Sruti Kirti - Prabhupad - Remarriage

[Guest guest]

> On 16 Jul 1999, Samba das wrote:

>

> > The problem, as Ameyatma prabhu points out (and

> > as it appears, even Srila Prabhupada lamented), is that many of us are

> > not

> ACTUALY interested in dharma or truth (maybe a passing interest?). If that

> is the case, why should a pure soul appear?

 

> Attempting to chant our rounds and following the basic regs could be a

> noble start. Some may want to get into hair splitting discussions about

> how to apply Vedic maxims into current situations, and that is okay. But a

> holier than thou attitude of "I understand and you are insincere" will not

> go far with regards to building enthusiasm.

 

I was not quite sure if you were reffering to me regarding being 'holier

than thou'. Actualy I am not trying to portray myself as pretending to

understand, or be in someway superior. If I say 'many of us' I include

myself. It does get a bit tiring having people question the motivation of

everything you write. It goes on a lot in this conference. Personal attacks

or subtle criticism instead of trying to understand why someone has the

opinions they do or where they are trying to take us. But heck i'm used to

it by now.

 

As far as building enthusiasm is concerned. That reminds me of a Newsweek

article I once read entitled 'Feeling good about doing bad'. It was about

the programs they have for American schoolkids, who have terrible grades,

but are encouraged to feel good anyway as that is the healthy thing to do.

So if I feel that things aint what they ought to be (I dont think I am alone

there), should I just shut up, in case it makes us feel bad?

 

My angle on this conference is to personaly try to understand what stands

between where we are now, and where we should be in terms of getting

something done towards starting varnasrama. I comment when I see something

that in my mind is either a logical obstacle, or a logical step in (what I

beleive to be) the right direction.

 

Can we not focus on trying to take the positive points and run with them,

instead of trying to find holes in each presentation? Of course I know that

each of us has the right to offer their opinion, that's life I guess.

>

> If you are as anxious as you seem to meet a pure soul, I've heard that

> Krsna is right there in our hearts in His infallible form as the

> Supersoul. You just can't beat that for good association so close to home.

 

Unfortunately the truth is that I am not very eager to meet a pure soul.

That is my problem. I do think I should be eager, and I think others should

be eager. I would have thought that any aspiring devotee would be eager to

meet a pure devotee of the lord. I have heard that they are very nice.

 

You've heard that Krsna is right there in our hearts, funnily enough, I've

heard that too! Im far away from realising it though. Thats why it occured

to me that a pure devotee, who is actualy talking with Krsna constantly,

would be able to help. Logicaly it would seem to be beating around the bush

a bit to give ones life to someone who has not yet realised Krsna, if we

really want someone who can give us Krsna. Isn't that logical?

 

But we are often not very logical, we often follow our hearts, sometimes

wisely sometimes not so. So if I reccomend that we should aspire to take

initiation from a mahabhagavata, it is because that seems logical to me, and

sometimes I give some reasons for it. It does not mean that anyone who did

not do that is to be condemned, it does not mean that I am forcing anyone to

do that. its just a beleif that I wish to share. In fact everything I write

in this conference is like that, my opinion, take it or leave it.

 

It gets my goat sometimes when someone will make a comment and we jump all

over him. For instance, Ameyatma prabhu recently made that comment about

some girls smiling at him, and he reccomended that the girl should be

married. Can we not give him the benefit of the doubt that he knows what

kind of smile he saw? And even if he was wrong, even if the girl was

completely innocent, is there something wrong in the advice that teenage

girls should be married? I am sure the father will do the right thing for

his daughter (hopefully). The comment was anyway part of a greater

explanation. But no. We have to assume the worst and criticise. No comments

on the validity of the point Srila Prabhupada made, no, just slag the guy

off, assume that he is just a case, and forget about all the valid points in

his text.

 

Why do we have to spend so much time criticising each other? Why not try to

understand the good points? Is this conference simply a place to pull each

other down, or can we try to do something about getting varnasrama going?

 

YS