shanti--some thoughts

[Guest guest]

Hello Sanjay:

 

I found this discussion group about a month back trying to seek

answers to some of my astrological queries on-line. I think this

discussion group is one of the best thing that has happened to vedic

astrology.

 

As to SVJC, I've visited the website, but have no idea what

mahamantra and what organization and what temple are you talking

about. Is SVJC a temple? Also, what is all this nonsense about

calling people maharaj and devis and astrologers assuming names of

Hindu gods? Did the Bhagwad Geeta, the holiest Hindu scripture

require astrolgers to assume names of Hindu Gods?

 

I've lived or travelled to countries in all continents except Africa

and Antratica and I've had many ups and downs in my life, what I've

learned from my travel observations and my life is that when well-

meaning people with similar interests get together and organize, they

tend to create a hirarcy and when the hirarchy becomes old and

seasoned, people began to worship the humans rather than the divine,

the organization turns into a cult and this leads to scandals--the

memories of Rajneesh and some ISKON scandals are very fresh in our

memories.

 

I'm hoping that you can prevent SJVC from turning into a cult. I find

it very disturbing when I go to a temple with intent to worship the

ultimate divinity for the Hindus, lord Krishna, and I'm bombarded by

teachings for this swami and that swami and men and women wearing

orange robes with shaved heards who've taken up name of Hindu gods

and goddesses trying their best to propagate the message of "THEIR"

guru. -- It becomes obvious that such an organization is a cult and

the only people is benefits is the "inner-sanctum" of the cult.

 

As to profits, if someone learned astrologer writes a book, the

royalties should go to the writer as the buyer has a choice to buy

any book he/she wants.

 

Well, enough said. Pt. Sanjay you did the right thing by posting on

this public board. Public allegations should be rebutted in a

transperent and public way. Hope things work out for you and you're

able to keep SJVC an organization of Vedic astrology enthusiasts

rather than a cult whose administration is too busy with power plays

and their internal scandals.

 

MD

vedic astrology, "Sanjay Rath" <srath@s...> wrote:

> Om Gurave Namah

> Dear Jyotisha, Gurus & all,

>

> The events following the recent announcement made my myself

have

> been quite a learning experience and only confirm the teachings of

> our Param Guru Sri Achyuta Dasa (please read some of the articles

on

> the Janaka shadakshara mantra, Vrindavati sadhana etc if you have

not

> read them). As Narasimha has correctly pointed out, the Parampara

> and the Organisation are separate like the Satya Peetha (Lagna) and

> the Maya (Arudha). The Satya or the Parampara exists all the time

and

> cannot be destroyed. What is 'created or destroyed' is the Arudha.

> Eversince we started teaching, we have had the desire to have a new

> Arudha (Vehicle or body) for carrying forward the teachings in an

> organised manner and for which purpose we have spoken to different

> persons, requested help and have also given certain

responsibilities.

> The Arudha is the Sri Jagannath Vedic Center which was created in

> India in 1998 and finally came into being in 2001 in the form of a

> Trust registered with the Government of India at Delhi. Being the

> vehicle (Rath) or Jagannath, this is large enough to carry all in

it.

> It is important to understand that ages back Sri Achyuta Dasa had

> also created such centers called Gaddi (in oriya meaning

> seats/centers of learning). The Guru being the representive head of

> the Satya Peetha (Lagna) was not allowed to have anything to do

with

> the Maya Peetha (AL) which was normally looked after/headed by one

of

> the senior Sisya. The Guru would concern himself with the Major

> activity of the propagation of knowledge and the admission and exit

> of people into the Center. The entire management of the Center

rested

> with the other head. In similar lines, we have nothing to do with

the

> creation or running of these Centers and have given the

> responsibility to others. One such responsibility was given to

> Dinanath Das who with the help of Kusa Devi was to form SJVC in the

> USA.

>

> It was but natural that when the formation of this was taking

an

> inordinately long time, we decided to request Sri Brendan Feeley to

> organise this. Being a very able organiser, Brendan immediately

> organised the East Coast & West Coast conferences with the help of

> Lakshmi Devi (Lynn Kary). They have proved their abilities beyond

an

> iota of doubt and the correct thing is to allow them to be the

> President & Secretary of the Arudha (Vehicle) i.e. SJVC or SJC or

> whatever name that you wish to name the vehicle, my only request

> being to retain 'Sri Jagannath..in the begining'. On the other

hand,

> with the blessings of Sri Jagannath, Kusa Devi has become the head

of

> the Hawaii temple and that is a full time responsibility. She is

> working hard to spread the Mahamantra, a task which befits her

> spiritual development and sincerity. It would not be in the best

> interests of either ISKCON or us that we request her to look after

> SJVC. Her husband, Sruta Kirti Maharaj has served Srila Prabhupada

> for many many years and was kind enough to be the President of SJVC

> when the organisation was being set up. He is not knowledgable in

> Jyotish but is very spiritually evolved. Dinanath is the secretary

of

> SJVC. Thus, there are two issues - One of the Administrative

> structure and the second of the Teaching structure.

