Vraja Journal

Views: White Tara (28 Apr 2008)

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:54:00 -0400

Hallowed Goddess Tara, the Mother of Buddhas, the mistress of Enlightenment, born in this eon of Avalokiteshvara's tears of compassion.

Views: Up the Mountain Path (28 Apr 2008)

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:52:00 -0400

Cristiyana and Dhammasaro treading up a mountain path near Kathmandu.

Views: Ananda Baba in the Happy Grass Land (28 Apr 2008)

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:50:00 -0400

The stretch through the area of Maharaja Ganja, Captain Ganja, Kampiyar Ganja and so on was filled with extraordinary weeds...

Views: Under the Wise Old Tree (28 Apr 2008)

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:49:00 -0400

Weary travelers taking a mid-day siesta under an old tree.

Blog: Varanasi to Kathmandu - A Synopsis (28 Apr 2008)

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:27:00 -0400

The blog has been silent ever since my departure for the grand pilgrimage... I am withdrawing for a month's silent retreat to the solitude of the hills surrounding Kathmandu after posting this synopsis of the journey so far. I assume I'll be writing more as I get back to the grid.

While I have some 300+ photos of the pilgrimage up to date, I don't have my laptop here to process them into proper publication shape. You can find some unedited photos at my Facebook albums.

Sarnath to Kushinagar

The first stretch of the pilgrimage was from Sarnath to Kushinagar, from the place where the Buddha gave his first sermon to the place of his departure, or parinirvana as we call it — the final nirvana. Some eight days of walking 30-40 kilometers daily brought us across many a small village with kind and hospitable people.

In Kushinagar, we were based at a small temple near the Stupa marking the place of the Buddha's cremation. The abbot and only monk of the place was Venerable Narasingha, and Indian monk in the ripe old age of 93 years but going on strong. "I am not dying soon. I am doing my tapasya now. I will live 150 years." His repeated advice, "Dhyan koro, Ananda, dhyan koro" -- "Meditate, Ananda, meditate" -- still echoes in my ears.

Our stop at Kushinagar was brief and didn't leave me with as much time as I'd have wanted for exploring the area. Something to get back to in the future... Five people and five minds inevitably means having to compromise one's wishes and ideals.

Kushinagar to Lumbini

Lumbini, the place of the Buddha's birth, is a short walk (some 20 km) off the border on the side of Nepal. A very serene and beautiful area with two monastery zones, Theravada and Mahayana, it hosts the ruins of old monasteries around the stone marking the exact place of birth. The vast fenced and undeveloped area around the monastery zones was a soothing sight. Finally someone understands the importance of trees and empty space!

Towards Kathmandu

Since we got 60 days visas at the border, a brief visit to Kathmandu was in place. The first few nights were spent at a Thai monastery, Sakya Simha Vihar, in the old town of Patan (a city grouped together with Kathmandu), and one at Kopan, the big daddy of the Vajrayana monasteries in Nepal. There are several caves of ancient masters and other sites of interest yet unexplored.

A casual trip to the surrounding mountains at Kopan is now turning into a 30-day silent retreat up at the hills. We've spent three nights at mid-way up the mountain, at the Nagaji nuns' monastery and around. Tomorrow morning we are heading up further on, to the solitude of the peaks.

People wishing to contact me after this message is posted — and as I start the walk back to the mountain — will have to come in with a notebook and a pen. You would find me in the cave next door, under the stump of that old pine tree, or in the belly of one of those jolly tigers that are rumored to be roaming around...

Closing the Circuit

Once the retreat is over, whenever and whatever that means, we return by bus to Kushinagar and start the longest stretch so far, covering some 900 kilometers on foot via Vaisali, Nalanda and Rajagiri to Bodh Gaya. From Bodh Gaya, I'll continue to Sarnath with another 400 kilometers to complete my pilgrimage (Dhammasaro and Cristiyana have already covered it) and pick up the excess stuff we left behind at the Chinese monastery there.

In other news, I will most likely end up staying in India until December — lack of finances cuts short many potential branches from my ongoing pilgrimage. I'm waiting for the heavens to open and rain in enough monies to get me a return ticket to the West by December, the deadline for getting out as my visa and passport expire.

Back on the road, I should be checking in randomly, but I wouldn't be expecting replies to e-mails for some eight more weeks from now. Internet just doesn't seem to be a part of the

Peace and joy to all! May all beings share the merits of this pilgrimage!

Views: Destination Kushinagar (28 Apr 2008)

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:46:00 -0400

The journey begins...

Blog: Sanchi and Onwards (1 Apr 2008)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:02:00 -0400

Monuments of Sanchi

Sanchi, located in Madhya Pradesh some 50 km away from the city of Bhopal, is one of the remarkable places of old Buddhist relics in India. While the site post-dates the immediate times of the Buddha, this large area on a hill hosts many ancient stupas and monasteries, the earliest from emperor Ashoka's time. Some of the stupas are told to contain relics of the Buddha's important disciples, and according to some documents found in the nearby archeological museum one of the main stupas contains — or contained — the relics of Sariputta and Moghallana.

The monastery ruins were a powerful sight, invoking the mood of the olden days when the area was filled with monks, an active monastic centre. Some kutis were intact and open, so we took the opportunity for an hour of serene meditation, tapping into the ancient energies still vibrant in the atmosphere, surviving across the ages. Sanchi, even if it isn't included on the usual pilgrimage tours, is a place I would heartily recommend everyone to visit, should they be anywhere in the vicinity or passing by. (Bhopal is on the railway line connecting Delhi to South India.)

