Letters to the editor

hare Krsna Maharaj, Please accept my obeisances (not humble though), all glories to Srila Prabhupada, ASA Civil Dead Man Club.

glorious saint , you are the rare people on earth who is treading the path chalked by Acaryas seriously and is always looking to improve self.

            HpS - ASA - AGTSP paoho. We, Tom Brown, agree, but we are humble.

Your sincerity is undoubtable, it is corroborated when we noticed that you are preaching to walls at 5am. People of your intellect are very rare...

          ASA - Oink!
 

Hope we can just glorify you and then capacity to glorify the Parampars by purification.... All glories to Hanumantpresak Swami and his tradition/parampara.....

this letter is primarily on very broad topic of Guru-Tattva. We have some how decided to enroll ourself in of theological tradition..

though our mind once said us to direct ---i know there is god.. i have no problem with him.. i just want to enjoy sex life to the fullest..then if i can  serve god no problem.. he is my maintainer..... but i really want to enjoy...
at worst case....
let god be there where he is  and let me do my business ... this was shocking to us..
 

but we can not accept this plea/dictum of our mind[it will take us to hell definitely]. but we realize that we can not tame him without help of a guru. But we are really confused at position of guru and relation with disciple.
--- Who takes the sin of disciples ? If guru takes sin which all sins he takes--- before intiation or even after intiation.

     ASA - Anybody we give advice to, we take reaction for their Karma, no? As we follow Lord Caitanya's instructions, Srnvatam sva katha krsna (SB 1.2) then He burns up our reactions and then at the time of initiation the Diksa guru finishes off the last bit.

--- Is it possible that if guru takes the sins, he may not suffer ?

    HpS - He has to suffer, burn them up, but he doesn't do it until most of them are burnt up by the year of Japa etc by the candidate.
 

--- Is ritvik concept ok ? like in protestant christians Jesus is the ultimate guru (he takes the sin) , pastor (does not take your sin).....

        ASA - Problem with "ritivik concept" is that it is never stated in any kind of detail by Srila Prabhupada. It is just a word for "priest" that he uses. In general, no, there must be a priest. We must act as we hear from te lips of our spiritual master, but he can say with his lips, "Srila Prabhupada is in his books".
 

--- what is the difference between ISK ritivk and ISK non0ritvik disciple ? How they both have to relate to Srila Prabhupada ?

             ASA - As explained there is no standard meaning to Ritvik. Different guys use it generally, but in general it means that the "diksa guru" is just a priest, but in ISKCON the "diksa guru" is taking real responsibility on by authority of Prabhupada depending on his level of development.
--- what is the relation of ISK non ritvik disciple with intiating gurus ?

       ASA - It is individual. Depends on the personal nature, development, of the Iskcon Guru. Look at NOI 5 last paragraph. We present these things in www.jayarama.us/kd/guru-tattva.txt, no? They are all accepting Srila Prabhupada as the Samsthapaka acharya. He make the foundation for ISKCON we can only, must, build on that. 

we are asking this because of our mind. In FIRO-B test wefound we  were high on command and control (8 OUT OF 9).. We like to receive commands and we like to give commands...
but in the past we had some mistake, we took our counsellors as representative of god.. and followed some advices ...which lead us in troubles later..

at present we are cautious of  accpeting people as gurus--esp (guru mukha padam vakya-cittate na kariye ekya).. because of our high command and control nature..if we accept somebody as our guru, mostly we will be ready to die and kill for fulfilling his wish....
hence we need to clarify Guru-Tattva principles. we hope these question will also help all bloggers may be whole universe

regards,
trying to be sincere--bhakta harsh

           ASA - The guru-tattva.txt thing is complete. Krsna is guru. If you pray to Him, Japa. He WILL guide you.

Hare Krsna Guru Maharaj,

Please accept our humble obeisances.

All glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada!

Maharaj, after reading the blog we realized we should have wrote urgent in the subject line to our last letter.  We apologize for not foolishly writing about this move earlier, we have been very mental about the whole thing hoping its the best decision for all parties. 

The education symposium is very exciting! We will see if the administers and teachers at the school would be interested in the digitally attending. Also, Thankyou for sending the Tpp composition book! We have not recieved the manuscript as of yet.

On another note, Shri Hari Prabhu informed that not enough participants signed up for Bhakti Sastri and due to his busy schedule he suggested that it may be easier to just attend the new Bhakti Vaibhava group. We are now reading the first two chapters and answering notes in study guide. We would still like to officially finish Bhakti Sastri study though...we have all of the printed study guides and wanted to inquire about the possibility of doing a self study or finding a local teacher in the area that might oversee us. We can still follow the BS calendar Sree Hari outlined for the 2014-2015 year.

      HpS - ASA - AGTSP paoho You should contact Srivasa Pandit Das in San Jose. 510 789-8347

We feel our enthusiasm is there usually but we are hoping to have a more scriptural foundation to what we are doing to gain emotional, spiritual support and clarity. We have read throughout the years, but have not finished a systematic study.

Thankyou again for tolerating us. The blog helps so much, such great accessible  association from so many great sincere souls.

Your aspiring servants,

Kamagayatri and Aja

HpS - Very nice to hear from you!!!!!

Hare Krsna Respected Guru Maharaj,
    Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet.

