Introducing varnasrama

[Guest guest]

On 20 Apr 1999, Sthita-dhi-muni Dasa wrote:

 

>

> There is a significant difference between starting ashramas with a

sub-culture

> of youth looking for something new, and establishing a sophisticated culture

> that maturely deals with the entire human experience, from cradle to grave.

 

I think Prabhupada had the harder task, which was to just get people to

understand that we are not our bodies and that God is a blue cowherd boy.

Varnasrama is easy in comparison, and besides, we have the philosophy and

devotee association for support. We also, as individuals, have a hell of a lot

more money than SP did to start with. Prabhupada had nada, but he didn't let

that stop him. He wasn't even sure sometimes how he would proceed--we see a

lot of "playing it by ear" as far as his strategy was concerned.

 

 

 

> Some things, in order to grow and mature properly, need patience and time.

> That is not to say we do nothing now -- 'a journey of a thousand miles

begins

> with the first step, etc etc etc...."

>

 

Of course we need patience--we don't want to be in the mode of passion about

this (unless we're in the mode of ignorance, in which case the mode of passion

would be a significant improvement), but what I'm saying is that there has to

be a sense of personal urgency and the belief that it can happen in our own

lifetimes. Not only that, we each have to take some measure of responsibilty

for making it happen, even if it means we have to inconvenience ourselves

significantly.

 

We are not going to avoid making colossal mistakes even if we do proceed

slowly and cautiously, so we don't need to be completely prepared before we

start. I feel like these cautionary statements are a form of self-hypnosis

sometimes--not that they aren't true, but that we hide behind them to avoid

putting our money where our mouth is.