Towards Lumbini

My planned brief visit to Mathura and the village of Radhakund, where I still have my kuti, was thwarted with misbooked tickets and a failure to get replacements in a timely manner. Then, the journey from Bhopal continues directly to Varanasi and onwards to Sarnath, where I and Ven. Dhammasaro will be joining Mae Chi Cristiyana and two senior monks from Thailand for a walk towards Kushinagar and Lumbini.

With an aim to travel as light as possible, I will be leaving my laptop behind. While I'll try and check in briefly on the road, it's unlikely that the blog will be seeing much new in the next two to three weeks to come — though I hope to catch up with reports from the journey once we are settled in Bodh Gaya sometime in the second half of the month.

Blog: The Peak of Arunachala (1 Apr 2008)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:00:00 -0400

Tiruvannamalai, a city in Tamil Nadu, has the sacred mountain Arunachala as its divine hub. Its latest master of fame being Ramana Maharshi, the giant of Advaita-vedanta from early 1900's, this awe-inspiring mountain has been a home to countless jnanis and siddhas over the millennia. It is one of the pancha-bhuta-sthalas, abodes of the five elements, representing fire-element.

In the origin story of Arunachala, the old Puranic narrative tells of Brahma and Vishnu having a disagreement over who of the two was the highest divinity. Amidst the quarrel, a vast beam of fiery light sprang forth, a pillar of splendor penetrating the cosmic extremes. Both humbled before the insurmountable challenge, they concluded this cosmic splendor, the presence of Siva, to be the highest reality. This halo materialized as the mountain Arunachala.

We spent one night in the well-maintained guesthouse, and one night at the holy mountain itself. I suppose it was inevitable that I was to be drawn, as if pulled by a magnet, to the highest peak of this 2200 feet manifestation of cosmic radiance. The climb barefoot was a challenge enough, but having come so far, I wanted to spend the whole of the twelve hours I had, from dusk until dawn, at the sahasrara or the thousand-petaled crown of the mountain, as attaining sahasrara alone the supreme non-duality and integration is realized.

Soon enough after the sunset a thunderstorm set in motion. Sitting alone in the solitude of the peak atop a three-meter boulder, the fierce winds were rocking me back and forth even in the steadiest of postures. Rainfall was very minimal, but the atmosphere was very humid. Dark rainclouds were flying past me all around, both beneath and above, at a fierce velocity. It was as if Arunachala, this living mountain pulsating with an otherworldly halo, wanted to give the best of its shows for me.

The weather soon became too extreme to bear while sitting, and I found myself curled up inside the thick shawl I carried. There was little chance for conventional meditation. I spent the better part of the night, aside the few hours of rest, observing the rise and fall of sensations and feelings, their interplay, their intrinsically empty nature. Let no more be said of the night, a night that brought a certain objective to fruition, for some things are to be hidden in the cavity of the heart.

It was in a book by Swami Rama, "Living with the Himalayan Masters" (highly recommended), that I read a wise note of reconciliation on Advaita-vedanta and Buddhism, the two non-dual traditions that have been a source of much insight to me as of late. Narrating the story of his visit to his grandmaster in Tibet, he writes of an encounter with a wise lama:

"While in Gangtok I lived in a monastery, which still exists on the northeast side of the city. There I visited a lama who was a remarkable man. He was a genuine Buddhist yogi and a learned Sanskrit scholar who had lived for many years in Bodhigaya in India. Usually the scholars of Buddhism criticize Shankara, just as the swamis from the order of Shankaracharya criticize Buddhism.

But this wise man, citing references from many texts, taught me a synthesis of Buddhism and Shankara's advaita system. He said, 'There is no difference between these two systems of philosophy as far as the ultimate Reality is concerned. There are verbal differences, but no experiential differences. Cast off all sectarian influences and attain the highest state of consciousness or nirvana.'"

I heartily agree with the above message. It is in vein that scholars describe and criticize philosophies that are beyond their realm of direct experience obtained through application. Even the best expositions are only approximate estimations of experiential realities that transcend common levels of experience and rationality.

In the Buddhist theory, all of reality is characterized by three factors, anitya, duhkha and anatma — all objects are temporary, sources of discontent, and non-self. The root of existence is avidya or ignorance, and the continuance of conditioned existence arises from trishna, or craving. The concept of nirvana or final cessation transcends all non-self conglomerates and is indescribable. The liberating factor is prajna or wisdom, arising from vipascana or wisdom-perception.

In Advaita-vedanta, the problem is in adhyaropa or superimposition of illusory concepts on the nature of objects. Adhyaropa arises from avidya, or ignorance. Existence unfolds with the interplay of raga and dvesa, or attachment and repulsion. The agocara-tattva or ingraspable final reality is understood within the formation world only as neti-neti, "not this, not this". The liberating factor is jnana or wisdom, arising from nididhyasana or meditational wisdom-contemplation.

Contrasting Buddhism and Advaita-vedanta is a fascinating field, better explored on an experimental basis than in dry academic comparisons, or expositions by biased in-tradition scholastics. For the interested, I'd like to share a link to David Loy's Enlightenment in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta: Are Nirvana and Moksha the Same?, an excellent essay comparing the enlightenment-concepts of Buddhism, Advaita and Sankhya, three classical traditions positing the basic three approaches to the matter-spirit dichotomy.

