diksa/siksa

[Guest guest]

> Madhusudani:

> > she will

> > soon take up the job as manager of Mandala media (www.mandala.org),

> > which very much promotes (check out their website) the books by those

> > non-ISKCON gurus/sannyasis. I have no problem with that,

>

> I do. It is an overgoing pattern. It is like Algerian patriots. They call

> Americans demons while dressed themselves in jeans and drinking Coca cola

> with a straw.

 

Excuse me? Am I understanding you correctly? Devotees have an opportunity to

work in a field that promotes Gaudiya Vaisnavism and you're comparing us to

Algerian patriots calling Americans demons?

 

I'll tell you my particular situation:

 

I am a single mother trying to raise a son who has lost a brother, his

sisters are grown up enough to move away from home and his father has

abandonded him. I have an opportunity to not work for non-devotees but

rather to promote Lord Chaitanya's sankirtan movement. I have found an

opportunity that is not available to me within Iskcon. And I have found a

way to protect and encourage my son in ways that I cannot in my current

situation. I have received blessings for this opportunity from Godbrothers

and Godsisters who are stalwart members of Iskcon. Am I abandoning my

spiritual master? Absolutely not! Am I being hypocritical? Absolutely not!

 

All the devotees I will be working with, whether Iskcon devotees or not,

acknowledge their indebtedness to Srila Prabhupada, and have the utmost

respect for Srila Prabhupada.

 

Having respect for other Vaisnavas does not mean that we're abandoning Srila

Prabhupada. As Braja Sevaki has already pointed out, her Guru Maharaja has

given his blessings for her to take up this work, and has expressed great

appreciation for Ramdas and the work he is doing at Mandala. He also has a

good relationship with the BBT.

 

It seems that you're assuming that we're hypocritical. What do you do for

work, prabhu? I have previously worked in a number of "outside" jobs,

including acting as a manager for housing co-ops, and as an insurance agent.

One could well argue that I was working in jobs that supported this demoniac

society and that it was hypocritical for me to do so when we have so many

criticisms of the current so-called society!

 

I am happy that I can support Vaisnavas and have the association of

Vaisnavas.

 

My daughters have both taken shelter of a guru outside of Iskcon. Do you

suggest I reject them? They have both grown up under the shelter of Srila

Prabhupada and yet they have made their choice to take shelter from a

non-Iskcon guru. Am I being hypocritical in supporting their choice for

pursuing their Krsna consciousness?

 

I had a talk with my Godbrother, Sridar Swami, about the above situation,

and he understood it completely. And, as he said: At least they're

Vaisnavas!

 

In other words, as young women with so many opportunities in this mundane

world, they have chosen to take up a fully surrendered life as devotees. My

younger daughter is very proud of the fact that she's a travelling sankirtan

devotee! She's beautiful, vivacious and only 19 years old - she could be

doing anything, and here she is, happy that she's distributing Vaisnava

literature!

 

Prabhu, you don't know me at all and yet you suggest such a thing as the

above comment. You do not know my heart or my consciousness and yet you are

willing to judge the choices I make in my life.

 

Oh, perhaps you meant all that for Braja Sevaki? I see! I guess that makes a

huge difference - obviously you know her mind and heart, and you know better

than her guru about the choices she makes in her life!

 

When we have taken the time to get the blessings of our guru, or in my case,

Godbrothers and Godsisters, who are you to question our choices?

 

Babhru prabhu, I know you have been pointing out already how "black and

white" email can be, and the above seems to be an example of this.

If the members cannot come to a consensus of the purpose of this conference,

I once again suggest that you close it down. Even without a consensus of the

purpose of the conference, surely it is not to belittle other Vaisnavas, and

to make assumptions about their lives which surely no one can know, perhaps

not even in person, but definitely not through email.

 

In the meantime, I shall have to ask, once again, to have myself deleted

from this conference.

 

Your servant,

Madhumati devi dasi