Caros Vaisnavas e Vaisnavis, por favor aceitem minhas reverências.
Srila Prabhupada Ki Jaya!!!
Antes de mais, gostaria de agradecer o depoimento de todos os devotos.
O grupo Krishna Katha está a cumprir muito bem a sua função, que é discutir profundamente os tópicos da Filosofia da Consciência de Krsna.
Parabéns a todos.
Numa carta a Sumati Morarji em 7 de Agosto de 1976, Srila Prabhupada da algumas diretrizes:
"Os devotos sempre oferecem respeito a todos, mas quando existe a discussão de um ponto do Sastra, eles não observam a etiqueta usual, satyam bruyat priyam bruyat. Eles falam somente Satyam, embora possa não ser necessariamente priyam (agradável)."
1) Elogiar e glorificar os devotos é um aspecto importantíssimo do Serviço Devocional. O próprio Senhor Caitanya mostrou-nos isto.
"A medida que descrevia os atributos transcendentais de Haridasa Thakur, Sri Caitanya parecia ter cinco bocas (panca mukha). Quanto mais Ele descrevia, mais Sua felicidade aumentava." Antya 11.51
No Padma Purana, o Senhor Siva diz a Parvati:
"De todos os tipos de adoração, a adoração ao Senhor Visnu é a melhor, e melhor do que adorar o Senhor Visnu é adorar o Seu devoto, o Vaisnava."
2) Srila Gaurakisora Das Babaji diz:
"Se você realmente deseja prestar serviço devocional apropriadamente, então você deve aceitar as palavras ásperas de um sadhu como o remédio que pode afastar maya."
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur diz:
"Se o Sadhu começa a me adular e não me recrimina, ele se torna meu inimigo.Se ele nos adula, então seremos conduzidos pela estrada que leva ao desfrute, mas não ao verdadeiro bem-estar."
No Gaudiya Vedanta esta descrito:
"Pralambasura representa o desejo por Puja, Labha e Pratistha.
Mesmo devotos avançados são atacados por desejos subtis de adoração, ganho e posição, os quais envolvem-os (pralambha) na tentativa de fazê-los cair.Estes desejos são um grande obstáculo no caminho de Bhakti.Ocorrem mesmo nos estágios avançados de Bhakti. Pralambasura tenta mesmo levar até o Guru, e afastá-lo de Krsna. Mas Sri Balarama, a personificação do servo de Deus (Sri Guru) remove estes obstáculos e aparece no coração do devoto sincero e humilde, lembrando-lhe que ele está aceitando adoração em nome de Krsna e que toda esta adoração destina-se ao Senhor."
A seguir uma carta dos devotos de Radhadesh (Desculpem-me, mas não pude traduzir.Se algum devoto puder ajudar-me!!!)
Belgium (VNN) - Radhadesh 21/8/98
Dear Maharaja's and Prabhus, Please accept our humble obeisance, All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
We are very concerned by the overall condition of our movement for which we have all dedicated the most important years of our lives. Our movement, which is meant to offer a substantial alternative to material life by giving people the gift of Love of Godhead that Srila Prabhupada so mercifully distributed, is riddled with many inconsistencies and discrepancies. So in order to express ourselves and call upon our society to engage itself in genuine reform that puts us all on the right path, we write to you this letter in an attempt to communicate our thoughts.
We feel strongly that this and other issues should be thoroughly discussed by all senior devotees in our movement. We would like to start by saying that in no way do we feel that the letter you are about to read is neither conclusive nor complete. Yet we feel the need to communicate to the senior devotees our viewpoint which might help somewhat in the discussions that are going on. Some of the reflections we came up with are:
1) That though Srila Prabhupada as Iskcon's Founder Acharya is officially and theoretically recognised as being the main Siksha Guru for all the devotees in practice the understanding of his unique position needs to be given utmost priority.
2) That though we believe in the system of initiations in Iskcon recent events have shown that a need to review our present application of Srila Prabhupada's instructions regarding the position of diksha gurus in our society.
3) That though initiation is an important aspect of a devotee's spiritual life it has been and is presently over emphasised. A Diksha Guru MAY be an important siksha guru for his disciple but should always be second to Srila Prabhupada and not superior or equal to him. We have many examples in our Sampradaya of diksha gurus not having such an important role in the spiritual life of a devotee. Bhaktivinod Thakura's diksha guru is not even mentioned in Srila Prabhupada's books, and there are many more examples. Our Disciplic succession is based primarily on siksha and not on diksha.