The visit to Ramanashrama and Arunachala left me with fond memories. I will, no doubt, be revisiting the place with more time at the opening of a suitable future opportunity. I can see why Ramana would have considered Arunachala the greatest of his teachers.

Views: Ancient Monastery (1 Apr 2008)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:59:00 -0400

Ruins of an ancient monastery at the Sanchi archeological excavation area.

Views: Sri Ramana Maharshi (1 Apr 2008)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:58:00 -0400

A statue of Sri Ramana Maharshi with a strong presence in his shrine at Ramanashrama.

Views: Sanchi Central Stupa (1 Apr 2008)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:58:00 -0400

The central Buddhist stupa in the world heritage monument area at Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh.

Views: At Skandasramam (1 Apr 2008)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:57:00 -0400

Under a Bodhi-tree at Skandasramam on the slopes of Arunachala with Ven. Dhammasaro.

Views: Monk on a Mountain Path (1 Apr 2008)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:55:00 -0400

Monk walking up a mountain path on the slopes of Arunachala.

Views: Puttaparthi Mountains (31 Mar 2008)

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:37:00 -0400

The scenic mountains form the beautiful and ancient canvas behind the city of Puttaparthi.

Views: City of Puttaparthi (31 Mar 2008)

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:36:00 -0400

The small city of Puttaparthi seen from the nearby mountains.

Views: Riding with Sai Baba (31 Mar 2008)

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:34:00 -0400

A portrait of Sai Baba blessing passengers on the Puttaparthi-Bangalore route. The two-hand blessing mudra is very hip, ten points to Baba.

Blog: Sai Baba Magick and Puttaparthi Mountains (31 Mar 2008)

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:33:00 -0400

A few days back, as our route took us to Bangalore, we also spent a few days in Puttaparthi, the ashram of Sathya Sai Baba, the famous Hindu teacher, considered by his followers to be an avatar. And not just an avatar of this or that (e.g. Vishnu), "an avatar for whole universe", as a friendly gentleman there elucidated.

The whole of the Puttaparthi ashram, Prashanti Niketan or "The Abode of Highest Peace", is centered around devotion for Sai Baba. "Sai Ram", echoes the often heard all purpose greeting. While the main temple also hosts some chanting programs, the whole of the day's routine clearly reaches its climax for the devotees with Sai Baba's darshan, accompanied by dramas, musical performances and the such prepared for his pleasure.

His teachings, and the whole of his movement, are tailored into well-digestable, broad-appeal Hinduism with a good selection of noble values. There is a sense of popular syncretism in the iconography and some other nuances of the movement, but the general flavor is very distinctly Hindu. People may want to call it something else, but really, if something walks on two webbed feet and quacks, we can just call it a duck rather than an all-purpose amphibian entity.

Much is said about the Baba's miracles. (The Wikipedia entry features an impressive array of claimed miracles from levitation to matter transformation and vanishing in thin air.) In the few darshans I participated in, I didn't get to experience anything out of the ordinary on any conscious level. Whether there was something on a level I am not cognizant of, I couldn't say.

However, I'll say this: The way the place was being run was totally surreal. Stuff worked like an Ambassador from the 1950's. Everything was organized beyond anything I would have ever expected to meet in India, all the way up to a three-story Sai Baba shopping mall featuring products for below-average prices. If he can effect a change like this on a broader scale in India, I'll gladly consider him first class savior grade material.

Some Thai monks have supposedly said that the Baba would be a deva descended from the Brahma-worlds. This is, again, beyond me to judge. Be that as it may, the whole of three days I stayed in the peaceful environment of the ashram were a pleasant stay. I got a favorable overall impression, I wasn't exhorted for money, nor did I have to face any kind of cultish behavior that might have been characteristic of a group so tightly centered around a charismatic leader.

The Mountains

The mountains painting the scenic canvas of the Puttaparthi environment drew me like a magnet from the first sight. I have a thing with mountains, please don't ask me to try to explain! On the last full day of my stay in Puttaparthi, I took a few hours to walk a few kilometers to the foot of the hills, and climbed three quarter way up the highest peak in the vicinity.

Mountains are powerful. Even without any specific history of particular holiness, they are powerful, ancient, and full of symbols of wisdom for a perceptive contemplative. These wise old mountains, hills that the baba of Puttaparthi no doubt roamed across in his tender years of childhood, provided a revitalizing experience on many levels. (I had lived the past year and a half in the flatter than flat Uttar Pradesh.)

The Vedantic theory divides the being into five sheets. Annamaya-kosa, the body produced with food, got a decent exercise with the trek. Pranamaya-kosa, the body of vital airs, was rejuvenated and re-energized in the rich mountain air. Manomaya-kosa, the body of emotions, was delighted with the pristine scenery. Vijnanamaya-kosa, the body of intellect, was stimulated and enlightened with the mountain symbols, the teachings the mountain had kept in store for me since ancient days. Anandamaya-kosa, the causal body or the bliss body, is a level beyond my direct perception I assume to have been effected as well, but even without, four out of five isn't a bad score.

Achala is one of the many Sanskrit words for a mountain — as in "Arunachala", a sacred mountain I visited in Tiruvannamalai, to be featured in a bit — meaning "immovable". These vast masses of solid rock, unmoved by the forces of nature, bearing torrents of rain and parching sunshine millennium after millennium, are witnesses to countless generations of humans, and indeed a multitude of civilizations risen and fallen. Mountains, our masters from antiquity, stand as a wordless testimony of the trifling and temporary nature of our human existence. Standing ever still, they remind us of the unmoving, emancipated and eternal reality beyond the streams of time.