             HpS - ASA - AGTSP. Maybe potatoe flower feet for us.
 

    All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
    All glories to Guru parampara.

    Gurudev, How do you manage your same schedule for all the countries. When you visit one country to another, like your wake up time, chanting time, and all other timing. What you keep in your mind to follow the same to all the country.

     HpS - We just try to keep the same schedule by local hour - 1.30 AM Japa Joe etc. Of course, takes some time for biological clock to adjust, and then we put our priorities first into the day's calendar: Rounds, Mangala arati, SB...

    Gurudev, What you would advise, when we go to a new place for few days. How we should maintain our daily activities. I mean to say, how i can
    maintain the same kind of conciousness as when we go to Vrandavan. How i can maintain the same kind of conciousness? What we have to do or
    what precaution i need to follow.

HpS - Main thing is WHY you are going there. If you are going for Krsna's service then it is already Vrndavana. What is the goal for going here, do that, then you are in Vrndavana.

    Thank you, Guru Dev.

your fallen servant,
Girivaradhari-Gopal Das

             HpS - Jaya Giri-govardhana!

Hare Krsna Respected Guru Maharaj,
    Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet.
    All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
    All glories to Guru parampara.

    Hope you are in good health & writing a nice book for us.

    After a long time, am writing to you. While we check the blog, every day.

    First, want to share about KG:
    1. Wake-up between 3:00 - 3:15 AM
    2. Chanting 17 rounds
    3. Lecture and Study - BG
    4. Lecture - SB
    5. Puja
    6. Cooking
    7. Offering
    8. Office
    9. Study - BG

    We have changed our schedule a bit. More focused on BG Study. Has set target date to complete by December 31, 2014.
    Then, will start SB.

    Schedule has been changed as per instruciton of Shiksa Guru (H G Gopendra Prabhu, Vrndavana). And the same has been informed to local Shiksa Guru (H G Balram Hari Prabhu, Pune).

    Office work as usual.

    Gurudev, Do you have any schedule for India for "Kartik" in Vrndavan?

             HpS - We are so so happy to hear from you. We saw your letters and wanted to read them sooner but they were not marked 'Urgent' so we are just coming to them in order of receiving them. It is so nice to hear from you.

Are you using some Study Guide for the BG study???
We go where Krsna takes us but now looks like we will get to India like October 2015. It is a long way to travel and our Donkey is rather old.

    Gurudev, Please advise on 2nd Initiation. If you permit, would like to go for 2nd initiation.

    HpS - ASA -- Your Sadhana seems like a Brahmana. Your association seems the same. I think you just have to get the Bh.Sastri certificate and then of course approval by President. We would like to visit Pune. In three days is the Kapi Dhvaja. We will try to write more about our "Book Writing".

    Gurudev, Question : How you chant in your mind, how you meditate on Prasadam!!

     HpS - We remember that Prabhupada says that in Kali yuga best is Maha-mantra with lips and voice and three Gayatri sandyas silently.

Prasadam we meditate on many ways but one of the best, most fun is meditating on what we will offer to Lord Nrsmhadeva. We want a nutritious diet for Him. O.K. You??

    Thank you, Guru Dev.

your fallen servant,
Girivaradhari-Gopal Das

                 HpS - What kind of preaching are you able to do at work?

All glories toSrila Prabhupada. Dear Gurudev, please accept our respectful obeisances. After your last visit to Mexico, there was a need to improve the Sunday program ASA Kids México. For that reason we were thinking that with the help of the temple authorities, we can acquire   the “Hare Krishna Sunday School Program”, which was created by Mother Tapasvini dasi and Sangita devi dasi. The program is divided amongst 3 age groups: Madhava (6-8) years old,  Damodar (9-11) years old and Madan Mohan (12 – 14 years old). Here is the link if you want to check it out. http://harekrishnasundayschool.com/  We trust this program will help us give better tools for the good Krishna Consciousness development of our children community. As part of this project we will translate the program so future generations can have the benefit it offers. We would like to know your opinion about this plan, so we can continue working under your divine guidance. Thank you very much for you precious time, we pray so we can have your blessings so we can continue serving Srila Prabhupada through our children community. Your servants, Gopi Radha and Anuradha DD. ASA Kids México

HpS - AGTSP!  paoho -- As I know the program it is very good and has been used successfully in many Temples. Maybe somebody else on the Blog can make a comment. It may already be translated! Such nice work you are doing. Maybe Krsna will be a student in your class in your next life.

ASA - Standard for Ladys
by Guy "Uncle" Gismo
President of the ASA Civil Deadman's Society
(rev. 2014 May 26)

1) No, mini-skirts, dresses should be no higher than mid-calf, and usually longer.

2) Only short term contact with the opposite sex for preaching purposes.

3) Should get married by 15-years old ideally but in Kali-yuga get advice from six good people about the sitution. Actually best thing is to marry Krsna, the King of Vrndavana.

4) Don't talk with weak-minded Dudes in secluded places.

5) Don't bite people. Ask Radharana to ask Krsna and Balarama to protect you. Chant Hare Krsna and be happy.

6) Only listen to music, watch movies, read books that you would see with Srila Prabhupada.

7) Ignore all these rules if Krsna personally tells you to do so.

Thank you. We will try to follow this standard also. Please send your ideas to the Blog.