Jump to content
IndiaDivine.org

OBSERVATIONS ON THE VRINDAVANA ISSUE

Rate this topic


Guest guest

Recommended Posts

> >Of all the texts that I read on this topic till now, this is the only one

> that convinces me of its credibility.>

>

> Really? Including Vipramukhya Maharaja's?

 

Yes.

 

VMS' text was balanced but not all the time we need to neutralise

everything. Ther is no harm in presenting what is truth and what is untruth,

if we are sure about it.

 

> I thought it was odd that Nayana-ranjana prabhu first said that he wtched

> the events, and later in his text said that "This is what I was told by

> Vaisnava prabhu." Which one was it?

 

yah I also noted it but it didn't sound that important to me.

 

> Also, in his text, he admits that "the devotees in the human

> chain got upset and pushed & shoved back"

>

> but also that there was no "manhandling".

 

you are a good doctor :-)

 

> I find it shocking that anyone pushed anyone else away from the deities in

> front of both the deities and Srila Prabhupada. If that's not

> "manhandling" I don't know what is.

 

i would be shocked to hear that men pushed women even when women were not

doing anything. women must have tried to use force otherwise where is the

question of men using force, unless they are not vaisnavas or even real men?

 

Let me clear my stand here before it gets more complicated and I be wrongly

seen as party line. I don't encourage a man's holding woman's hand in front

of the Deities to prevent her from taking darshan, nor do i encouarge women

exhibiting unwomanly qualities in temple for the same purpose. both are out

of etiquette and offensive. Definitely kaliyuga has acted there.

 

> The whole thing is just sad. I hope they'll take Braja Bihari Prabhu's

> excellent advice and sit down with a skilled facilitator for some

> mediation, before this turns into another "ritvik" or "Narayan Maharaja"

> style conflict.

 

tha's already in the list of kaliyuga's plans to divide and harm ISKCON.

it's upto us if we will let him succeed or not. Hare Krishna!

 

ys, bb

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a little troubled by the tenor of the discussion on different lists

regarding the discord in ISKCON's Vrindavana center. The first texts posted

by Parvati were clearly meant to stir up action. They wre deliberately

inflammatory, and many devotees responded with the greatest caution, if at

all, because they were unsure of what the situation actually was. More

recently, texts posted by Jivan-Mukta and Nayana-Ranjana prabhus really

muddy the issue due to what appears to be careless writing. Jivan Mukta

excerpted a quotation from Pranada's Chakra article in a way that makes it

appear, as Kusa and others have poited out, that she was saying that ISKCON

has no need to follow Srila Prabhupada's example. That is not at all what

she said; rather, what she pointed out was that there is nothing in Srila

Prabhupada's example that precludes giving women an opportunity to serve

the Lord, regardless of temporary bodily designation. To imply otherwise

shows either sloppy thinking or malice. Nayana-Ranjana's text mixes his

observation and second-hand reports from Vaishnava and Mahaman without

carefully distinguishing between them. All of this contributes to an

environment of quarrel, much like what linguist Deborah Tannen refers to as

America's "Argument Culture," which threatens to turn our company nothing

more than another fool's paradies with a different cultural veneer.

 

Moreover, Nayana-Ranjana's appeal for submission to authority, regardless

of their rectitude, can't help but remind readers of how this same appeal

has been used over the years. It's not very appealing.

 

Perhaps we should all put our computers away and get together for

congregational chanting of the holy names of Krishna, the only way to

overcome Kali's influence.

 

Wearily,

Babhru das

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 17 Nov 1999, Babhru das wrote:

 

Jivan Mukta

> excerpted a quotation from Pranada's Chakra article in a way that makes it

> appear, as Kusa and others have poited out, that she was saying that ISKCON

> has no need to follow Srila Prabhupada's example. That is not at all what

> she said; rather, what she pointed out was that there is nothing in Srila

> Prabhupada's example that precludes giving women an opportunity to serve

> the Lord, regardless of temporary bodily designation. To imply otherwise

> shows either sloppy thinking or malice.

 

Jivan Mukta Prabhu wrote:

> Dear Mother Kusha,

>

> PAMHO. AGTSP.

>

> >NEITHER local custom NOR examples set by Srila Prabhupada obligates

> >ISKCON managers to enforce a rule that women cannot take darsana

> >in the front.

>

> NEITHER "A" (local custom) NOR "B" (examples set by Srila Prabhupada)

> o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At 1:42 PM -0800 11/17/99, COM: Babhru (das) ACBSP (San Diego - USA) wrote:

>[Text 2787220 from COM]

 

>More

>recently, texts posted by Jivan-Mukta and Nayana-Ranjana prabhus really

>muddy the issue due to what appears to be careless writing. Jivan Mukta

>excerpted a quotation from Pranada's Chakra article in a way that makes it

>appear, as Kusa and others have poited out, that she was saying that ISKCON

>has no need to follow Srila Prabhupada's example.

 

Prabhu, you are an English teacher. Do you feel that Pranada's sentence is

an example of well-constructed writing?

 

>she pointed out was that there is nothing in Srila

>Prabhupada's example that precludes giving women an opportunity to serve

>the Lord, regardless of temporary bodily designation.

 

It has been explained that Pranada dd was trying to say there was nothing

in the example Prabhupada set that should give temple managers reason to

prevent women from taking darsana in the front of the altar.

 

However, it appears the custom for many years, which Prabhupada himself

established, has been for the women to take darsana in the front of the

altar *after* the sannyasis. Pranada dasi herself wrote:

 

"As part of a tradition Srila Prabhupada started, sannyasis and others pay

obeisances at the front of each altar when the doors open."

 

and:

 

"On the morning of the mangala-arati in question, evidently women advanced

toward Radha-Syama's altar before the ghee lamp was offered, thus "blocking

the sannyasis from offering their obeisances.

 

If the WM is genuinely concerned with examples set by Prabhupada in India,

then why do they want to change what he established as a standard in

Vrindavana? Can't the women wait their turn and then see the deities at the

front of the altar after the sannyasis and men?

 

>Perhaps we should all put our computers away and get together for

>congregational chanting of the holy names of Krishna, the only way to

>overcome Kali's influence.

>

>Wearily,

>Babhru das

 

Yes, let's sit down and chant Hare Krsna together. And let's all study

Prabhupada's books and worship him as well. And when we do these things,

and gain a little faith in and understanding of the philosophy, how can we

conceive to utter statements such as Dhyanakunda saying she has "a big

problem trusting persons" (like Prabhupada) "who label others so easily and

so unpredictably" or what "bothers" her "is that Srila Prabhupada is always

so sure of himself". And how can we tolerate it when others say such things?

 

I suppose the next thing we will hear is that Dhyanakunda dd, like Pranada

dd and like Bir Krsna Maharaja, really didn't mean what we thought they

said. Seems we are living in a world where black is no longer black and

white no longer white. Sorry but I have to stop now, my screen is a blur of

grey...

 

Your servant, Sita devi dasi

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...