Blog: Taoist-Maoist Indiana Jones (31 Mar 2008)

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:29:00 -0400

The gurubhai seers of Radhakund have now realized that I have become a Tantric and a Buddhist Sannyasi, and concluded that my fame deserves to be spread. What they don't know is I've also become a Taoist and a Maoist, and apparently also the cool and sexy Indiana Jones of spirituality — if the following gem of a commentary I received a few days back is anything to go by. Its playful narration and the penetrating insights did keep me entertained for the better part of the day that followed — thank you, anonymous. (Or, Shmendrik the Magician, as it was signed!)

The protagonist has no existence -- no identity -- no purpose -- without the antagonist(s). Seems to me that you enjoy like anything raising the eyebrows of the highbrows, shocking, mocking and causing a fit with your wit. Well aren't you the glib young rebel?!?

There was a lunatic comedian in the early 60's named Lenny Bruce. He was the first to use four letter words in his live acts and discuss topics that were more than just controversial at the time -- they were downright verboten. He was often arrested, thrown out of clubs and cities and vilified for being so crude. As the 60's progressed the moral standards began to relax and more and more comedians were coming forth with even dirtier routines and language. Suddenly Lenny Bruce ran out of steam. He was the victim of loosened morals and attitudes and the new environment took all the wind out of his sails. He became depressed, stopped performing and eventually died of a heroin overdose in some fleabag hotel in Manhattan.

And so my young, romantic, adventurous, individualist, rebellious, intellectual, narcissistic friend —- I'm sure you will continue using the World Wide Web as your stage to perform to the delight of many -- and most of all -- yourself.

In conclusion — no ? you're not unique ? you're just loud and verbose.

**********************

By the way -- I run a translating service and we specialize in translating Bullshit into English. If I may I'd like to translate something I read recently that you wrote. Here's the English version:

"Hey everybody — look at me — listen to me — me me me — especially you females out there -- check out my photos and see how sexy I am. I'm like a spiritual Indiana Jones -- and read what I write — aren't I amazingly intelligent? Wouldn't you like me to be your guru/lover? Of course you would. I'm not going to rest until I know for sure that all men envy me and all women worship me. I know I make a good show of this whole adventurous, world-traveled, romantic seeker of truth and wisdom —- but all I'm really after is attention. I can't get enough of it. I'll do anything for attention. I can't help it. I'm a show-off. I really wanted to be a rock star but I have no talent so I'll take what I can get and use whatever I've got to get it. So please everybody -- don't stop talking about me. I love this World Wide Web. It's like my own private World Wide Stage to perform on and to display my proud peacock feathers. "

Ordinarily we charge a dollar a word but I'll let you have this translation for free. No charge. It's my offering to you for being so entertaining and so super cool. You are just so ? so ?. so ?. adorable. Oooh - I could just eat you up. Yummy.

Views: Roots Growing (27 Mar 2008)

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:51:00 -0400

A mountain tree reaching down for water. Nature is filled with powerful symbols, better contemplated on than spelled out, so manifold in their meanings.

Views: Mountain Mood (27 Mar 2008)

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:30:00 -0400

The ancient spirit: A moment of silence on a solitary, pristine mountain a few kilometers outside Puttaparthi in Karnataka.

Views: The Cactus Grave (27 Mar 2008)

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:55:00 -0400

A reminder of death in the wilderness beside the railway track leading to Chennai.

Blog: Theravada 4 Eva (27 Mar 2008)

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:41:00 -0400

A person finding a sense of security in latching himself to an external conceptual framework may be inclined to a think that I have renounced the old Vaisnava-branded mind-frame and am seeking solace in a new Theravada-branded mind-frame. That would be overly simplistic. My brain tends to be more nuanced and twisted, no doubt to the joy of the many trying to resolve and classify my ramblings.

I am not seeking to accommodate myself to any given external concept structure, a formal doctrine I would assimilate in toto without chewing what I swallow. Doing it would be an easy evasion of responsibility; take it as it is, and if things go unexpected, blame it. Blame others, blame everyone but yourself, because you just followed. Or rather, made an uninformed and malprocessed decision to follow.

My current mode is a very pragmatic one. What works, that works, and that is worthy of imbibing. Unslanted observation and evaluation of reality is the only feasible and reliable avenue I have come across so far, a method where I observe and evaluate on all levels within my reach and choose a direction accordingly, subsequently also bearing personally and solely the responsibility for my choices.

"Did I hear you say you assume possible objectivity?" Well, not exactly. A human being is of course an inherently subjective entity. Yet still, should we become skilled in distancing ourselves from the ongoing mental commentary, we would be getting much closer to actual reality. The benefits are immense and encompass countless levels, and as such a bit beyond today's blog that has a different focus.

I wouldn't opt for becoming a Theravada fundamentalist. I do see the Theravadan way as a sublime and developed model of philosophical doctrine, as well as a very functional methodology of lifestyle and meditation, and as such have come to see it as worthy of following. Nevertheless, a "just because it is so" approach is indigestible for me. This view, uncharacteristic of a formalized religion, actually finds support in the Buddha's own teachings (see e.g. Kalama-sutta):

"Of course you are uncertain, Kalamas. Of course you are in doubt. When there are reasons for doubt, uncertainty is born. So in this case, Kalamas, don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, 'This contemplative is our teacher.' When you know for yourselves that, 'These qualities are unskillful; these qualities are blameworthy; these qualities are criticized by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to harm and to suffering' — then you should abandon them."

