Have any of you ever read this book?: [
www.indiadivine.org]
Anyway, it's got to be the biggest pile of meandering mind trash I have read in a long time. In fact I have never found any writings of Bhaktisiddhanta to have any coherence or structure. Just an endless meandering stream of consciousness with no resolution or goal in sight.
I am on the hunt for some Nadia Prakash articles as well since they have apparently digitized all of them. Does anyone know where to get a hold of those? I'm also curious if any actual records exist of the debates these so-called scholar devotees won. There is always some claim that Chaitanya defeated assorted "mayavadhis" and such and such acharya defeated this or that group. Where is all that? I want to see what they said that was considered a "defeat". I'm sick and tired of all these bold claims these groups make with no proof. When the Chaitanya Charitamrita claimed the "earth shook" when he danced, I want to see even one record of earthquake activity happening in Orissa during that time. I'm done with claims of secret visions, mystic mumbo jumbo and dreams used as valid authoritative proof.
Read the above. It's relatively short. One leaves the whole experience more confused as to the author's point and what in the world he is on about. That pretty much sums up most of the books in this cult. I am not even talking about the myths. Those can be incoherent and naive, but at least they are just stories offering some parable on morality or dharmic ideology.
Culthusiast, if you want to read an intelligible analysis of guna theory, you can find that here: [
www.academia.edu]
In the meantime, such verses from gita offer little rational explanation for anything. A verse like this "He who is temperate in his habits of eating, sleeping, working and recreation can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system." Bhaktivedanta used to stay up zonked on snuff tobacco dictating purports all odd hours of the night. Is that temperate?
Does not explain anything meaningful. What is temperance? How is it quantified and qualified? Is eating ghee and rice off the floor like Bhaktisiddhanta did considered "temperance"?
Is there really any way to "mitigate all material pains" as the verse claims? I think not. Scriptures are full of fluff statements like this that offer no practical advice but make promises that cannot be fulfilled or kept. Meanwhile, gurus do suffer pain, get bent by time and shit themselves as death approaches. No amount of "Manjari bhava" ever changed that fact.
Even the words "yoga system" are really meaningless. What yoga system? Is there even one that is clearly and fully described and agreed upon? One scripture says plug your left nostril, another your right, sit on kusha grass or lion skin or facing east, meditate on your breath, on the "supersoul", observe consciousness streams, chant this mantra, or wait, that one maybe? Stand on one leg, twirl around and sit on a ghee lamp while you're at it!
People like simplistic feel-good rhetoric but they rarely try to understand anything that is being stated. Instead of quoting, say something that is authentically your personal insight into the matter. That is what I am posting. Not some assortment of verses from archaic scritputes that offer no resolution to the reality that a leagion of fools worships Chris Butler Jagged Guru Siddhaswarupananda like god on earth for blowing hot air up their asses.
Read the above pdf of Bhaktisiddhantas words versus the article on Guna Theory and tell me which one is more digestible, tangible, rational and susinct.
Devotees pour hundreds of hours in translating such works, archiving them and trying to systematically categorize the words fo sastra and guru, but to no avail. Afer millions of pages a person in all honestly is no closer to having a valid picture of it all then when they started. If anything, they are more confused. It's no wonder that at the end of the day devotees are just told to trust the process and just chant.
One thing that I have noticed with Indian philosophy and spirituality, in general, is that it's shrouded in layers of opinions and unnecessary complexity (and obvious, proven interpolation). It's almost as if the ego of the ancient sages/brahmans or whatever writers did not allow them to admit that they did not know certain things. And instead, they distracted and deflected by covering it all in layers of convoluted ideas that don't really answer or give any insight. It's really a pattern I've noticed in one scripture and commentary after another.
In the above PDF of Saraswati thakur there is page after page of trying to establish the position of who and what is a "brahmin". Why? Why does it even matter? This philosophy is not about that at all. It's not about ritual/caste brahmanism. But alas, they can not escape dealing with the issue since they claim their ideas are "vedic", they must establish some roundabout association with them being "real" brahmins and everyone else being "false brahmins". None of the stuff even ads up. There are quotes, as usual, from Vaishnava texts supporting the parts he wants to support his statements and then avoiing other texts as needed. Cherry-picking bias at it's zenith.
It's like trying to establish the superiority of Mormonism as an authentic Christian faith by quoting Joseph smith as revelation. How convenient. An entire massive body of structural work makes little to no mention of the Radha goddess, the so-called maha-mantra and any real established superiority of the krishna god let alone the chaitanya saint, so lets write a bunch of books only our cult followers look to in support of some fringe ideas we're proposing...
This is a pattern. The same explanations are given for why Saraswati gave himself sanyasi Diksha from a picture of his dead guru. No scriptural support, just made-up stuff from a guy who was already so self-righteous it hurts.
In due time all this stuff will become very self-evident. I speak out about it so bluntly because many who question it are afraid to do so "just in case". There is no just in case guys. This stuff is through and through nonsense. Nothing about it adds up. Just arrogant self-absorbed religious fanatics doing their thing. Everyone else just follows along and nods out of a similar self-righteous arrogance. No thinking. just a mindset of virtue signaling and parroting rhetoric, little to no actual personal realizations.
There is a reason that "Prabhupada said" became a meme of sorts. Devotees walk around just spewing the swamis words with little thought as to what he was saying. I'd like to see some black disciples of Bhaktivedanta justify his words about black people. Or women give a lecture explaining what Prabhupada meant about "women are less intelligent and enjoy being expertly raped". I'd like to see a lecture of guna theory and how that played out in ashrams across the world where kids were getting abused during "brahma mahurta" hour (never mind karma and how devotees naively equate it with newtons law). I'd like to hear the explanation of what guna affects most every sanyasi businessman guru. I'd like to hear what grand guna theory covers the cost of Ninjai and Vaishnava dasis cheesy music videos. Is that passion. goodness or, as I have always said, plain old ignorance is bliss.
That is my guna theory: Ignorance is bliss. and they gobble it up. In an attempt to demonize rational thought and stoic contentment with life, they paint fairytales as the goal of life. Pure ignorance peddled as absolute truth! What irony.
And finally, for shits and giggles, check out these guys trying to make heads and tales of the "unbroken chain" crap these cults peddle: [
www.indiadivine.org]
Ironically they cannot, as there is nothing to make sense of, no standard and no method of so-called transmission of knowledge. It is broken. so so very broken it makes you want to go for a run.