Regarding Kanti dd's comments against sannyasis/mendicants...

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/28/1999 10:40:26 PM Eastern Standard Time,

Basu.Ghosh.ACBSP (AT) bbt (DOT) se writes:

 

> But they have left everything.

 

I made no comments against sannyasis or mendicants.

 

My question is, have they left everything? Are they simply depending on Krsna

and not on owning property or having bank balance or the special arrangements

of temple managers?

 

I did not make the wholesale condemnation as you imply in your post. It is a

rhetorical question that one must answer oneself. It is a question of the

heart and between them and Srila Prabhupada and Krsna. It is a question that

every devotee must pose him or herself.

 

But the external , therefore apparent standard is much higher for a sannyasi

than a householder ( or a woman for that matter). So while some are not above

reproach, they continue to be part of a group that is critical of women (or

men who protect these "unworthy" women) and this is why I posed the question.

One cannot assume that because a devotee carries a danda he has given up

every desire for power and prestige just as one cannot assume that he has

not. Some have indeed qiven up everything and use everything in Krsna's

service in other words genuine mendicants and some have made personal

arrangements for comfort and care.

 

Indeed there are some householders who have given up as much or more just as

there are some who have given up little. But again, the standard is not as

high for a householder as for the renounced order and there is a learning

curve involved in the grhasta ashram that is a bit more forgiving. It is not

important that I or anyone else know who is who, because Krsna knows,

therefore it is important that we treat every aspiring vaisnava with respect.

yhs, Kanti dasi

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/28/1999 10:40:26 PM Eastern Standard Time,

Basu.Ghosh.ACBSP (AT) bbt (DOT) se writes:

 

> But they have left everything.

 

I made no comments against sannyasis or mendicants.

 

My question is, have they left everything? Are they simply depending on Krsna

and not on owning property or having bank balance or the special arrangements

of temple managers?

 

I did not make the wholesale condemnation as you imply in your post. It is a

rhetorical question that one must answer oneself. It is a question of the

heart and between them and Srila Prabhupada and Krsna. It is a question that

every devotee must pose him or herself.

 

But the external , therefore apparent standard is much higher for a sannyasi

than a householder ( or a woman for that matter). So while some are not above

reproach, they continue to be part of a group that is critical of women (or

men who protect these "unworthy" women) and this is why I posed the question.

One cannot assume that because a devotee carries a danda he has given up

every desire for power and prestige just as one cannot assume that he has

not. Some have indeed qiven up everything and use everything in Krsna's

service in other words genuine mendicants and some have made personal

arrangements for comfort and care.

 

Indeed there are some householders who have given up as much or more just as

there are some who have given up little. But again, the standard is not as

high for a householder as for the renounced order and there is a learning

curve involved in the grhasta ashram that is a bit more forgiving. It is not

important that I or anyone else know who is who, because Krsna knows,

therefore it is important that we treat every aspiring vaisnava with respect.

yhs, Kanti dasi