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Monday Morning Greetings #4 – My Friend, Archbishop John

January 25th, 2016

I was surprised when Archbishop John decided to stay this week in Isopanthi, their Catholic retreat center in Puri, especially as we had rented it out as we do every year for our Bhakti Immersion there. After-all, Archbishop John is the head of all Catholics in Orissa. That means one million Christians and 40 churches are under his care. He told me he was staying to recover from a heart operation. He seemed sincere, but in the back of my mind naturally rested some suspicion.
 
Any apprehension I had of him being with us was soon abated. He took Jagannath prasad one day and even attended our kirtan led by Jahnavi. He smiled and clapped through the whole thing. He mixed with the devotees and effusively glorified our music and devotion to them and also to his visitors, although our daily amplified three or six hour kirtans in the courtyard blared into his room.
 
My room was next to his. We thus had opportunity for many exchanges and talks and I met many of the people visiting him. He never seemed to put himself above anyone and was not pretentious in the least, as were the brothers who managed the center. I could see that John, however, commanded respect, by humility. Unlike too many adherents of faith, his personal culture and that of his brothers reflected the true values of his lineage, in his case the compassion and kindness taught by Christ.
 
I remember when I first met John, I asked him his name. He sheepishly said, that his title is His Grace, but people should just call him John.
 
I admired how he embraced the essence of religion. From the heart he told me:
 
“This is not our center. It is your center. Its belongs to God and we are all brothers.”
 
Meeting John, now my friend, confirmed and reinforced my own understanding of dharma – that dharma, or religion, is not a faith but the nature of the soul. We are not devotees by the label we have, but by the sincere expression of devotion in our heart to God and others. Archbishop John is a genuine devotee. I don’t need to convert him, but need to convert my own heart to humility and dedication.
 

Monday Morning Greetings #3 – Does a fallen soul have to be depressed?

January 18th, 2016

A saintly soul prays in the mood of dhainya, utter humility:
 
“For my own pleasure I never fear to commit any sin. I am devoid of pity and full of selfishness; I’m sorry at others’ happiness and am an inveterate liar. Indeed, I take delight in others’ miseries.” Amara Jivana – Bhaktivinoda Thakur
 
If the great devotees feel likethis, shouldn’t the actually fallen practitioner of bhakti feel depressed and ridden with guilt?
 
Remorse is certainly healthy, but does the sincere and weak need to feel shame? I don’t think so. I found a reference to support this.
 
“Having awakened faith in the narrations of My glories, being disgusted with all material activities, knowing that all sense gratification leads to misery, but still being unable to renounce all sense enjoyment, My devotee should remain happy and worship Me with great faith and conviction. Even though he is sometimes engaged in sense enjoyment, My devotee knows that all sense gratification leads to a miserable result, and he sincerely repents such activities.” [emphasis mine] (Bhag. 11.20.27-28)
 
I like the balance. We do need to be humble and repent if we cannot maintain our practices. We shouldn’t, however, embrace the type of shame and excess guilt that is depressive and lowers self esteem, that makes the adoption of spiritual life miserable and debilitating.
 

Monday Morning Greetings #2 – Thoughts in the Shower

January 11th, 2016

Best place I have ever stayed in India. Everything is new, well built, spotless and spacious. A two foot wide covered veranda encircles the fourth floor penthouse protecting the place from sun and rain. And it is quiet, very quiet. I can even see from my window beyond the pakur (pond) and open field the spiral of Sri Caitanya’s birth place. This couldn’t be better for my meditation and study. That being said there is also a beautiful simplicity to the place. The water is solar heated. It works pretty well, except for the morning bath following an overcast day, which brings me to my point:

The shower this morning wasn’t cozy. The water was tepid and the room cold. When I got out there was some discomfort. It was a good chance to practice what I preach, tapasya, neglecting the irrational impulses of the mind and body. Understanding that ultimately happiness and distress is just in the mind, I mentally abstracted myself from the situation. By practicing tapasya I was not affected by any discomfort. A thought came: Shouldn’t I do the same in a delicious steaming shower in my usual comfy heated room? Shouldn’t I just enjoy? Ahhhh! No! I should abstract myself in both situations. I should be equal in happiness and distress. Why?

The body is a place of suffering. Think of the myriad diseases that threaten us, think of inevitable old age and ultimately the loss everything dear, the pain of death. For every unneeded indulgence, for every excess and unnecessary adjustment for comfort, for every deviance from our quota to keep the body and soul together, we dive deeper into the bodily concept of life. We then not only absorb ourselves in petty pleasure, but also feel the natural discomforts and agonies of the body more. A pinch of pain is felt more than a ton of pleasure. Are the indulgent, unneeded, and unnecessary excesses of life worth it? Should we thus not also extract ourselves from those excesses so that at the end of life we can abstract ourselves from the agony of the temporary body and think of Krishna? Just some thoughts in the shower.

Monday Morning Greetings #1 – Reviving Greetings from Vrindavan

January 4th, 2016

January 1, 2016

My last journal entry was more than six years ago. Many people inquired why I stopped journaling and implored me to continue. I’ll try, but I have doubts if this is what I should be doing now. Times have changed. When I started the journals seventeen years ago, by fate I had time on my hands.  Often, especially in Vrindavan, I wouldn’t see a soul until late afternoon. Today there is not a day that goes by that I am not hosting a group, a contact, or a friend. Not only has my destiny changed, but my mood has changed as well. My chanting has substantially increased and I am more and more comfortable in the inner world. Journaling puts the camera on your life. It is not quite reality TV, but an intrusion of privacy nonetheless. Journaling puts one too much on stage, at least in my mind. When journaling I tend to see the world to retell it, tinged subconsciously in the identity that I am the center, the hero. Is that good for bhakti?  Those are my doubts, but I have decided to give it a try anyway. After all, I am a preacher. My duty is to be out front, so why shy from the spotlight when what I have to say can help others? As far intruding on my privacy and stroking my ego, I will try my best to do it in a way that is more consistent with my spiritual aspirations. Expect postings once a week on Mondays. Looking forward to seeing you next week.
 