>

> SJVC has also been growing by the day and it was not possible

for

> us to screen, examine and decide about the Jyotish Gurus throughout

> the world. So, we delegated these tasks to (a) Sri Robert Koch

> (a.k.a. Patraka Das) for the western region comprising North &

South

> America and (b) Pearl Finn for Europe. The Guru is responsible for

> ensuring that the learning of Jyotish proceeds without hindrance,

> that a decent atmosphere prevails in all the forum where this is

> taught, and that there are competent Jyotisha, designated as

Jyotish

> guru, who shall teach the subject. Mere knowledge of te subject

mater

> is sufficient for a person to qualify to teach the subject and when

> this is done, he is normally given the mantra and becomes a Jyotish

> guru. The Jyotish Guru is expected to recite the (specific Gayatri)

> mantra every day and there are other conditions that will enable

them

> to be good teachers. However, the Guru nominated by us for the

> regions are expected to guide the Jyotish Guru's in matters of

> conflict, differing opinions on the subject and maintain a healthy

> atmosphere for learning. Although they have no role to play in the

> administration of SJVC, they have to be a part of the 'legal' setup

> which is necessary as per prevailing laws in each region. SJVC can

> only be a non-profit organisation and is secular in the positive

> sense of the word i.e. belief in God and encourages spirituality.

>

> The President and Secretary are to be the real executives of

> SJVC, and perhaps, as Narasimha had pointed out, there should be a

> treasurer who shall be responsible for audit and financial

> management. Thus, for the (a) USA, the President & Secretary shall

be

> Dr.Brendan Feeley & Lakshmi Devi respectively, and for (b) Ireland,

> the President & Secretary(s) shall be John and Fiona & Helen

> respectively.

>

> The Problem definition:

> Problem ariese out of the perception of what the Jyotish Guru

> should be doing. The Jyotish Guru is supposed to teach Jyotish and

> not involve in administrative matters unless he is explicitly

> directed by the Guru to do so. In thi9s context, long back we had

> asked Dinanath to setup the organisation. Having done so, and on my

> request, he should step down and hand this over to the ones who

have

> been chosen for the purpose so that we all benefit from their

> administrative abilities. Problem arises when the perception

changes

> and the realisation is lost that the SJVC is the vehicle for the

> Parampara and not vice versa just like ISKCON being the vehicle for

> the Mahamantra and not vice versa. The Mahamantra does not depend

on

> ISKCON and this should be realised. The mantra continues to exist

in

> perpetuity as it is an integral part of Satya Peetha and is the

Yuga

> Nivarana Mantra (I shall write about this when translating the

works

> of Achyuta Dasa).

>

> We had been advised that there can be separate organisations

> registered for each state just as it was done for ISKCON, so that

if

> one is sued, the others do not have to pay. See how much the church

> has to pay for lack of this legal foresight. Srila Prabhupada had

> also agreed to this. Based on the name of Prabhupada, I had agreed

> initially, but then this is grossly wrong. If a person representing

> the organisation is getting sued for misdeed, then th organisation

> should ake the responsibility of not having handled this properly

or

> not having had strict rules about its functioning. Just because

there

> is a loophole in the law does not mean that we should exploit it. I

> have been a lawmaker in India for many years working with major

> structural reforms in the economy and cannot agree to this any

> further. If someone representing the organisation has done a

misdeed,

> then the organisation has to accept the responsibility. Hence we

have

> to be very careful about certification etc, for which the executive

> officers of SJVC shall be responsible. Srila Prabhupada did not

> forsee how some of the temple presidents have 'run away' with the

> temples and would never have agreed to this if he had the time and

> inclination for deep thought into these legalities. Prabhupada was

> immersed in Krishna consciousness and the Arudha had little meaning

> for such a realised soul. Let us learn spirituality from him and

not

> administration. Learn Jyotish from us and not other things.

>

> 'Every saint had a past and every sinner has a future' has been

> one of our fundamental teachings. Sri Robert Koch was not convinced

> as to why he should not charge for the services like teaching that

he

> renders. It seems most logical from the western viewpoint for money

> for work. However, the teaching, if done in the Parampara implies a

> sacred transmission of knowledge called 'Paraa Vidya' which is

> different from Aparaa Vidya. The purity (Niranjana) is lost if

there

> is any touch of rajas or tamas in this transmission and neither can

> the teacher teach properly nor is the sisya going to learn

properly.

