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Post by kingcobra on Jul 13, 2007 21:14:54 GMT -6
Greetings everyone. Please take a minute or two to let everyone know who you are and what attracted you to this forum. If you don't want to give your real name, that's OK. There are not any rules about that.
I have known Nitai Das for many years and he invited me to participate here. I am not actually a cobra, but that is the persona I wish to project here. I was, however, born in the year of the snake.
I have had brushes with CV, although I never really spent very much time in the CV community. I wish I had though, because I found it all to be so fascinating and inspiring (and intense). I lived in India for 19 months, and I suffered many health problems while there. The climate and air pollution are just too hostile for me to live there comfortably. I don't think I'll ever go back there to visit until they stop burning all of that wood. Maybe I'll go to Braj when I'm on my deathbed, if I get the chance - so that I can depart this world from that favorable launching pad.
As far as my position on various issues, well I think you have a pretty good idea about that, if you have been reading my posts here.
Enough about me. Let's hear about you!
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Post by kingcobra on Jul 25, 2007 5:58:56 GMT -6
OK then. Thanks for sharing.
More about me...
My off screen name is Meenoketon Raamdaash, and I think just about everyone posting here has communicated with me before either by email or phone or face to face. My day job is the owner of an IT consulting firm, although I am trying to break into money management, hopefully either as an analyst for my own or someone else's hedge fund. I am also a published author, commodity trading advisor, composer, flautist, pianist, guitarist, painter, frustrated astronaut and self-styled satyrist. I have studied Sanskrit and Medieval Bengali informally and formally at the University of Chicago. I can speak broken Bengali, Hindi, Oriya, Spanish, German, French and Italian. I still remember a few key phrases from my college Russian class, but lost most of that knowledge through non-usage.
Some of my other on-screen personas have included a raving lunatic by the name of Pagal Baba and an opportunistic tabloid journalist who goes by the acronym NEHKE.
I disagree with Nitai that this board is a disappointment. It is not practical for all of us to keep in touch by phone these days. I for one, find this board not only a creative outlet, but a place to come to at the end of the day and relax in the shade and shoot the breeze with some like-minded folks.
I think I still have a tinge of emotional baggage from my stint as a Sanskrit editor for BBT and gurukula instructor in LA, but I really don't think the experience actually scarred me in any way. It just took some time to rethink CV after spending time in the CV community. What I learend about CV from IGM was only part of the story, and I really believe that there were distortions of the truth that went on at GM. I believe that Bhaktivinode was sincere and that Lalita Prasad was the son that understood his father better. I am not out to disparage Bhaktisiddhanta, no matter what he said and did. I feel indebted to him for coming out with the Brahma-samhita in English, as that text was a major inspiration to me prior to reading the BP, CC and NOD translations.
My online satire has only one real purpose: To provide a form of entertainment that I think can also be therapeutic.
As far as writing serious commentary on BP, I wish I had more time to devote to such a project. I have a 10th Canto with all of the major commentaries sitting on my shelf, but one volume is missing because Pradyumna has it. I would really like to read through all of the prior commentaries first with Nitai's assistance before I write more of my own commentary.
I will write more here later, but now I have to run. Ciao!
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Post by Nitaidas on Aug 23, 2007 14:11:21 GMT -6
Humm. We seem to be getting a lot of anonymous guests dropping their pearls among us. Should we make them log in and identify themselves in some way? Maybe it is okay this way, though. What do our registered members think?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2007 18:05:34 GMT -6
Humm. We seem to be getting a lot of anonymous guests dropping their pearls among us. Should we make them log in and identify themselves in some way? Maybe it is okay this way, though. What do our registered members think? I would suggest to wait and let the community grow first and then the bigger picture will simply self manifest as an organic factor. As far as my experience in other forums, in one way or the other, many people prefer to keep anonymous and I think that is OK. I think people should first feel comfortable about expressing themselves any way they want. However, I agree that it is always nice to get a feedback, suggestions, ideas, critics, on the development of a virtual-community. After saying that --So far CV has been a good choice for those who are looking for dispassionate conversations and away from annoying fundamentalist ideas. my 2 cents.
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Post by subaldas on Aug 23, 2007 19:41:23 GMT -6
I am Steve Bohlert / Subal Das Goswami, disciple of Lalita Prasad Thakur (Babaji) who is the son and disciple of Bhaktivinode Thakur. I carry on their spiritual lineage (siddha pranali) and natural devotional style (raganuga bhakti) in a post-modern way (adhunika-vad). I am an essence seeker (saragrahi) who sees things from a holistic, universalist theological position. Babaji told me to preach in the West. Bhaktivinode saw the transmission of his teachings to the West as an evolutionary spiritual development. He wanted an indigenous Western devotion to Radha and Krishna to develop. That is my mission
I was first initiated by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in 1967 and served as one of his leading disciples for eight years. He introduced me to these devotional practices and set me on a course that has continued for forty years. He gave me the name Subal Das Goswami.
In the early 1970s, I lived in India for three years as a renunciate, and studied with Dr. O.B.L. Kapoor and Lalita Prasad Thakur, who initiated me into the line of Srimati Jahnava Thakurani in 1974.
