Letters to the editor

Hare Krna dear Gurumaharaja

Please accept our humble obeisances

Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

I am writing to ask you a question regarding the worship service. In SB 4.27.24, Srila Prabhupada mentions: "A devotee follows the principles of pāñcarātrika-vidhi as well as bhāgavata-vidhi. Bhāgavata-vidhi includes preaching work - śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ - the hearing and chanting of the glories of the Lord Viṣṇu, the Lord Viṣṇu Supreme Personality of Godhead. The pāñcarātrika-vidhi includes arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam. " In his commentary, the process of pāda-sevanam is not mentioned. I have heard from you that a neophyte devotee performs the first three processes, the madhyama devotee the next three, and the first-class devotee the last three.

Is the worship service (at home or temple) whether puja, Salagram Silas bath or other seva, considered pāda-sevanam or arcanaṁ?

HpS - AGTSP paoho. Our knowledge in these areas is not so great. You can ask other devotees! In general if they are installed dieties and saligrama sila we would understand it to be arcana, but if they are just your own unistalled statues or pictures, then I would inderstand it to be Pada sevanam. Of course, the relationship with a pictures eg. Lord Nrsmhadeva by your door to whom you pray upon coming and going, can be more intense than someone may have through the formal externally satvik procedures of workshipping installed deities.

Being a neophyte devotee, should I perform my worship service emphasizing meditation (smaranam) because I am at that level?

HpS - Technically if we have taken second initiation we are Madhyama adhikaris. The worship of the deity as described above is a specific process. I can be, and is, combined with other processes eg. you have to kirtanam, chant, prayers while you are doing it. Of course, smaranam is very natural for the prayers, Holy Names and, and, and, the Form of the deity.

What is the difference between pāda-sevanam and arcanaṁ?

HpS - As dscribed above, as we understand, PS is doing service for Krsna eg. buy things. cleaning His house. Making money for Him, going to His temple, but arcanam is the formal ritualistic diety worship.

Do the processes of pāñcarātrika-vidhi require higher qualifications than a brahmana?

HpS - As far as I know some of them can be performed by non-intiated people who might be helping or becoming Second Diksa devotees, and others would be aimed at Goswami level devotees.

Thank you very much in advance

Your servant Gandharva das

HpS - Hare Krsna.

AGTSP!

Paoho

We see some tendency to reject some statements of Srila Prabupada in conflict with modern science. I have doubts about rejecting some seemingly incorrect truth statements where popular science contradicts the Vedas and Srila Prabhupada's presentations.

Eg as I understand, having studied quantum mechanics at U.C. Berkeley, etc, Sadaputa shows in his first book that the sun is closer to the moon than the earth comes from the definition of the earth as Bhu-mandala and not the globe of dirt circulating in space.  It is an amazing glorification the Vedic cosmology, but certain words have to be interpreted. They are not wrong. He is using them in a non-standard way.

It is not fair to demand that he be accurate in our modern standard. As far as understand the sun is closer to Bhu-mandala, the ecliptic, than the moon.

There seem to be so, so, so many holes in modern astronomy that to say that the stars are suns like ours is subject to question.  Eg. if I put a stick in water you can "see" that it is "cut" and shifted very sharply where it hits the water. "Oh, Oh, haw, haw!  This is an optical illusion".

Well, yes, but it is just a fact that the speed of sound in water, air, metal etc is different. Having experienced the media on the earth and the moon (?) then are we to say that what we are seeing from Mars is not coming through different media making it shift this way or that way?

Then Mars is just a few million miles away.

You know that the closest star is Alpha Centauri, no?   According to my calculations they place it at 7.6 trillion miles away. If we push Mars to 76 million miles away then we are extending our speculation by a factor of 10,000, no? Ie. one Gulabjamun is good two are better, three are better, therefor 10,000 will be really great.

Space is steady all that distance? There is no gravity river around our solar system...?

Hmmmm?

Hare Krsna. We were sent two papers on this topic from GBC, so we have to do that. We are certainly open to being corrected!!!!!!!

Writing to our very esteemed, ASA, GBC Secretary, H. G. Virabahu Das on Whatsapp:

=-=-=-=-=

AGTSP! paoho.

Saw a description of the GBC Female Diksa Guru Resolution, and have to make this Formal Comment to you as our GBC Secretary.

As we understand it we have to reject it, and anyone approved by it, and encourage others to do so.