4) That though Srila Prabhupada is the main Siksha Guru for everyone in Iskcon siksha should be taken from all senior devotees ( Diksha Guru, other Gurus, Sanyasis, GBC s, Temple Presidents) to help us advance in spiritual life. In this regard we would like to add that if a Diksha Guru has a strong siksha relationship with his disciple then he will obviously become prominent in that devotee's spiritual life.
5) That in order to insure the proper vaisnava behaviour of Diksha Gurus and their disciples within Iskcon some sober standard be upheld for worship. Some ideas we came up with are:
a) No daily Guru Puja for Diksha Gurus in Iskcon Centers. (Disciples may individually do so in their rooms or homes)
b) That a limit to how many disciples a Diksha Guru can have be established.
c) That there should be only one seat in the Temple room for the Srimad Bhagavatam speaker and any speaker that the Temple authorities see fit to give class can use it.
d) That there be a limit to how much guru daksina a guru can use for personal expenses and whatever is above that limit is used for an Iskcon or Iskcon related project with the consent of Iskcon authorities. e) That Sanyasi Diksha Gurus have no direct contact with female disciples and devotees.
f) That no elaborate prasadam arrangements be made in Iskcon temples for Diksha Gurus or Sanyasis. Disciples may invite them in their homes. Or a disciple may cook for his Diksha Guru and all the devotees simultaneously. In this way the quality of Prasadam in our Temples will receive more attention so that all devotees are satisfied.
g) No Vyasa Puja Book for Diksha Gurus. Offerings can be made in a simple way.
h) No personal ownership of property and large bank accounts. This specifically applies to Sanyasi Gurus.
i) No honorific titles like Gurudeva, Visnupada, Acharyapada, etc can be used for Diksha Gurus in public or private.
j) Study if the importance we give to Guru newsletters, Tape Ministries, Pranams, Photos and Vyasa Puja is appropriate or is is diminishing Srila Prabhupada's position.
6) That the standard to become and remain Diksha Guru in Iskcon be strictly followed up by Iskcon authorities. For example; Diksha Gurus must follow the morning program regularly with the devotees, chant 16 rounds every day, hear Srimad Bhagavatam class regularly, take prasadam with devotees, etc 7) That Diksha Gurus and senior devotees be careful to not commit offences to Vaisnavas outside of Iskcon.
8) That a substantial period of time in which no initiations are held be adopted by Iskcon to allow a deep and profound discussion concerning the Guru Issue.
We hope this letter may serve some purpose in the wider discussion of the issue at hand and that the leaders of Iskcon can come to some clear, balanced and sober understanding of the position of Diksha Gurus in our society. We also hope this letter does not offend any individual devotee since it is a general feeling of concern and not a specific attack on anyone in particular. Please forgive us if some of our ideas or reflections offend you.
Your servants at Radhadesh.
Hrdaya Caitanya prabhu- 18 years in Iskcon: first and second initiations by Bhagavan dasa and reinitiation by HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami.
Vinod Manjari d.d.- 20 years in Iskcon: first and second initiation by Bhagavan dasa and reinitiation by HH Satsvarupa Goswami.
Nadia Bihari prabhu- 18 years in Iskcon: first and second initiations by Bhagavan dasa and reinitiation by HH Indradyumna Maharaja.
Shyamalika d.d.- 14 years in Iskcon: first initiation by Bhagavan dasa and reinitiation by HH Indradyumna Swami.
Mahaprabhu prabhu- 16 years in Iskcon: first initiation by Bhagavan dasa and second by Ananda Svarupa dasa and no reinitiation.
Bhadranga prabhu- 15 years in Iskcon: first initiation by Bhagavan and reinitiation by HH Satsvarupa Maharaja.
Radha Ramana prabhu- 14 years in Iskcon: first and second initiations by HH Tamal Krishna Goswami.
Rupa Manjari dd- 10 years in Iskcon: first and second initiations by Ananda Svarupa dasa and reinitiation by HH Lokanatha Maharaja.
Ekacakra Grama prabhu- 8 years in Iskcon: first and second initiations by HH Lokanatha Goswami.
Creio que todos nós concordamos tanto com um ponto, como com outro.
No entanto, aparentemente são contradictórios.
Em muitos casos, diferentes escrituras e diferentes Acaryas aparentemente enunciam colocações contradictórias, que na verdade não o são e podem ser harmonizadas.
