2006 started off in January, when Gaudiya Discussions, the highest quality Vaiṣṇava-webforum, finally collapsed under the weight of the offences and the immorality of one of its leaders, Jagadānanda Dās, who was finally recognized as such by his colleagues.
When I returned to Vṛndāvan in February, Satya-nārāyan Dās convinced me in a gentle, civil manner (unlike Jagat 'n his friends) that śāstra is not always to be taken literally, and also urged me to avoid creating or getting involved with controversies on the internet, an advise I followed ever since.
In March I moved into Sudevi's goshala at Radhakund and had more satsanga with Satya-nārāyan Dās in Vṛndāvan.
Back in Holland in April I turned 50, but I held no celebration and did not feel old either. madangopal.com got 25 mb extra space so I uploaded all of Sadhu Baba's kirtans and classes to it. Later that month I opened madangopal.blogspot to the public, enabling the comments links (exactly one year after starting blogging).
In May we had interesting discussions about pramāda japa and Gaura lila, but still only few comments came in. Unfortunately I had to enable a comment moderator because of negative and/or off-topic reactions.
In June I left Welfare, after 17 (!) years, to become an heir. Subal Das became a target for strong criticism, and comments began to pour in to the blog. Big pratishtha: A wiki page dedicated to yours truly was published and a blog on the need for chanting 64 rounds attracted no less than 44 comments.
In July Holland scorched under an unprecedented heatwave and Satya-nārāyan Dās kindly came down here to give darśan and pāṭh.
In August I spent 15 wonderful days in Śyāma Priyā Kuñja in the Swiss alps, giving 30 lectures on rāgānugā bhakti and mañjarī-bhāva to a very favorable audience. My blog 'Hidden Motives' attracted a record 93 comments. The month came to a tragic end by the unexpected passing away of my seniormost Guru-sister Kṛṣṇā Dās.
In September I made two book reviews, 'Premavilās' and 'Sikṣāṣṭakam', and a renegade pujari of Banki Bihari dressed Him with blue jeans, shirt and mobile phone, sparking outrage both in real life and in cyberspace. When I arrived in Vṛndāvan the riot was all over.
In October we had a long debate about Gaura nitya lila and I spent a sober and rather routine Kārtik month at Radhakund.
The final months, November and December, were occupied by reading and sharing one of the best and most useful English Vaiṣṇava publications ever, Bhānu Swāmī's translation of the comprehensive Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu, with all verses and comments, lock stock n barrel.
Spiritually speaking 2006 was slightly better than 2004 and 2005, but bhajan is still not what it used to be.....
When I returned to Vṛndāvan in February, Satya-nārāyan Dās convinced me in a gentle, civil manner (unlike Jagat 'n his friends) that śāstra is not always to be taken literally, and also urged me to avoid creating or getting involved with controversies on the internet, an advise I followed ever since.
In March I moved into Sudevi's goshala at Radhakund and had more satsanga with Satya-nārāyan Dās in Vṛndāvan.
Back in Holland in April I turned 50, but I held no celebration and did not feel old either. madangopal.com got 25 mb extra space so I uploaded all of Sadhu Baba's kirtans and classes to it. Later that month I opened madangopal.blogspot to the public, enabling the comments links (exactly one year after starting blogging).
In May we had interesting discussions about pramāda japa and Gaura lila, but still only few comments came in. Unfortunately I had to enable a comment moderator because of negative and/or off-topic reactions.
In June I left Welfare, after 17 (!) years, to become an heir. Subal Das became a target for strong criticism, and comments began to pour in to the blog. Big pratishtha: A wiki page dedicated to yours truly was published and a blog on the need for chanting 64 rounds attracted no less than 44 comments.
In July Holland scorched under an unprecedented heatwave and Satya-nārāyan Dās kindly came down here to give darśan and pāṭh.
In August I spent 15 wonderful days in Śyāma Priyā Kuñja in the Swiss alps, giving 30 lectures on rāgānugā bhakti and mañjarī-bhāva to a very favorable audience. My blog 'Hidden Motives' attracted a record 93 comments. The month came to a tragic end by the unexpected passing away of my seniormost Guru-sister Kṛṣṇā Dās.
In September I made two book reviews, 'Premavilās' and 'Sikṣāṣṭakam', and a renegade pujari of Banki Bihari dressed Him with blue jeans, shirt and mobile phone, sparking outrage both in real life and in cyberspace. When I arrived in Vṛndāvan the riot was all over.
In October we had a long debate about Gaura nitya lila and I spent a sober and rather routine Kārtik month at Radhakund.
The final months, November and December, were occupied by reading and sharing one of the best and most useful English Vaiṣṇava publications ever, Bhānu Swāmī's translation of the comprehensive Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu, with all verses and comments, lock stock n barrel.
