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Swans and Ducks

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gHari

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I found this interesting story HERE:

 

<blockquote>Sri Kamakhya Carana asked, "Repeatedly chanting the name of Hari, I often have the feeling that soon I will obtain darsana of Bhagavan, but as soon as the thought arises that I will leave my loved ones, I become afraid and I cease chanting. By what method can I continue to chant at such moments?"

 

 

Although the question lacked intelligence and depth, Srila Gurudeva endeavored to explain with the help of an example.

 

He replied, "Some ducks were swimming in a pond which was foul and stagnant. With great glee they were living by eating snails, worms, prawns, etc., in that putrid environment.

 

One day, they saw their cousins flying overhead in the azure sky. They were in all respects, from feather to size, very beautiful. The ducks on the pond reasoned that the handsome appearance of their cousins was due to the fact that where their cousins soared was a better place than their own pond. Then they felt sorry for themselves, thinking that if they could only go to that place, they too would become as attractive as their cousins.

 

However, the birds in the sky were actually swans who were returning to Manasa Sarovara from the sea. Seeing the forlorn expression of the ducks, one of the swans felt pity for them, and circled downwards.

 

The ducks were filled with a sense of awe upon seeing this majestic creature more closely. They prayed to be taken to the swan's abode. The swan said that it was for this very reason that he had descended from above to take the ducks away from that unhealthy, foul place.

 

The ducks, however, replied that they did not possess the strength to fly far and high. Full of compassion, the swan suggested to the ducks that they climb onto his back. Upon hearing this, the ducks conferred with one another and then asked the swan whether or not they would find snails and worms in their new place of residence. The swan replied that such low creatures are not to be found in the Himalayan Manasa Sarovara. In that place, they live by eating the lotus flower.

 

Speaking in chorus, the ducks wanted to know how they would therefore survive there. Unanimously, they decided not to go. It was the petty attractions of the pond that held the ducks back. Analogously, it is the external gross creations of Maya and its attractions that act as barriers to our leaving this mundane world.

 

Sri Bhagavan, uncontaminated by material attributes, is ever blissful and any place He is present becomes pure and sanctified. There is nothing in the place where He resides that is foul or temporary. Those who cling to the creations and manifestations of Maya can never reach the True Creator. Bhagavan and Maya are polar opposites.

 

Man cannot become free from base desires without the help of sadhus:

 

<blockquote>

tato duhsangam utsrjya

satsu sajjeta buddhiman

santa evasya chindanti

mano-vyasangam uktibhih

(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 11.26.26)

</blockquote>

 

"The wise avoid the wicked and seek the holy. One who is holy, offering holy advice, cuts asunder the desires that create obstructions in one's spiritual life."

 

</blockquote>

gHari

 

------------------

Gary Stevason

Seeking the Kingdom of God

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Those who cling to the creations and manifestations of Maya can never reach the True Creator. Bhagavan and Maya are polar opposites. (gHari)

 

This kind of statement is purest Zoroastrian doctrine, that has a lot of influence in Islam. It is not Vedic at all. According to the Vedic (sruti) texts Hari is one without a second and there is nothing than Hari. No other entity like Maya can be an opponent to Hari’s supreme free will and act as His polar opposite.

 

Sankara also has postulated in his mayavada doctrine that Maya is something different than Hari, a kind of non-entity who may delude jivas.

 

So, is that guru who is instructing his followers in that way a Islamic mullah or a mayavadi?

 

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Sri Bhagavan, uncontaminated by material attributes, is ever blissful and any place He is present becomes pure and sanctified. (gHari)

 

According to Vedanta Hari is the operative as well as the material cause of the creation, because of his making Himself so, and by modifying Himself into the material world and its forms (Vedanta-sutra 1.4.26).

 

So, in fact Hari is every place and nothing can be placed outside Him. According to sruti text, material world is not a ‘contaminated’ place as it is part of Hari’s lilas and it is itself a manifestation of Hari. Therefore ananda or that bliss is also present in material creation, as a component of Hari’s intrinsic nature.

 

Is that guru instructing his followers that the material creation is not Hari Himself and denying His lilas of creation like most of the Semitic sects?

 

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Originally posted by gHari:

<blockquote>

tato duhsangam utsrjya

satsu sajjeta buddhiman

santa evasya chindanti

mano-vyasangam uktibhih

(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 11.26.26)

</blockquote>

 

"The wise avoid the wicked and seek the holy. One who is holy, offering holy advice, cuts asunder the desires that create obstructions in one's spiritual life."

 

</blockquote>

 

 

Those who know Him

Know not where to avoid Him.

Those who know wickedness

Will flee it everywhere.

Those who are wise

know this.

 

.

.

.

 

 

------------------

talasiga@hotmail.com

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I encountered a character who "met the Krishnas" in the seventies. He remembered the wonderful food, but said that when they explained he would have to give up sex, he never came back.

 

I told him that he should have listened a little bit longer because after Krsna asked him to give Him six cents, He promised to give him all the money in the world in return. Had he only listened a little further.

 

Many can give four or five cents, but for some like the jnanis that last shiny penny is so difficult to part with; and the sex mongers chained to eros will die with that dirty little penny tightly clenched in their fists.

 

How much can you part with?

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Originally posted by Satyaraja dasa:

Talasigaji:

The Ferry of Devotion

Parts the River from shore to shore

Yet see how the waters are still undivided !

 

Satyaraj:

 

Would that Ferry parts swans and ducks?

 

 

Just come to the decks and see !

Swans to the starboard, swans to the portside

And ducks to the starboard, ducks to the portside !

 

 

.

.

.

 

------------------

talasiga@hotmail.com

 

[This message has been edited by talasiga (edited 11-15-2001).]

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