have received initiation into one of the genuine lines or pranalis coming from Mahaprabhu or his close companions, it doesn't really matter what they teach or do not teach. Our business is trying to understand what our tradition teaches and how best to incorporate those teachings into our lives. We have no business bothering with what they believe or do not believe. It doesn't matter to us at all. Why should it?
I suggest that we refer to IGM as Bhaktisiddhantism to distinguish it from our tradition, traditional Caitanya Vaisnavism (I prefer Caitanya Vaisnavism to Gaudiya Vaisnavism because the latter makes the tradition seem parochial, a Bengali affair. In fact, it is an pan-Indian tradition and now a pan-World tradition.) Religions spring up everyday almost. Look at religions like Mormonism or Christian Science or Scientology and so forth. BSism is just another of those. It should not concern us in the least. Doe it matter that they take our texts as their holy texts? Why should it? The texts are there for everybody. Their interpretations will differ from ours. We need only concern ourselves with our own understandings of the fundamental texts of our tradition. And can we say for certain that Krsna's grace will only be showered on the members of our tradition and not on theirs? Not really. How can we claim to know what Krsna and Radhika do or don't do. If they want to shower their grace on another tradition, who am I to say they can't. We are the servants not the masters. So there is no reason for us to be upset or uptight about anything they say or teach. It is theirs not ours. Let us concern ourselves with learning and putting into practice our own tradition's teachings as we find them in not only the classic works of the Goswamis, but also in our modern interpreters of the tradition, people such Kanupriya Goswami, Shishir Kumar Ghosh, Manindranath Guha, Pranagopala Goswami, Rasikamohan, Vipinavihari Goswami, and so on and so forth. We have a rich tradition, a vast literature, and certainly no need for anything from the new faith of BSism.
I suggest that we refer to IGM as Bhaktisiddhantism to distinguish it from our tradition, traditional Caitanya Vaisnavism (I prefer Caitanya Vaisnavism to Gaudiya Vaisnavism because the latter makes the tradition seem parochial, a Bengali affair. In fact, it is an pan-Indian tradition and now a pan-World tradition.) Religions spring up everyday almost. Look at religions like Mormonism or Christian Science or Scientology and so forth. BSism is just another of those. It should not concern us in the least. Doe it matter that they take our texts as their holy texts? Why should it? The texts are there for everybody. Their interpretations will differ from ours. We need only concern ourselves with our own understandings of the fundamental texts of our tradition. And can we say for certain that Krsna's grace will only be showered on the members of our tradition and not on theirs? Not really. How can we claim to know what Krsna and Radhika do or don't do. If they want to shower their grace on another tradition, who am I to say they can't. We are the servants not the masters. So there is no reason for us to be upset or uptight about anything they say or teach. It is theirs not ours. Let us concern ourselves with learning and putting into practice our own tradition's teachings as we find them in not only the classic works of the Goswamis, but also in our modern interpreters of the tradition, people such Kanupriya Goswami, Shishir Kumar Ghosh, Manindranath Guha, Pranagopala Goswami, Rasikamohan, Vipinavihari Goswami, and so on and so forth. We have a rich tradition, a vast literature, and certainly no need for anything from the new faith of BSism.