tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20210027.post6761547023669379921..comments2023-02-07T18:52:52.659-08:00Comments on The Tree of My Life: Kirtana is Not for Our PrestigeMadhavananda Dashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11067266134383406539noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20210027.post-50578298114095150142008-04-19T23:58:00.000-07:002008-04-19T23:58:00.000-07:00Thanks for the nice comment Tarun Prabhu. I hope t...Thanks for the nice comment Tarun Prabhu. I hope that all is well for your bhajan and seva.<BR/><BR/>Das, Madhavananda DasMadhavananda Dashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11067266134383406539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20210027.post-5012655159834033062007-09-21T02:09:00.000-07:002007-09-21T02:09:00.000-07:00You know, I've often felt that there was some kind...You know, I've often felt that there was some kind of "Bhakti competition" going on and to get respect one had to excel in this competition.<BR/><BR/>Personally I am such a bloop that no-one respects me so there's not much point in me competing, but the mood does tend to invade one's consciousness whilst associating especially during prasadam chit chat.<BR/><BR/>Your mention of the word "jihad" invoked a recollection of a reply to a coding tutor's blog for web designers .. it was concerning the topic of religious fanaticism (obviously stirred up by all the suicide bombings lately). <BR/><BR/>This relates to this current blog of yours since this competitive nature (mentioned above) to gain superiority over others is the same envious mood as jihad, merely expressed low key.<BR/><BR/>You might like to read what I wrote to Charles, it's soft preaching as I doubt karmis are ready for gurudeva's cane. <BR/><BR/>Nevertheless, the sentiments contained within are the mood that I took away from Srila Gour Govinda Swami. Charles sent me a personal email saying how moved he felt reading my comment. I know that other godbrothers would argue differently but anyway...<BR/><BR/>>>>>>>>><BR/><BR/>mr terrible said...<BR/><BR/> Hi Charles..<BR/> This is fascinating to me as I believe that the www is a barometer of human success. We can be merely 2 legged animals or actually reach out to the true nature of our soul, thus really becoming ourselves.<BR/><BR/> I see that the web demonstrates the extremes of polarity within our planet's society. On one hand we have the envious writing viruses to destroy other peoples' happiness and at the other extreme we have teams of developers offering their hard work for free in open source programs.<BR/><BR/> Currently I see the open source winning but then again I don't frequent the parts of the web where nasties are to be found.<BR/><BR/> However, being brought up as a Catholic here in Australia and seeing so much that pointed to the non-existence of God I went on a search to find out the truth. Nowadays I travel under the guise of a Hare Krishna although I am exactly the same soul that I always was.<BR/><BR/> Being as humble as a blade of grass, as tolerant as a tree and willing to offer respect to all living beings is the highest consciousness for ordinary humans, yet even among my brothers I see so many who have failed to recognize this simple truth. Jesus taught a similar doctrine. I have never come across any method of personal development that leads towards any other goal.<BR/><BR/> Being humble, tolerant, and respectful is pleasing to God (whether we call Him Allah, Krishna, Jehovah, Whatever) yet in our world people hijack religious doctrines purely to vent the spleen of their own prejudicial hatred upon their allocated victims.<BR/><BR/> God is beautiful and does not condemn followers of paths other than our own to eternal damnation. He gives credit where credit is due; even more, He is merciful, forgiving the transgressions of those who are truly repentant of their selfishness, even when we are still unable to control ourselves.<BR/><BR/> I can imagine that those who think that He does condemn followers of other paths to eternal suffering for the mere crime of being bewildered as to which path is correct as being hypocrites since no one could justifiably LOVE such a beastly god.<BR/><BR/> Yet that is our goal, to love God. Recognition of His amazing personal beauty inspires both love and surrender to His will (according to our ability), which bears no malice whatsoever.<BR/><BR/> Fanaticism is an indulgence like any other selfish persuit and is judged accordingly. Fanaticism keeps more people away from God than any other single cause. It is for this reason the Krishna says to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita to abandon all religion and just surrender to Him. To surrender to our real (beautiful) nature.<BR/><BR/> As souls belonging to God our inherent (when realized) nature is similar to the nature of God and is all beautiful. Saints are renowned for their personal beauty not for how many heathens they have murdered.<BR/><BR/> One would necessarily need to be MAD to see following a religious path as anything other than a path to unimaginable beauty, and yet there we have it. Madness and other forms of self-indulgence are ruining our world. We cannot do anything to rid the world of the mad, that is God's arrangement.<BR/><BR/> We can, however, keep sharing and encouraging kindness, beauty, honesty, etc and especially generosity in any of its forms, which brings me back to the internet.<BR/><BR/> The internet is our connection to other souls who have chosen to be as wonderful as their karma permits. Let us keep on caring, sharing, humbly tolerating, and offering respect to one and all. But as we may respect a shark or a snake for it's beauty we must also avoid it wherever possible and sometimes even take steps to protect ourselves and our culture of love from such cruel danger.<BR/><BR/> I think that God is using the internet to network, to bring us all together, to do His work in showing the world how beautiful our lives really can be.<BR/><BR/> Humble apologies for verbosity.<BR/><BR/> tarunkrsna dasmr terriblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06324516587558068601noreply@blogger.com