Observe the fruits of diverse methods and teachings, conclude their worth for you on their own merits. That is, regardless of the brand label. I am writing this text at Tiruvannamalai, sitting in the ashram of Ramana Maharshi, the giant of Advaita-vedanta from half a century back. I have found his works very worthy, the crispness and lucidity of his perception admirable — and see no reason to abstain from the same owing to technicalities. To quote Ramana on a related theme (Talks 189):

Mr. Lacombe: Is Maharshi's teaching the same as Sankara's?
Ramana Maharshi: Maharshi's teaching is only an expression of his own experience and realisation. Others find that it tallies with Sri Sankara's. ... A realised person will use his own language. Silence is the best language.

Two standard epithets used for the Buddha's teachings on Dharma are sanditthiko, ehipassiko. Sanditthiko means that, which is self-evident; immediately apparent; visible here and now. Ehipassiko means that, which exhorts one to come and see. Bhagavad-gita (9.2) similarly speaks of the dharma as pratyaksa-avagama — that which is forthcoming to direct perception. My future builds on methods and concepts that are forthcoming to direct experience as yielding a worthy result.

With this are my priorities, in embracing methods and concepts I can practically perceive in benevolent action, yielding substantial and noble internal and external results. There is of course the issue of immediate and delayed consequence, but an acute observer will usually be able to notice at least some promising symptoms telling of the right direction. I find it equally hard to keep practicing methods from which good doesn't seem to be substantially developing either on a personal level or in the broader community of practitioners.

What are my base objectives? The following list of five would do for objectives currently being worked on. There are perhaps loftier goals the wise know of and have embraced, but the following is a base, the building of which I see as a necessity regardless of the specific spiritual path one may choose to follow. Even if the items below are primarily robed in language and systematism present in Buddhist scriptures, they are universal and also reflect some of my core values from before my introduction to Buddhism.

1. There is a need to wholly weed out greed, anger and delusion from the mind, and cultivate their opposites, namely generosity, kindness and wisdom.
2. There is a need to develop infinite compassion, loving kindness, sympathetic joy and equanimity.
3. There is a need to transcend the conceptualizing mind and obtain unslanted clarity or plain awareness.
4. There is a need to learn to still the mind and bring it to perfect, single-pointed meditational focus.
5. There is a need to, equipped with plain awareness and high focus, explore the nature of the conditional factors to eradicate ignorance.

Should anyone be well-equipped with the above requisites, I tend to think he'd be well set for any undertaking of spiritual substantiality. The methods of Theravada Buddhism for accomplishing the above are the most tangible and functional I have come across so far — and I have amended my practices accordingly. A hungry man needs an apple to eat, not promises of a heavenly tree with nectarine fruits far off in the worlds of utopia.

Beyond that, whether it's Theravada aka Vibhajjavada, Sarvastivada, Pudgalavada, Sammitiya, or whatever else, I really can't say I am in a position to judge their respective worths by analyzing the subtleties of their Abhidharma-theories that set them apart, and apparently at odds with each other, according to the scholastics anyway. When I attain the samadhi-level that gives me subatomic-level-penetrating perception, I'll no doubt be revisiting all of that with keen interest. In the meantime, I'll keep toddling along and working on the stuff that needs immediate attention.

In plain English, I haven't tattooed "Theravada 4 Eva" on my forehead. If I ever do, please someone come and scalp me for my own good.

Blog: Shankara, Bhagavata-purana and Advaita-vedanta (25 Mar 2008)

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:08:00 -0400

Lest some consider that some of the conclusions in the Buddha, Vedas and the Brahmana culture blog were undue, let me shed a bit light on the background of the issue. The entry touched briefly on six themes of substantial interest:

1. Dating of the Vedas and Vedic literature.
2. Reasons for Shankara's not commenting on the Bhagavata.
3. The anachronistic prediction of the Buddha.
4. The subsequent scriptural downplaying of the Veda.
5. The corruption of the brahmana race.
6. Influence from Buddhism and Jainism.

Let's take a look at the above one by one — but still with a great deal of brevity, as I don't exactly have the spare time to indulge in writing doctoral dissertation level expositions just now. This entry will address the first two of the six points on the list, the second one at some length owing to related themes that merit exploring.

Dating of the Vedas and Vedic literature

The estimates I presented for a timeline shouldn't be too unconventional in the world of contemporary scholarship. The issue of dating the diverse works of the Hindu canon is essentially a matter of scholarship versus pious belief. For people who wish to explore this further, I'm certain they'll find many good insights for example by starting a thread at the Caitanya Symposium discussion forum led by Neal Delmonico (Nitai Das), a man of great academic skill and valor, and a follower of Caitanya Vaisnavism as well.

Shankara, Bhagavata and Advaita-vedanta

This was mentioned in passing. Adi Shankara, the grand daddy of Advaita Vedanta, lived between 788-820 CE. His philosophy has been a source of much discomfort for the personalist Vaishnava traditions that followed. Even Sri Chaitanya, who was himself a sannyasi of the Shankara order (though you couldn't strictly call him a dasanami-sannyasi as he never took the title), is reputed to have said that study of Shankara's commentary on the Brahma-sutras would lead to wholesale destruction (CC 2.6.169) — even if many suspect that a great deal of content has been unduly attributed to him (S.K. De et al, don't have the reference at hand) by the biographer.

