Post by Ldd on Mar 22, 2021 10:57:52 GMT -6
Sometimes when something is not clear in sastra, our guru has not spoken about it or there is no commentary we have to use Nyaya justice, one of six ways of knowing something.
Pratyaksha is what we can perceive, this is limited, we cannot see beyond the clouds. Anuman (we can infer) is good. Upama (comparison) is great. And finally Sabda (Krishna’s words.) Nyaya is a scientific process of research different from gut feeling. It is really knowledge that frees us from illusion ultimately, not sentiment and guessing.
If you meet another person who has done Nyaya on a topic and concluded something different from you what do you do, crush him? No, you hear and keep learning, for it is an evolving knowledge. You can also tolerate that view and let it sit or go away. There will be differences as faculties are imperfect, but really striving for the correct truth is the way to come to god (truth) finally.
The final is sastra. But how many people understand it? Not a lot. You have to learn the styles and hear from guru, serve the guru : Gita 4: 34, “Enquire and render service.” Still the same, hasn’t changed.
One might be a dead Christmas tree, shining with lights from outside source but no life by itself. This is the same as a person spouting knowledge with no guru seva. It has no life. So we have to serve, do the right thing, don’t be a dead blinking Christmas tree.
Now people do researching I know, and there is a lot of stuff on internet. But don’t be fooled by bright lights again, use sastra to make sense of things.
There is something called prayers, arrogant people do not believe in it. However it’s good to talk to Ishwara, dwelling within in your own in English, not other people’s prayers from books. Chanting one or sixty four rounds is another way, but do it all honestly.
The mind must be lit up too, not just the soul. When you speak something always think, “I could be wrong,” that way humility will come. Challenge what you believed too, be open to learn, we talked about knowledge evolving. The habit of destroying others is violence and you cannot learn like this. Sometimes you need to, but not always.
So we said the internet is full of stuff, I say propaganda. We see people collecting thousands of disciples, but we must recollect Chaitanya said only few disciples, some saints have none. So what could be the program of these people if they actually possess Krishna the self-fulfilling truth? Why so many disciples? For a project of course, but that is not suppose to be the reason for initiating people “en masse.” The reason should be to uplift an honest soul. Jagat gurus and World Acharyas may lead you to the wrong place – be careful. Of course there are souls waiting for these ‘acharyas’ to come and they must, but it is not for serious people.
To end I think a Gaudiya Vaishnava is not suppose to look like an idiot, or say things that doesn’t make sense, so it’s fine to come up with something (using logic) to explain the unexplicable, admitting to yourself that you may be wrong. This is Nyaya.