kalki
Full Member
Posts: 161
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Post by kalki on Aug 2, 2011 8:49:19 GMT -6
Hare Krishna everyone
This I should have expected given the change in the path Nitaidasji is taking.
What change of path is Nitaiji taking? I am new here so maybe I missed something? |
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Post by Nitaidas on Aug 9, 2011 10:35:40 GMT -6
Hare Krishna everyone
This I should have expected given the change in the path Nitaidasji is taking.
What change of path is Nitaiji taking? I am new here so maybe I missed something? I wouldn't say that I am changing paths. My thinking is evolving, however, and that may appear to some with severely shuttered views that I am changing paths. I still do my mantras and nama. I just refuse to be jailed in a 16th century mindset. I look to the Goswamis for inspiration, but I also read and think about modern science and wonder how it might impact the views of the CV tradition, how it might be enriched and even altered by modern scientific discoveries (as opposed to how CV might enrich science; not a likely scenario, in my opinion). In other words, I tend to look at how the Goswamis operated in their world and take that as a model rather than fixating on any particular teaching as inviolate or ulnerable. In summary, my current views are this: 1. Atheism is a good thing and theism is a psychologically harmful thing and even an obstacle to learning to love Krsna purely. We have to forget the whole god thing, which I think is a misconception anyway (how can one conceive of a god anyway, except in the most silly and offensive ways), and allow ourselves to be attracted to him as an attractive and loving person. The whole god thing just gets in the way and will always lurk in the background as a subtle expectation that Krsna will reward us in some way. It is like being poor and having a rich friend. The different statuses cannot but interfere with that relationship, even if we don't want it too. 2. The Goswamis have but given the barest outline (zakti-zaktimat) of reality, as best they could in the language of their times, drawing on the best sources they had available to them. This should be the model for us. The language of our times and our best sources must include science which has vastly expanded our understanding of the world. Naturally, science and atheism go hand-in-hand. So it is a win-win situation. 3. The ultimate source of knowledge is pratyaksa. Zabda and anumana are servants of pratyaksa. The goal of CV practice is to have pratyaksa experience of Krsna. I've been having this discussion with Kirtaniya on this point for weeks. I think that without pratyaksa we have nothing to talk about. Zabda and anumana certainly extend the range of pratyaksa, but without pratyaksa they are meaningless. The so-called flaws of pratyaksa (and for that matter zabda and anumana) can easily be overcome by repetition. Kirtaniya will want to say that without zabda we cannot have pratyaksa, but I think that without zabda we will only be hampered in communicating our pratyaksa with others. We will still have pratyaksa. This basically sums it up. There are numerous other things, but these are the most important. |
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Post by Nitaidas on Aug 9, 2011 10:47:27 GMT -6
Hare Krishna everyone
I think it’s not a good practice to make an abrupt disappearance without letting the members know. So I thought I should write this.
In the last week I have not been visiting the forum because I made a trip to the country, the rural areas. The offshoot of such a trip made me feel that there’s a nice sanga being in communion with nature. What I mean is that in that kind of surrounding you tend to feel that you feel and have a glimpse of Krishna. The trip gave me a new spiritual outlook resulting in my feeling burn-out in participating on internet forums, exacerbated by my constant engaging in debates or defending my position. This I should have expected given the change in the path Nitaidasji is taking.
So in respect of the goal of the forum owner, I will lie low for sometime until I get the motivation again to participate in the discussions here.
I hope the goodwill that I have shared with the other members here, especially Nitaidasji, will stay on.
Nitaidasji, hope we can be friends still and work together.
Think God
Chant Krishna
Malatidasi
Bye, malati. I understand. Having just returned from the most spectacular sights and sounds and smells of the Grand Tetons, I fully sympathize with your desire to taste that experience more often and more deeply. You are always welcome here whenever the spirit moves you. As I mentioned in another post, my path is not changing; it is just getting more responsive to the times in which we live and the the lessons Krsna is giving us through modern science and philosophy. It is foolish in my opinion to think that Krsna only speaks to the world in one way and everyone else has got it wrong. "Krsna belongs to everybody" to quote an old sixties song. Just as he speaks to us through nature, he speaks to us through the ancient Greeks and Chinese, through science, philosophy, art, and literature. We simply have to perk up our ears and listen. Good luck to you. I will write to you separately about your book. Forget God, love Krsna. warmly nitai |
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Post by service to Radha's feet on Aug 16, 2011 19:11:36 GMT -6
Actually, I agree with the idea of learning to love Krishna is by not seeing him as God. When most of us think of God we tend to think of him as a supreme controller, someone who can get us out of the ditch we put ourselves in, or someone who will answer our prayers for success in life, even in bhajan. Krishna is the god of love, he loves eternally and his devotees love him eternally that is what it is all about, love. From time to time some reminder of his aiswarya may help, but ultimately it is the power of love that draws him near us by which we can internally experience him.
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Post by cvsaragrahi on Sept 13, 2011 12:09:27 GMT -6
I am in agreement with Nitai's 3 points above and am endeavoring to obtain direct, purified sensual perception and interaction with Radha-Krishna in Their Supreme Dimension. It seems the idea of there being a God that is separate from the Jiva comes from too much emphasis on difference, when, in fact, the Jiva is a personality facet of God, not separate but one with. Cultivating this simultaneous difference and non-difference over the past year has totally changed my perspective and experience of this dimension and is giving me a tangible sensation of becoming more attuned to another dimension free of the limitations of this one.
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