The classical Advaita doctrine considers Isvara, or the personal god, to be the best you can glimpse of the Monistic Absolute when looking from behind the veil of maya. (Read more.) While I personally find the model quite insightful and stimulating, those campaigning for the ultimate supremacy of a personal deity are a bit sour over it. This has led to the insertion of a passage into the Padma-purana — this ever-fluid and voluminous work that supposedly nowadays even contains a verse or two from Rupa Goswami's writings — declaring, māyāvādam asac chāstraṁ pracchannaṁ bauddham ucyate: "Mayavada is untrue to the scripture, said to be a covered form of Buddhism." In the verses that follow, Shiva tells Devi of his intentions to incarnate as a brahmana in the age of Kali to teach the doctrine of maya with an aim to delude the populace. Some later commentators add that Shankara presented a transitional philosophy with an aim to build a bridge between Buddhism and Vedas.

Now, Shankara and his followers were among the most outstanding and broadly read scholars of their times. The absence of apologetic writings in itself is quite telling of the supposed antiquity of such passages. The earliest reference I know of is from the 15th century, from Jiva Goswami's Paramatma-sandarbha. (His prelude to the passage introduces mayavada as Pasanda-sastras, or atheistic literature). While people sometimes display stupendous skills for devising different potential rationales as to why things aren't as fishy as they seem, quite often they are in fact just as fishy as they seem.

The idea of Shankara's respecting the Bhagavata by abstaining from commentary is also a concept introduced by Jiva Goswami in his Tattva-sandarbha (23). The more obvious answer to his abstaining from commenting on the title is in its being a work unknown at his time, either unwritten or unpopularized. Contemporary scholarship dates the work to 9th-10th century.

While Advaita-vedanta and Bhagavata are on the table, it isn't out of place to note the strong Advaitic leanings of the text. Sridhar Svami's commentary, the first commentary on the Bhagavata and much praised by Sri Chaitanya, was later downplayed by Jiva as being only partially acceptable. In his view (Tattva-sandarbha 27), some portions do not conform to strict Vaisnava philosophy and have been inserted only to attract those with Advaita-leanings to the greatness of the Lord.

To contrast this, Chaitanya is told (CC 3.7.112ff) to have expressed his displeasure over Vallabha's statement of his finding some of Sridhara's statements unacceptable. Vallabha's exact objection is in Sridhara's philosophical inconsistency — sei vyākhyā karena yāhāṅ yei paḍe āni': "Howsoever he reads in any given place, accordingly he comments." In Chaitanya's cutting yet light remark, "I count among prostitutes the one who doesn't accept the Svami." (The word svami also means "husband".)

The critique attributed to Vallabha is, however, quite telling of the crux of the problem. The Bhagavata is indeed chock-full of Advaitic ideology, and just reading and commenting on the verses without a slanted overall premise will inevitably lead to a commentary with a strong Advaita admixture. This may not be obvious to readers who have been exposed only to the BBT version of the text, but is quite evident in the original and in other translations such as the Gita Press version. When you translate j?āna-mātraṁ paraṁ brahma (BhP. 3.33.26) as "the Supreme Personality of Godhead alone is complete transcendental knowledge", and taṁ brahma-nirvāṇa-samādhim āśritaṁ (BhP. 4.6.39) as "He was absorbed in trance", dṛḍhā ratir brahmaṇi nirguṇe (BhP. 4.22.21) as "steadfast attachment for the Supreme Lord, who is transcendental, beyond the modes of material nature", the flavor of the text changes considerably.

The fact that hard-core Advaitins such as Ramana Maharshi have extolled the Bhagavata-purana as one of the works people ought to be studying is quite telling of the actual contents and spirit of the work. The work itself describes its themes (12.13.12) in its concluding chapter:

sarva-vedānta-sāraṁ yad brahmātmaikatva-lakṣaṇam |
vastv advitīyaṁ tan-niṣṭhaṁ kaivalyaika-prayojanam ||

"It is the essence of all Vedanta, characterized by the unity of brahman and atman, is fixed in the nondual substance, and has kaivalya as its sole objective."

Reading the above should have every straight Vaishnava running away at a high velocity. Not so for Jiva, however, who in his Priti-sandarbha exegesis features kaivalya as kevalaḥ śuddhaḥ tasya bhāvaḥ kaivalyam, "unmixed and pure emotion for Him is kaivalya". Truth be told, I have often been decidedly uncomfortable with his exegeses that seem to be, despite the ingeniousness, often quite wishful and not meriting the conviction they seem to be carrying. Matters of wishful exegesis are no doubt one among the factors that had me grow weary of Gaudiya orthodoxy.

I should add that I personally enjoy reading the Bhagavata a great deal. All those sages, wandering north towards the end of their life, sitting in meditation, letting the internal elements merge with the external elements, forsaking the non-self and fusing into the non-dual reality, are just so cool and awesome it makes me scream. You should have been a fly on the ceiling when I revisited the text last December, spent long hours and days reading the narrations and philosophy with rapt attention.

The rest of the six themes will be covered in future installments. 'twas quite plentiful for a day.

Blog: Anger Danger (24 Mar 2008)

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:14:00 -0400

With my recent writings on the evolution of my views on Hinduism, featuring a departure that to many is irreconcilable and to some also unforgivable, expressions of anger have again become a theme of some contemplation to me.

A classical illustration from the Hindu side of the equation is found in Bhagavata-purana (4.4.17), featuring the story of Sati, Shiva's wife, who is grievously offended by her father's harsh words of her husband.