> Predictions will fail, understanding will be lacking, genuineness

and

> compassion will be absent and the most holy relationship of Guru-

> Sisya shall be lost. Parampara is not a group or gang or class in

any

> form or manner, nor can there be any time limit to the learning

> process. It has to be a natural pace. Parampara means ONLY THREE -

> Sisya (Student), Guru (Teacher) and Ista (God). Thus, none other is

> there in the picture - no father, mother, brother, friends,

> colleagues..nobody at all. This is a very clear and simple picture

to

> visualise and this link alone matters. The rest is all asat or the

> illusion of the Arudha. I will give the detailed writings of Sri

> Achyuta Das on this at a later date.

>

> When we visited the USA and discussed this and so many things

> with Sri Robert Koch and others, they all agreed to teach free of

> cost, so where is the question of charging fees etc? There is

> unanimity in this issue and there is no need to throw brickbats at

> anyone. In any case, learned people in a democratic nation will

never

> agree to your view point if you throw brick bats at them. This has

to

> be reasoned calmly and gradually accepted. Dinanath was not the

first

> one to raise this issue, and Narasimha had done so earlier. On my

> advise, he had decided to wait. People need time to think over the

> new knowledge, advise etc, and this seeps in gradually. It cannot

> happen overnight, especially for older people. I believe that

simple

> because someone like Dinanath was not kept informed does not mean

> that Robert is wrong. He does not have to give an explanation to

> anyone.

>

> Dinanath:

> To respect elders and not to humilate a lady (especially in

> public) is a sign of a gentleman. There was no need for Dinanath to

> do this and hence, he was expelled from SJVC, whether this has been

> carried out or not is to be checked from Kusa Devi. There are other

> things that have been done which are quite shocking to say the

least.

> The reasons for this can be traced to his chart and the curse of

> maternal uncle therein (Chart attached). Those who attended my

> lectures at the West Coast will be able to easily see this. Mercury

> is in debility ans is afflicted by Saturn & Rahu (Graha dristi).

> curse is complete. Neecha bhanga and redemption from curse comes

due

> to Guru in Lagna. Parasara teaches that the ONLY waay out is to

> worship Sri Vishnu, which I believe he is doing. He is runing Rahu

> dasa Mercury antardasa (Moon Vimsottari) and in the Moola Dasa, the

> dasa is of Rahu. Please get the tapes/CDs on my lectures on Curses,

> remedial measures and Moola dasa to understand the implications

> clearly.

>

> Many people were wondering as to why the Guru's are all quiet.

> Well, this was done on our request that a tit-for-tat is not called

> for and this is our opportunity to actually show that we deserve to

> be called Guru's. We must exercise constraint realising that here

is

> a troubled soul, who just like us has taken rebirth due to a curse,

> and has to face terrible hostility from his colleagues (Mercruy -

> relations, colleagues etc) due to a curse from the last

incarnation.

> If we cannot understand this, who else will? In fact Narasimha & I

> have had a very detailed discussion on his chart, the present Tithi

> pravesh etc. You can examine this and exchange views if you wish,

but

> please remember that this is and shall continue to be an ASHRAM.

>

> What is not-at-all surprising is that Dinanath threatened legal

> action if the CDs or tapes of our teachings are sold! Please note

> that the one person who shall benefit the most from this knowledge

is

> he himself, and he is stopping it or rather Buddha Mahagraha is

> stopping the remedy from reaching him. In any case, the teachings

> cannot be stopped even if the CDs are. I hope Kusa Devi is able to

> set things right as administration is a painful task and hate to

> trouble her when she already has a much better work of handling the

> Hawaii temple. Nobod is running away with any funds or donations.

> These funds will be accounted for and such accounts will be

> submitted, after audit to the government regulatory authority in

the

> country, be it India, USA or Ireland for the present. The accounts

> will also be circulated among the Jyotish Guru's in the Vyasa E-

list

> for Jyotish Gurus. Donaors will have the privilege of seeing the

> accounts. We have nothing to hide, at least being Jyotisha's, we

know

> that nothing is hidden from Him. So, what is the point in trying to

> hide.

>

> We have clearly stated our views and have also given the clear

> reasons for the same. If someone thinks that they can run away with

> the Arudha and the Lagna shall follow, sorry this does not happen.

> Another Arudha starts. One Arudha follows another just like we

> discard an old car and buy another, but Satya never changes. We

have

> left it to Kusa Devi to do the needful and hope that this is done

> failing which another Arudha can be registered and the good work

can

> continue. Sri Brendan Feeley shall keep you informed about the

> developments in this regard. We hope the Cds and other reading

> material can be made available at an early date for the benefit of

> all.

>

> Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

> Sanjay Rath

> --

--

> -------------------------------

> 71 Vasant Apartments, Mayur Vihar Ph-1, New Delhi 110091, India

> Tel:+91-11-2713201, Web: http://srath.com