Spiritually speaking 2006 was slightly better than 2004 and 2005, but bhajan is still not what it used to be.....
Wishing you a wonderful 2007 !
ReplyDeleteMay all the Vaisnavas be glorious and let all of us move beyond quarrel and sectarianism
Yours,
Anuradha
Thank you Anuradha. Insgelijks! Jay Radhe!
ReplyDeleteIt is great to know that, with the help of prabhu Satyanarayana, you finally had your breakthrough there accepting that shastra and literalism cannot, and do not, always go together. Compliments to the both of you on this.
ReplyDeleteAnother breakthrough was you finally coming out of dependence on government welfare. As a denouncer of immoralities, such change was crucial for you.
But I suspect that the next great lesson you will learn from prabhuji is that, in reality, the road to morality is built strictly but of blocks of economics.
Have another great year!
I disagree with the second point. Begging is a practise of the clergy globally, whether it be Hinduism, Buddhism or Christianity. I find nothing immoral about it, it is a test of humility and renunciation. It creates an income-cap, making sure that the clergyman does not have too much money to spend. After all, welfare is a minimum handout, not a fortune. Thirdly, if the clergyman does spend all his welfare money on the Lord's service he/she engages the financial institution and the taxpayer in the same too. Fourthly, welfare or any other money-for-nothing, like an inheritance, enables the clergyman to avoid 8 hours daily exposure to godless materialists - asat sanga tyaga ei vaishnava acara "Giving up bad company - that is the conduct of a Vaishnava."
ReplyDeleteI can’t believe that a person, like Anonymous, who obviously knows about Vaishnavism can talk like that.
ReplyDeleteI’ll be a racist here just for once. Sorry Advaita das. But more and more I am becoming convinced that people who grew up in the so called western society take to spirituality greatly different from Asians. I know I’ll get the flak from saying that. Maybe I will even get a smack, but I am getting fed up with people who talk spiritual but behave worst than an average “karmi”. Maybe I will be the most hated person in the vaishnava world, but so what; that is what I suspected all the time since I first contacted a western devotee.
Adavaita das, I can not believe that you will let those toxins from Anonymous slip. You should have crushed it in the first place. Please help in not contaminating the cyberspace with hatred !
I admire Adavaita das for trying to engaged her late mother in GVism. For that alone he deserves some respect.
Anonymous, either you are naïve or just plain stupid. We are all rorting the system from time to time, one way or the other. Believe me and I have firsthand experience, that even people with money try to find loopholes so they can reduce the money they pay the government. It does not mean technically they are cheating, they are not, they are just finding the way to get the most from the economic and legal set up to their most advantageous benefit. What are good lawyers and accountants for! A socialist leaning friend told me that one can not be that rich unless you did something “wrong”.That is why in the big scheme of things, the poor and ordinary people are more honest, in my opinion.
If they are handing you money why not take it. You can use it for something good.
Firstly, we have to be realistic, a person like Adavaita das who had devoteed his most materially productive part of his life in spirituality , as a young person in India, will have a difficulty getting into the mainstream western society , like getting a job and be part of the “organiztion,” etc., even though he learned some skills.
Myself, who had always been in the karmi world sometimes finds it difficult to relate to non-devotees. That is why sometimes, they do not like me. Myself being in a brown body makes the matter a little bad; though I am not the ugliest Asian in Australia.
To be honest, I can not be as honest as Adavaita to announe that I am on welfare, if I ever become one. I think he has some humility there.
With regards to literalism and sastra, well that’s what he thinks. You can’t enforce your mind into his.
BTW, Adavaita which throne did you enherit? :)
Hmm the first major debate of 2007. Though I dislike the fact that people hide behind anonymity when they comment here, it is a lack of courage, honesty and transparancy, I dont think that this particular anon was really rude or offensive (you should know what other things anons send to me, which never get posted!!!) I think that this anon's comment was fair and civil. It is not inconceivable that some jealousy motivated him/her to comment like that, though, cause I noticed that even 'friends' are a bit jealous of my long term in welfare. Indeed, hardworking people often cheat their customers or the tax office too, but that should not be an excuse for anyone else to leach off the community. A devotee who gets money-for-nothing should see it as Krishna's yoga-ksema (see Bhagavad Gita 9.22) and make the proper use of the facilities, namely ananyas cintayanto mam.
ReplyDelete"BTW, Advaita which throne did you enherit?"
I dont know well what to make of this question, but I hope one day to inherit that magic of Sadhu Baba, not as a successor but as a worthy representative. Financially I became the heir of my mother, who passed away on August 28, 2005 (there is a blog about that on that date).