"Blocking one's ears, one should go away if one is powerless,
Where a master, lord of dharma, is blasphemed by the unrestrained men,
But the able should cut out the vilifying blasphemer's tongue by force,
And then indeed give up his own life, this is the righteous duty."

I needn't say how passages like this can fuel religious violence and cause immense damage in the hands of immature believers. In fact, just today I received a threatening comment on my blog entry on Buddha, Vedas and Brahmanas from a person who considers himself a Hindu patriot. After a series of denigrating comments about me, the message concluded as follows:

"I just want to remind you that you are in India, and I would also advise you to think twice prior to keying in any trash on Hinduism. I, like millions of my brothers of faith and blood in Bharata, are Hindu patriots to the core, and not many would tolerate your egotistical but ridiculous balderdash. So, by all means "evolve" and embrace Bauddha dharma - it is a great path for one to follow. However, you are no Sanskritist or pandita, and therefore keep your preposterous, recently developed "academic" garbage on our Dharma confined within the dark inner chambers of your messed-up being. Speak more than behoves someone on your sloppy terrain and I may have to notify some contacts in the RSS, VHP or some other nationalist outfit to teach you a lesson, and one that you won't forget for sure. You have been warned, Loponen Finnish boy."

Allowing anger to gain foothold in the heart is spiritually very unwholesome, for anger is the root of all that is destructive in the world. I have commented on this from a more wholesome Vaishnava perspective in an earlier blog entry (Dealing with indignations) from last summer, and we should hope that people could at least reach the level of civilized indignation if the urge of anger cannot be tamed.

To contrast this with something, I wish to share a passage from the Brahma-jala-sutta Digdha-nikaya that was a beautiful and soothing read, featuring attitudes closer to my heart. Attitudes I've fostered for long, and — perhaps as a bit of a surprise — found them featured at length in the Buddha's teachings. No doubt the highly evolved attitudes encouraged in the Buddhist teaching have featured as a substantial factor in my spiritual shift.

The background story reads as follows:

Once Buddha and some five hundred bhikkhus traveled down the road from Rajagaha to Nalinda. In their wake walked mendicant Suppiya and a disciple of his, Brahmadatta, the first constant in his disparaging speech of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, and the latter constant in his praise of the same. The Buddha, hearing of the situation as they retired for the night at Ambalatthika-vihara, taught the bhikkhus as follows.

"Bhikkhus! If others should malign the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, you must not feel resentment, nor displeasure, nor anger on that account. Bhikkhus! If you feel angry or displeased when others malign the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, it will only be harmful to you (because then you will not be able to practise the dhamma).

"Bhikkhus! If you feel angry or displeased when others malign the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, will you be able to discriminate their good speech from bad? "No, indeed, Venerable Sir!" said the bhikkhus. If others malign me or the Dhamma, or the Sangha, you should explain to them what is false as false, saying 'It is not so. It is not true. It is, indeed, not thus with us. Such fault is not to be found among us.'

"Bhikkhus! If others should praise the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, you should not, feel pleased, or delighted, or elated on that account. Bhikkhus! If you feel pleased, or delighted, or elated, when others praise me, or the Dhamma, or the Sangha, it will only be harmful to you. Bhikkhus! If others praise me, or the Dhamma, or the Sangha, you should admit what is true as true, saying 'It is so. It is true. It is, indeed, thus with us. In fact, it is to be found among us.'"

Contemplate on the diverse approaches and their results, find within you the most enlightened course of action among the options available. I have come to find much joy and wisdom in the last option.

Views: Clouds over Varanasi (23 Mar 2008)

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:39:00 -0400

Scenic clouds floating across the skyscape of Varanasi a few days back.

Blog: Question to Readers (23 Mar 2008)

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:30:00 -0400

I don't really have a very clear picture of the demographics of the current Vraja Journal readership. Obviously a great many are — or were — practitioners or observers of traditional Gaudiya Vaisnavism on one level or another.

The Buddhist ethics I embrace don't allow for pushing or proselytizing of teachings. When there is an expressed interest, it is appropriate to speak or to write. These issues become a bit more complicated online. Hence this blog entry and a question to the readers on what's welcome.

There is obviously a class of people who would like to see me shut up and dig myself six feet under. For them, I have written the disclaimer and encouraged them to cease from reading this journal.

As this is a free journal and I have no agenda for writing to an external purpose, I have no reason to keep my writings unslanted by my inner views. My current mood regarding the journal is keeping it as a natural continuation of its history, featuring reflections on issues relevant to an audience that on one level or another relates to Gaudiya Vaisnavism, content that will be of interest to practicing Gaudiya Vaisnavas (assuming broad-mindedness and ability to handle contrasting and unconventional views) and outsiders exploring the GV tradition.

I wouldn't want to write directly on Buddhist teachings, independent of the above context, unless there was a specific interest among the readers for the same. Then, let's hear the vox populi:

Please share your thoughts on the future direction of the journal: What kind of content is welcome, what should be avoided? What would be of interest, what would you pass by without reading?

Please use the link below this post to send feedback. You can also do it anonymously if you wish. If there's a great deal of division in the feedback I receive, labeling content under different identifiable headings is also an option (as you presently see with the ad posts): "Straight GV ", "GV Revisited", "General Hinduism", "Buddhism" and so on.

Blog: Gods Forsaken, Paradise Lost (22 Mar 2008)

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:44:00 -0400

Being a Buddhist means I no longer believe in god. Right? Well, let's be a bit more nuanced here.

