25 December 2011

KKSblog.com - In deep meditation

KKSblog.com - In deep meditation

In deep meditation

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 03:50 PM PST

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Mayapur, November 2011) Lecture – Caitanya-caritamrta Part 3

The Lord was seeing how Rupa and Sanatana were devotees. He knew very well that they were living in Ramakeli, and in that village they were situated close to the government. It wasn't where the government was situated, but it was their own village, which was next to the place where the government was situated. And in that village they had re-created Vrindavan.

As Bhakti-Ratnakara describes, that they had built very nice cottages on the bank of the Ganges, and were inviting different learned scholars from all over India to come to visit them, and to stay with them. They were providing them with everything while they were there. Anything a brahmana could desire, in terms of a library, scriptures, and nothing to worry about since all the material things could be arranged: nice prashadam; good and clean residence; no headache. The kind of environment where all you have to do is focus on the scriptures. Something that any brahminical person would want, since they do not want to be bothered with all these material things! So Rupa and Sanatana provided that very nicely.

Therefore, Ramakeli had the greatest scholars and there was always a daily discussion taking place in the court, with Rupa and Sanatana on matters about scriptures. So Bhagavatam discussions were not only taking place during that time, but also when Santanta Goswami decided (that after Rupa's retirement) that he too did not to go to work, and wanted to just hear the Bhagavatam instead. But they have always done that along with their government service. They were having such discussion as mentioned in the Bhakti-Ratnakara in great details, and that they went to places that reminded them of Vrindavan.

And in this way they were in deep meditation and you could imagine how Rupa and Sanatana were trained by their discussions on all sorts of topics with the best scholars of their time. They themselves, were scholars of great repute, and were the participants in discussions on par with the great scholars of their time. Therefore, the scholarship of Rupa and Santana Goswami developed over a longer period of time in Ramakeli!

The Ethics of the Bhagavat Philosophy

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 02:52 PM PST

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Mayapur, November 2011) Lecture – Caitanya-caritamrta Part 3

We see that Prabhupada was not like a parrot! As the essay from Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, 'The Eithics of the Bhagavat Philosophy' describes:

'One's mind should not only be a repository of knowledge – where things are just stored and reproduced, but one should take this knowledge, think about it creatively, and apply it creatively in one's life!'

That has been explained by him, and Srila Prabhupada certainly did that by always being a faithful instrument. He was a very faithful instrument, and also seeming to meet the objectives from his spiritual master, and not by just parroting and not like being a fundamentalist:

"Like, well you know…. my guru said this and there cannot be a change!".

No, it is also about experimenting a little, adjusting a little – sixteen rounds is sort of all right. There were things like ladies in the ashram, and so many things that were substantial. I mean, obviously if you put men and women together in a temple, then you are going to have some fireworks! That's inevitable, and the Gauḍīya Math has rightly criticised this in a sense. How can you have that in the ashram? But they could not see what he saw: That there is another culture; there was no shelter; and that you could not keep the ladies at home, since they are also sincere souls, and required the shelter of the Krishna conscious environment. They couldn't understand the principle. So anyway Prabhupada (in his humility) did not have an over fundamentalist type of nature!

The Cape of Good Hope

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 01:45 PM PST

Maharaja's South African tour continued with a week-long visit to Cape Town (18-25 December). At the Sunday Feast lecture he spoke on Bhagavad-Gita (1.1). Apart from glorifying the book, he also encouraged devotees to support the petition against Russia's attempt to ban Bhagavad-Gita. At the end of the lecture, once again Maharaja handed-out packs of Srila Prabhupada's books to the congregation and appealed to the devotees to distribute them! The program concluded with an ecstatic kirtana.

During the week, Maharaja presented the daily morning classes on Srimad-Bhagavatam. Various different programs were held in the evenings and each one began with the most wonderful bhajan sessions. The European traveling sankirtana team (Vishnujana, Gourakaruna and Prahlada) arrived on Tuesday and just added to the energetic nature of the programs. On Monday and Tuesday night, Maharaja held seminars on the Caitanya-Caritamrta where he discussed different personalities in the book, the author, the glories of Lord Caitanya and stressed the modern day relevance of the book. On Wednesday and Thursday night, Maharaja gave classes at the houses of devotees.

However, the highlight of the week was undoubtedly the Friday night harinama which was the best ever that took place in Cape Town. The harinama party paraded along the main street of the inner-city where a huge crowd had assembled for a night market that was being held there and went on until 11 pm. Maharaja led a powerful kirtana accompanied by accordion and drummers while devotees chanted and danced in ecstasy. The energy was contagious as passers-by waved, smiled, blared horns on their cars, some even danced and others just stared in astonishment. It was definitely a night to be remembered.

The final item on the itinerary was a Saturday night loft-preaching program targeted for new-comers. The topic for the evening was Reflections on the Holy Name. Maharaja shared his early experiences of mantra meditation and how chanting transformed his life.

Enjoy the pictures.

If you can’t view the slide show then visit flickr!

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