Existem diferentes categorias de devotos.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur explica:
"Devemo-nos ocupar 100% no serviço do Mahabhagavata, 66,6% no serviço do Madhyama Bhagavata e 33,3% no serviço do Kanistha Bhagavata." Curioso,não é?
Um Sadhu serve e elogia 100% um Uttama Mahabhagavata.
Um Sadhu serve e elogia todos os outros devotos e quando necessário corrige-os.
Assim como devemos ser humildes quando o Sadhu nos elogia, devemos também sê-lo quando nos corrige.
Em ambos os casos, o Sadhu sempre quer o nosso bem.
E é aqui que os pontos são harmonizados.
Temos um desafio pessoal e um desafio institucional. Ambos estão interligados.Pessoalmente devemos cuidar da nossa própria prática espiritual e a nível institucional devemos cuidar-nos uns aos outros. Muito trabalho pela frente!!!
Além disto temos um desafio filosófico.
Existem muitas controvérsias.
A origem da Jiva, Raganuga Bhakti, Guru Tattva, Implementação do Varnasrama Dharma(Inclui o cuidado com devotos doentes e velhinhos), Diferenciar Sri Caitanya de Radha Krsna, Krsna como uma encarnação de Narayana, processos ascendente e descendente de adoração, Parakiya Rasa, etc.
A minha aspiração é que todos estes tópicos sejam abordados cuidadosamente aqui no Krsna Katha.
siddhanta baliya citte na kara alasa iha ha-ite krsne lage su-drdha manasa
"Um estudante sincero não deve negligenciar a discussão destas conclusões, considerando-as controversas, porque tal discussão fortalece a mente. Então, a mente torna-se apegada a Krsna."
A este respeito um verso do Caitanya Caritamrta:(Adi 5.132)
(Desculpem, mais uma vez em Inglês)
"In whatever form one knows the Lord, one speaks of Him in that way. In this there is no falsity, since everything is possible in Krishna."
PURPORT
In this connection we may mention an incident that took place between two of our sannyasis while we were preaching the Hare Krishna maha-mantra in Hyderabad. One of them stated that "Hare Rama" refers to Sri Balarama, and the other protested that "Hare Rama" means Lord Rama. Ultimately the controversy came to me, and I gave the decision that if someone says that the "Rama" in "Hare Rama" is Lord Ramacandra and someone else says that the "Rama" in "Hare Rama" is Sri Balarama, both are correct because there is no difference between Sri Balarama and Lord Rama. Here in Sri Caitanya-caritamrita we find that Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami has stated the same conclusion:
yei yei rupe jane, sei taha kahe
sakala sambhave krishne, kichu mithya nahe
If someone calls Lord Ramacandra by the vibration Hare Rama, understanding it to mean "O Lord Ramacandra!" he is quite right. Similarly, if one says that Hare Rama means "O Sri Balarama!" he is also right. Those who are aware of the vishnu-tattva do not fight over all these details........
Um passatempo de Srila Prabhupada:
No Ardha Kumbha Mela em Allahabad, 1971, um argumentação surgiu entre Madhudvisa Prabhu e Yamuna Mataji, acerca de Krsna e Balarama.
Madhudvisa argumentava: "Krsna e Balarama são iguais, só que Krsna é negro e Balarama é branco."
Yamuna Mataji argumentava:"Não. Eles são diferentes. Krsna é o único desfrutador de Srimati Radharani."
Os dois argumentavam desta forma, e Tamal Krsna Goswami, secretário para a India, levou o caso para Srila Prabhupada.
Primeiro ele apresentou o argumento de Madhudvisa Prabhu:"Krsna e Balarama são iguais, excepto que um é negro e outro é branco."
Srila Prabhupada disse: "Sim, ele está certo."
Tamal Krsna continuou:"Mas Yamuna disse que Eles são diferentes, porque Krsna é o único desfrutador de Radharani."
Srila Prabhupadab disse:"Sim, ela está certa."
Então Tamal Krsna disse:"Mas Srila Prabhupada eles estão dizendo coisas diferentes.Eles não podem ambos estar corretos."
Srila Prabhupada disse:"Sim, você está certo."
Ouvindo isto, Tamal Krsna perguntou: "Então, qual está certo?"
Srila Prabhupada disse:"Você decide."
Os Acaryas explicam que uma das qualidades de Krsna é que todos os opostos, todas as contradições são reconciliadas n'Ele.
Vosso servo
Prahladesh Dasa