Buddhism doesn't deny the existence of a diversity of gods. In fact, some accounts portray even a broader array of levels of existence than we find in the classical Puranic models. You have the hot and the cold hells, you have the realms of the ghosts, you have the Tavatimsa heavens with Sakra, also known as Devanam Indra or the king of the gods, in charge. You have the Yama-worlds, the Tusita-worlds, the Brahma-worlds, and the immaterial worlds. (Refer to The 31 Planes of Existence by Suvanno Mahathera for some further details on Buddhist cosmology.) I do live in the same mythic universe with my old Hindu bretheren, albeit in a slightly modified and expanded form: I have gained extra dimesions.

Over the millennia, Buddhism has been amicably accommodating of other pantheons. For example, many Hindu and Bon deities have been painlessly absorbed into Tibetan Buddhism, and none other than Vishnu has taken the place of the patron deity of the ancient Theravada tradition of Sri Lanka. Since many of the god-conceptions are remarkably similar, it wouldn't be sensible to only accept a certain culture's depictions of the gods. After all, these beings are quite beyond the ordinary human description ability, so a certain level of artistic freedom must be allowed. The deities are regarded as protectors of the dharma of the ancient path leading to final emancipation, and as such included in the merit sharing prayers following great dharmic undertakings.

Buddhism doesn't however admit to the existence of any supreme or original deity on whom all of creation or existence would depend. It does recognize some devatas laying claim to such, Maha Brahma or the greatest of the many Brahmas being a famous example, and regards such claims as a form of delusion born of ignorance. This of course implies that, to not make Krishna, the speaker of the Bhagavad Gita, culpable of the same (assuming we take the work as his direct words), we must turn to more Advaitic interpretations of the text, of which there are of course many.

Nay, let's have the origin of the worlds from the most ancient of our sruti sources — straight from the roots:

"Then was not non-existence nor existence: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it. What covered in, and where? and what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water? Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal: no sign was there, the day's and night's divider. That One Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature: apart from it was nothing whatsoever. Darkness there was at first concealed in darkness this. All was indiscriminated chaos. All that existed then was void and formless: by the great power of Warmth was born that Unit. Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit. Sages who searched with their heart's thought discovered the existent's kinship in the non-existent.

Transversely was their severing line extended: what was above it then, and what below it? There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder. Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was born and whence comes this creation? The devas are later than this world's production. Who knows then whence it first came into being? He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it, whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not." - (Rig Veda 10.129.1-7)

The above, so it seems to me anyway, is in spirit more proximate to the Buddhist doctrine of Pratitya-samutpada or Dependent Arising with the mass of the universe vaguely anthropomorphized than it is to the later Hindu creation mythos featuring a personal deity pulling the strings. In general, the Upanishadic versions of creation are worth a study for people who haven't familiarized themselves with anything beyond the Puranic version.

As for concerns over atheism, even astika philosophical systems such as Sankhya managed to feature the unfolding of the elements, the turning of the Prakriti, without a need for a personal original creator god to run the errands. Of course, this early non-theistic Sankhya was preached by the infamous imposter Kapila, not the real incarnation of Vishnu who was a straight theist. (Many scholars suspect that the true Kapila's presentation may have been slanted by underlying personal motives.)

On a personal level, have I forsaken my gods? Have those whom I worshiped and meditated on for years vanished into nothingness? No, they certainly haven't — even if admittedly I'm still in the midst of inner transitions with many pieces yet to fall to their proper places, revisiting, revising and recontextualizing elements from my past practices and understandings.

Radha, the goddess of Hladini, Karunamayi, this embodiment of compassion, was the primary object of my worship for a good many years. I sought my level best to cultivate the internal spirit-body, a ray of her being, and I sought a deep union of hearts with her. This cultivation with all of its internal responses is unlikely to vanish from my consciousness even with the shifted focus. The powerful energetic connection once forged is a support I gladly and gratefully maintain, even if partaking in her cosmic drama of emotions with Krishna was a bit much for me to handle.

As for Krishna, I honestly don't know what to make of him, and I never really did. It was the fair lady besides him that drew my attention. Owing to his well-documented history of crooked behavior and the establishment of the ethics of "love me when I kick you", I have little interest in investing much in him, even if I've kept my avenues unclogged and given an open invitation to get in touch anytime, should we have unfinished business.

I believe these two, along with the rest of the personal divine manifestations out there, share of a level of consciousness far greater than their sectarian worshipers do, and as such are supportive of the spirit of my quest for final enlightenment, rather than peeved by my revised priorities from desires from their personal adoration to a withdrawal of desires supportive of the attainment of final beatitude beyond worlds of names and forms.

Looking at deities beyond their humane manifestations in terms of energies, principles, symbols and so forth is a whole other elaborate theme, rather beyond the scope of today's text.

Views: Lakshmi on a Lotus (22 Mar 2008)

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:42:00 -0400

Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, seated on a lotus, depicted in a typical Southern style.

Views: Vishnu on a Ride (22 Mar 2008)

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:39:00 -0400

Vishnu, with his two shaktis (Sri and Bhu assumed), riding Garuda above the gate of a temple in Bangalore.

Views: Sri-Sri Krishna-Caitanya Mahaprabhu (21 Mar 2008)

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:42:00 -0400

For Gaura-purnima, a view from the Chausatti Mahanta memorial yard from Vrindavana. The main text reads, "Sri-Sri Krishna-Caitanya Mahaprabhu", with the "ujjvala-varana" verse above and "harer nama" and "bhajo guru gauranga" below.