Jaya! 😎

Most of it seems workeable to us, but we agree with Saunaka Rsi Das, 'Oxford Center for HIndu Studies' etc., that we have such a bad understanding of Diksa-guru, that deciding if "Women Can Become Diksa Gurus" is based upon a impractical foundation of whether anyone can become a Diksa-guru, so the general concept needs work.

The detailed line that we as lawyers are objecting to strenuously is that the Candidates are O.K. if they are are under the PROTECTION of Daddy, Husband, Grown-up Son, or... one of the respected Vaisnavi-sangas.

This is a collection of women with no man protecting, directing them, no?

Ooops.

As we all heard Mother Yamuna Devi Dasi tried to start one of these in Oregon while Srila Prabhupada was here and he said, "No".

Hare Krsna Guru Maharaja.

Favor acepte mis respetuosas reverencias.

Todas las glorias sean para Srila Prabhupada!

Estimado Guru Maharaja. Espero que se encuentre pleno en el servicio a Sri Nrsimhadeva.

Acá todo sigue más o menos igual.

16 rondas diarias 98%

Gayatri 85%

Principios 98%

Estudiando Bhakti Vaibhava (1°canto cap. 8-11)

HpS - 8 = Prayers of QUeen Kunti and Uttara saved, 9 = Bhisma, 10, 11 = [?] Krsna departs for Dvaraka and Arrives??

Seguimos con el curso Bhakti Sastri (facilitadora). Hoy terminamos el Sri Isopanisad y en 3 semanas comenzamos con Upadesamrta.

ASA - Jaya! Om purnam adah purnam idam....

También comenzaremos un 3° curso para Discípulos online en octubre (facilitadora).

Estamos abriendo una Escuela Virtual llamada Atma Kula (la verdad no sabemos si el concepto se entiende, pues no sabemos sánscrito, pero podemos cambiarlo en el futuro).

HpS - It seems nice. Guru kula - Guru's Place. Atma kula = Self's place. ??

Comenzaremos (lunes 14) con una charla de Ayurveda, y luego abriremos un curso (ayurveda) de 3 meses para los interesados. Queremos dar talleres y cursos. *Si tiene alguna sugerencia para ésta escuela virtual, estaremos muy agradecidos🙏

HpS - Seems like many programs. Do you do them alone? Who helps?

Mi familia está bien. Los niños avanzando con sus tareas escolares y con los pasatiempos de Krsna.

Jagannatha estudiando BvB, y realizando su servicio en la administración.

..................................

Tengo 2 preguntas Gurudev:

1.¿Quién habló el Sri Isopanisad?

HpS - Aparece Svayam bhuva Manu. Es en mencionado despues en al Bhagavatam, yo pienso. Canto Tres cuando el renuncia todo despues de pasa Devahuta a Kardama.

2.Los Gurus, discípulos de SP están dejando el cuerpo. En unos años más muchos de ustedes no estarán físicamente. ¿qué podemos hacer quienes "probablemente" nos quedemos por más tiempo sirviendo en ISKCON? ¿Quiénes serán nuestros guías? ¿Quiénes liderarán ISKCON en el futuro?

HpS - Prabhupada esta personalmente presente en sus libros. Puede preguntar de el paramatma y los deidades del temple. puede hablar con 5 mas buen devotos. Muy bien. Va sentir claro.

Muchas gracias Guru Maharaja por tanto servicio, por tantas horas de escritura, clases, estudio, converaciones, respuestas, bendiciones y oraciones, Gracias por tantos buenos deseos, instrucciones, por todas Sus reprimendas.

Esperamos mantenernos siempre en servicio y mejorar poco a poco.

Su aspirante a sirviente

Priya Sakhi Devi Dasi

HpS - !!!!!! Gracias a Vd. Aparece que vd esta realizando la vida religioso para algunas vidas anterior tambien.

Todo respectos al Jagannatha. Tiene que entrenar su succesor, no?

Hari Bol Esteemed Soldier, Kneeling Pranam,

its 3am, we just wrote virat purusa letter.

but we were contemplating on your lectures. and then were dancing (thinking that krsna is fighting in front of us).

then seemed somebody recorded it, we got angry , no one can see me whem i am with krsna, person can assume i having good time with him.

--- then i remember your lecture, where you quoted a philosophy "my guru is having sex with universe".

my thoughts were on similar lines, i wanted to be enjoyed not enjoyer.

secondly can we write such letters, not much official sankirtana...

lets get awarded in the closet

HpS - Hare Krsna!!!!! You seem to be coming to a lyrical form of expression. That is very good. "Everyone should be allowed to talk to himself, just so long as he proves to be amusing", Some French Guy