Dhanurdhara Swami
 

Puri Kirtan-Katha Retreat 2015

February 19th, 2015

The following are recording of talks given by Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami at this year’s Purī Kirtan-Kathā Retreat.

 

On January 22, 2015, Mahārāja welcomed everyone to this year’s retreat.

 

On January 23, 2015, Mahārāja began a series of talks on the Brahma-vimohana-līlā, the bewildering of Lord Brahmā starting with the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 13 Text 44.

 

On January 23, 2015, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami gave a japa seminar at Siddha-bakula, the bhajana kutir of Nāmācārya Haridāsa Ṭhākura.

 

On January 24, 2015, Mahārāja continued speaking on the Brahma-vimohana-līlā with Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 13 Text 45.

 

On January 25, 2015, Mahārāja continued speaking on the Brahma-vimohana-līlā with Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 13 Text 49.

 

On January 26, 2015, Mahārāja continued speaking on the Brahma-vimohana-līlā with Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 13 Text 50.

 

On January 27, 2015, Mahārāja concluded his talks on the Brahma-vimohana-līlā with Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 13 Text 64.

 

The Glories of Radha-kunda

Aesthetics and Spirituality

September 21st, 2014

On Tuesday, September 16, 2014, Srila Dhanurdhara Swami gave a talk entitled ‘Aesthetics & Spirituality’ as part of the Tuesday Night Sanga series at the Bhakti Center in New York. After the talk, Maharaja performed a drama based on the Kaliya-Krishna pastime with Meaghan Sloane.

 

 

The following is a recording the of the class Maharaja gave before the drama.

 

Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja – Dhanurdhara Swami’s Offering to Srila Prabhupada

August 18th, 2014

Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,

My obeisances at your lotus feet!

While meditating on writing this year’s homage to you a question came to my mind, “What was the single quality that made Śrīla Prabhupāda more Prabhupāda than any other quality?”

Certainly there are many things you did well and many qualities you possessed. I thought to myself, “Śrīla Prabhupāda was kind, fearless, and expert. He was an abode of compassion and attached to the holy name. All of those qualities are what made him Prabhupāda.”

But when I thought deeply about this question one quality came to my mind:

Faith!

Not faith in just the sense of believing something to be true, but faith as you have defined it:

“Unflinching trust in something sublime.”

You had fully tasted the sublimity of serving Kṛṣṇa and thus possessed unwavering conviction that there is nothing better than it. You were also therefore exemplarily faithful to the order of your spiritual master who directed you in that service.

What a wonderful thing your faith was! You had tasted the sublime and felt true compassion for those bereft of devotion. You were so convinced that you not only gave your life to end their suffering, but by your conviction laden words thousands developed the same faith and surrendered their lives to Kṛṣṇa. And the force of your faith continues to keep your mission vibrant years after your departure.

While writing this another question came to my mind, “What is the single quality that I would need more than any other quality to make me a worthy servant of your divine grace?”

I thought deeply and one quality came to mind:

Faith!

On this auspicious day of your appearance I thus offer my faith at your lotus feet and a pray that by your mercy I can realize the sublimity of devotion and thus feel true compassion for those bereft of devotion.

Humbly in your service,

Dhanurdhara Swami
 
 

Can God Be Blue?

An Excerpt from Correspondence on My Seminar on Humility at Yogamaya

May 15th, 2014

Below is some of the interesting correspondence I have received after my seminar on humility at Yogamaya last month.

From Amanda:

Last Saturday morning at breakfast, I dropped this question on a friend… what do you think the difference is between humility and self-esteem? I wanted to share his answer not only because of its succinctness, but it takes it out of a spiritual context making it totally inclusive.

“A lack of self-esteem is thinking yourself lesser than others. Humility is to not see yourself greater than others.”

I’m not sure that a requisite for humility is a belief in something higher than one’s self, although I do think it is an important part of any spiritual path. I have met and know many “atheists” that are more genuinely humble than some I have crossed calling themselves “spiritual”.

Look forward to hearing what others have been chewing on about this the last week!

With love,
Amanda

My response:

The initial quandary that my seminar attempted to tackle was how to not be inhibited in spiritual pursuits that are founded in humility when often the feelings and expressions of a truly humble person parallel one with low self-esteem.

My conclusion was that the feelings and expressions of a person who sees people as better than themselves does not have to be just a result of psychological trauma (low self-esteem). They can also be an expression of a genuine spiritual experience, where one feels the majesty and love of God, an experience that makes one feel happily small and naturally invokes a mood of reverence and service towards others. As God is everywhere one tends to be humbled (less) before everything.

Sri Caitanya (my lineage) instructed his followers that the following was so important that one should wear it around ones neck:

One should chant the holy name in a humble state of mind
Think oneself lower than the straw in the street
More tolerant than a tree
Devoid of all sense of false prestige
And ready to offer all respect to others
In such a state of mind
One can chant constantly

So that’s how I reconcile the feelings of humble person that often parallel expression of low self-esteem.

I think what Amanda is pointing out is that there is another type of humility where one doesn’t necessarily feel less than others, but just not greater than others. If humility is a modest feeling of one insignificance then that is obviously a valid definition. What I was trying to discern is if there is a type of humility where one feels even lower than others that is not a product of low self-esteem. I think there is.

Humility is certainly not the property of those who believe in a deity.

I think an atheist with high moral values is connecting with something higher than themselves.

If they don’t accept absolute moral values can they be humble?

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