Guest guest Posted April 13, 1999 Report Share Posted April 13, 1999 ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- New Text 54 (18 lines) Scott Morrissey 13-Apr-99 10:14 Varnasrama development Current Discussion --------------------------- To all devotee's taking part in current discussion(kosovo), pamho agtsp, I'm only a new bhakta so please accept my apologies if you think i'm overstepping the mark,it's just that i feel a conference called "Varnasrama Development" should contain inteligent discussion on the afore mentioned subject,instead of a materialistic discussion on the political situation in Kosovo.Personally i feel that as devotee's we should be above these types of discussion's and should be focusing on more important issues like "ALWAYS REMEMBERING KRSNA AND NEVER FORGETTING HIM" but at least if you feel this topic is so important that it just has to be discussed you could at least discuss it in the appropriate conference(Global Free Forum). Always your aspiring humble servant BH Scott (Text 54) ----------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 1999 Report Share Posted April 13, 1999 > > To all devotee's taking part in current discussion(kosovo), > > pamho agtsp, > > I'm only a new bhakta so please accept my apologies if you think i'm > overstepping the mark,it's just that i feel a conference called "Varnasrama > Development" should contain inteligent discussion on the afore mentioned > subject,instead of a materialistic discussion on the political situation in > Kosovo.Personally i feel that as devotee's we should be above these types of > discussion's and should be focusing on more important issues like "ALWAYS > REMEMBERING KRSNA AND NEVER FORGETTING HIM" but at least if you feel this > topic is so important that it just has to be discussed you could at least > discuss it in the appropriate conference(Global Free Forum). > > Always your aspiring humble servant > > BH Scott > (Text 54) ----------------- So, a candidate for moderator! Dear Bhakta, This is the line so oft quoted by Kirtanananda Swami and used so efectively to steer discussions to the Absolute when they would have otherwise become a little uncomfortable to him. As a bhakta, perhaps you don't know who Kirtanananda, aka Bhaktipada, is. He was the first disciple of Srila Prabhupada to move with in with him and actually start cooking for Srila Prabhupada instead of just letting Srila Prabhupada cook for him. He was the first and only sannyasa in ISKCON for 3 years. He founded and developed the New Vrindaban community which at one time was externally very successful with over 600 devotees living there. He was a paragaon of sadhana who was always in the temple at 2:30 am and chanted all his rounds before mangala arotik. As an alumni of the Columbia University debating team, he was an eloquent and educated adeptee with the philosophy of Krsna consciousness. All problems could be solved by chanting Hare Krsna and ignoring the material energy. Well, I am sure you will have no difficulty finding a detractor of him to fill you in on the details of his career, but none of that is necesssary for you at this time. Suffice it to say that he is serving a 12 year prison term and deserves to be where he is. Krsna has made a special arrangement for him to get the type of circumstance he needs at this particular time of his life to have the opportunity for continued advancement, especially in the area of humility. So too with all of us we need particular opportunities for us at particular times in order to progress. Chanting and remembering Krsna is always there for everyone at all times, that is a Truth. But we do also have a material body that has requirements. At a certain stage, known especially in VAD as part of the brahmacary stage, it is extremely beneficial to perform austerities of a certain type, and to withdraw our senses from any contact with the external society and bathe our intellect in a pure form of study and meditation on the Holy Name. Even in this state, it is still required to be clothed, eat, have shelter, etc, albeit in a very simple manner. Yet to fully concentrate, society provides those needs for the brahmacary so he needn't be distracted. and can concentrate fully on his education. Which means on the flip side of course that someone else must be involved in the process of producing those material requirements. The goal of a Krsna conscious education is not to become a fulltime student. It is to learn how to become Krsna conscious and eventually to function in the world. So at different stages what is an appropriate discussion for some may very well not be an appropriate discussion for others. If you are in the immersion stage of your Krsna conscious development, then discussions of Kosovo may well be inappropriate for you. As such, it behooves you to simply hit the delete key. For others, who have a desire to actually establish a VAD society, it is necessary to be aware of how the material world works and to grapple with how to start the growth of such a society within the matrix of the larger material society. For them, a discussion of Kosovo may be of importance. The point you were making may be seen in TRANSLATION Those who engage in the culture of nescient activities shall enter into the darkest region of ignorance. Worse still are those engaged in the culture of so-called knowledge. PURPORT This mantra offers a comparative study of vidya and avidya. Avidya, or ignorance, is undoubtedly dangerous, but vidya, or knowledge, is even more dangerous when mistaken or misguided. This mantra of Sri Isopanisad is more applicable today than at any time in the past. Modern civilization has advanced considerably in the field of mass education, but the result is that people are more unhappy than ever before because of the stress placed on material advancement to the exclusion of the most important part of life, the spiritual aspect. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Iso 9 Please note that when the study of material advancement is done exclusionery of the spiritual aspect, that is what is dangerous. TRANSLATION Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality. PURPORT ......This does not mean that all activities for the maintenance of the body should be stopped. There is no question of stopping activities, just as there is no question of wiping out one's temperature altogether when trying to recover from a disease. "To make the best use of a bad bargain" is the appropriate expression. The culture of spiritual knowledge necessitates the help of the body and mind; therefore maintenance of the body and mind is required if we are to reach our goal. The normal temperature should be maintained at 98.6 degrees, and the great sages and saints of India have attempted to do this by a balanced program of spiritual and material knowledge. They never allow the misuse of human intelligence for diseased sense gratification. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Iso 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 1999 Report Share Posted April 13, 1999 > > > > I'm only a new bhakta so please accept my apologies if you think i'm > > overstepping the mark,it's just that i feel a conference called "Varnasrama Development" should contain inteligent discussion on the afore mentioned subject.... > > > >Always your aspiring humble servant > > > > BH Scott > > > > So, a candidate for moderator! > > I second the nomination! I am assuming we are nominating a Bhakta, and not a Bhaktin. These days, it is good to be clear on this kind of stuff in advance. Regarding worldly events such as is currrent in Kosova, I would propose there is some value in discussing them on the Varnasrama conference. To a very real degree, Varnasrama culture is designed to engage more worldly propensities other than those the brahmans might otherwise deal with in everyday temple ashram life. So in that sense, there might be some relative value. The world we are currently living in is our prabhu-datta-desa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 1999 Report Share Posted April 13, 1999 > I second the nomination! I am assuming we are nominating a Bhakta, and not > a Bhaktin. These days, it is good to be clear on this kind of stuff in > advance. > > Regarding worldly events such as is currrent in Kosova, I would propose > there is some value in discussing them on the Varnasrama conference. To a > very real degree, Varnasrama culture is designed to engage more worldly > propensities other than those the brahmans might otherwise deal with in > everyday temple ashram life. So in that sense, there might be some > relative value. I also think that this conferance is a conferance which is open for discussing many issues, and as long as they don't go completely out of hand, they could be allowed to go on, as long as there obviously are a lot of people participating in the discussions. I actually find it quite interesting to have a discussion between devotees about this war in regards to how it looks from people's point of view who are living in different countries. And so far, the discussion has after all been more or less civilized, which in itself is pretty impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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