I resumed my American beat/hippie lifestyle in December, 1974, got involved with the New Age Movement, Sufism, Taoism, Zen, etc. while continuing my devotion to Radha Krishna internally. Then, I got involved with the United Church of Christ so much so that I went to seminary, got ordained and served as a Midwest church pastor for eleven years, all the while maintaining an inner devotion to Radha Krishna from the perspective that Love is the eternal religion of all and just manifested differently through Jesus and Chaitanya.
Thus, I was very much re-Americanized, and my seminary education gave me new intellectual tools with which to re-examine the writings of Sri Chaitanya’s followers and the beliefs I formerly held. I find it is the most attractive theological system available. However, it is very much in need of a major reformation for the post-modern Western world.
Since leaving the church in 2002, I returned to Radha Krishna devotion as my primary spiritual practice both internally and externally. Yet the old ways of doing this no longer work for me. I developed my own devotional style based on my cross-cultural, interfaith background.
I am married and live an alternative, contemplative lifestyle on the island of Hawai'i. I combine the best of what I learned from my Indian and Western spiritual teachers and mentors. I am indebted to all who helped show me the way.
I was invited to join this forum by HariSaran Das who I also see in the flesh sometimes. I was attracted by the fact that it is Nitai's forum, and I hoped for a scholarly, open atmosphere to discuss ideas. I know few persons I can discuss these things with face to face and therefore appreciate this forum. I think it is best if we know who the persons commenting are. It leads to less flaming and more responsible discourse and tha ability to develop relationships.
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Post by mighty mouse on Aug 24, 2007 14:17:03 GMT -6
Are you a Guru subaldas?
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Post by subaldas on Aug 24, 2007 17:26:25 GMT -6
I call myself a spiritual teacher. Why do you ask?
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Post by mighty mouse on Aug 24, 2007 17:49:21 GMT -6
subaldas, I guess it doesn't matter if you call yourself a Guru or Spiritual Teacher, what I really want to know is are you enlightened?
Have you attained enlightenment?
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Post by queenbee on Aug 25, 2007 5:29:15 GMT -6
As long as they don't get too obnoxious, I don't see a problem letting folks post here anonymously. I don't know how many posts the moderators have already had to delete. If none have been deleted, then we have been lucky in that regard. If only we could get some fanatical evangelical Christians over here, we could really have some fun with them by messing with their heads.
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Post by queenbee on Aug 25, 2007 5:48:54 GMT -6
Subal Goswami Ji:
What was it like in those early days with Bhaktivedanta Swami? I was not aware of his group until 1970, and did not start to check them out until 1971. By the time I became involved with them full time in 1974, things were pretty far along, and various factions had already started to bicker over ideologies. The book distributors were raking it in at the airports, and the general public considered us kooky, and some thought we were conniving con-artists (which was not far from the mark, actually).
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Post by subaldas on Aug 25, 2007 9:39:49 GMT -6
subaldas, I guess it doesn't matter if you call yourself a Guru or Spiritual Teacher, what I really want to know is are you enlightened? Have you attained enlightenment? How do you define enlilghtenment?
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Post by subaldas on Aug 25, 2007 9:57:15 GMT -6
Subal Goswami Ji: What was it like in those early days with Bhaktivedanta Swami? I was not aware of his group until 1970, and did not start to check them out until 1971. By the time I became involved with them full time in 1974, things were pretty far along, and various factions had already started to bicker over ideologies. The book distributors were raking it in at the airports, and the general public considered us kooky, and some thought we were conniving con-artists (which was not far from the mark, actually). I was with Swamiji from '67-'74, and the seeds of corruption were there among his disciples from day one that I became involved. Of course, at first it was purer. I've been reflecting lately on those early days when we weren't Indianized yet and were still part of the hippie scene in Haight Ashbury. Yet, a clique of devotees from NY were running the temple, and thankfully, I was never part of that clique who later ran the London temple and then went on to India with Swamiji. Swamiji was always supportive of those who brought tangible results, and I was more into spiritual growth.
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Post by mighty mouse on Aug 25, 2007 11:33:00 GMT -6
Enlightenment is finding that there is nothing to find, it is coming to know that there is nowhere to go, understanding that this is all, that this is perfect, that this is it.
It is not an achievement, it is an understanding that there is nothing to achieve, you are already there and you have never been away. No Heaven, No Pearly Gates, No Goloka, No Far away Vaikunthia with Gods and Goddesses who have multible arms and heads.
Enlightenment is not somewhere far away it is being completely Here Now.
That's what I mean
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Post by queenbee on Aug 25, 2007 15:35:25 GMT -6
There were seeds of corruption, but there was also the tendency to be the religious politician among the leadership. I remember all of those lectures talking about how the outsiders (also known as karmis or demons) were inferior and taking money from them was purifying them. It was the main rationalization for shortchanging people in airports and handing them some book that they were going to throw (probably 9 times out of 10) in the nearest waste bin after looking it over for a few minutes. The janitors at the airports used to collect all of those books from the trash and sell them back to the book distributors. It was a perfect scheme for conning people over and over again with the same product. At least it put some extra cash in the pockets of those janitors, who probably were better educated and more well read generally than those book distributors (who rarely found time to read the books they were distributing). This ties in with my comments on that other thread about religion and politics. Religion itself is the seed of corruption for those who will engage in nefarious acts because they think the ends justifies the means.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2007 17:14:31 GMT -6
I wonder how much of that if not all, was coming directly from the core of those Western religions, where separatism (apartheid) is clearly the rule.
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