> Haribol, I do not have a problem with VAD,
> just who is implementing.
Guru and Gauranga are the one's implementing
varnasrama-dharma.
> One says that we must follow the representative
> of Srila Prabhupada, who is that?
Everyone must follow the guru, sastras and sadhus, therefore we must all follow Srila Prabhupada AND anyone who perfectly and purely represents him, but it is very difficult for anybody to see, who is who, without following the order of the guru, to organize everybody in our Krsna consciousness society, what to speak of any other society. And, how can we ever hope to elevate the karmi or vikarmi so-called civilization, without setting the perfect example, which entails, once again, following the orders of the spiritual master, to introduce and establish the varnasrama system, beginning with our movement?
> The one with the most votes gets to decide
> who does labor and who gets the guns?
Just as one does not vote for the spiritual master, similarly the administrator or king is not voted into office, but rather, is also appointed by God [Lord Sri Krsna], and the appointment of his designation is revealed and confirmed by God [who resides in everyone's heart and is known as the paramatma or supersoul], the guru, sastra and sadhus. Under the personal guidance, direction and supervision of God [Lord Sri Krsna], the guru and the sadhus, the administration department is engaged in dividing society, therefore it is the guru and Gauranga who decide "who does the labor and who, as you say, "gets the guns," but it should also be understood that the ksatriya's or administrator's duties are not limited exclusively to the practice of utilizing weapons, for the necessity of protecting society, and that they must be extremely qualified, before being granted permission for, ultimately, becoming engaged in the practice of any type of law enforcement, security, and for that matter, any form of government activity. They are therefore, not mindless mokes or insensitive bullies, as is the contention of many who may be afraid of implementing the varnasrama system for this reason, nor are they lazy. Remember, when the king was asked why those in positions of administration were considered more qualified for their positions than the others, he requested that those presenting the inquiry attempt to prove there ability by weighing an elephant, and when they could not, he instructed his government staff to perform the task, who were able to return shorty thereafter with the answer, because they simply put the elephant onto a boat and marked the water level, then replaced the elephant with the exact amount of weights required to cause the boat to sink down to the marked line. The moral of the story is that, as stated previously, everybody must be tested to see which education and engagement in one of the four varnas or occupational duties is the most suitable for each and every living entity.
> VAD can be implemented, but right
> now, in the midst of turmoil,
Lord Sri Krsna's divine plan executed through His perfect instrument known as His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srila Prabhupada, is ingenious to say the least. Srila Prabhupada travelled all over the world training a class of vaisnava brahmanas, who, as a result of this divine arrangement, may appear to literally be scattered here and there, and practically everywhere, with no apparent unified purpose, and are therefore as a entire class of potential new world leaders, presently found to be almost completely unnoticeable and undetectable by many, if not all the members of even our own society, what to speak of those who oppose our mission and even of those who don't; who could possibly see, without scrutinizingly studying the situation of the devotees, what will become of all this so-called causeless "calamity"? Simply by identifying those trained for leadership positions, by organizing everybody the way they [Sri Sri guru and Gauranga Mahaprabhu] have instructed us to, we can immediately be empowered by Lord Sri Krsna, Srila Prabhupada and all the vaisnavas to become instrumental in causing another even bigger and better Hare Krsna explosion than the one caused previously by Sri Krsna, through His personally empowered representative, known, once again as His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srila Prabhupada, when he was personally AND physically present among us. I know this may sound mundane but it should serve as a good analogy. On a popular, frequently repeated episode of Star Trek, Captain Kirk was stranded on a planet with a creature he was instructed to defeat, in a battle to the death. He was told that everything he needed to defeat the creature could be found on the planets surface. So, naturally he searched everywhere for a phaser or any other kind of weapon, but was constantly baffled because all he could find was an assortment of mineral deposits, rocks, coal, manganese, sulfur, diamonds etc., and then it dawned on him that if he simply combined the elements and organized them the way that he had been previously trained, he could create gunpowder, the ingredient for a formidable weapon with which he would easily be able to defeat his enemy. The enemy is maya, and everything we need to defeat our opponent [this illusory energy] has been kindly provided. We have the formula [given by God, the guru, the sastras, and the sadhus], and based on the principle of yukta-vairagya [which means that nothing which can be used in the service of the Lord should be artificially renounced], we have and can make use of the technology, to, as they say, fight fire with fire. And we have all the essential, fundamental ingredients, which analogously are considered the elements required for the creation of our "weapon," consisting of a ship [which is analogous to the body of the living entities in the human form of life], for passing over the barrier of nescience and conquering our enemy, to reach our ultimate realization [by establishing a righteous kingdom], and for ultimately reaching the supreme destination; a captain or king, directed by the Supreme Being and a spiritual guide known as the master, a crew consisting of a military security team, headed by the captain [who is subject to the authority of an advisory board made up of brahmana's, or intellectual spiritual guides and directors representing the Supreme Being and the master], his chief officers and their subordinates; a business negotiation department, which under the direction and protection of the spiritually directed administration is also responsible for supply of nutritional supplements, rations and provisions, [referred to as prasadam]; and a navigation guide or manual known as VEDA or the Vedic Sastra. When organized in this fashion, everyone cooperating within this system benefits immensely, and as sticks, when bundled together cannot be broken, similarly we cannot and will not be defeated, if we simply adhere to the system, and stick like glue to the instructions of guru, sastra and sadhu. It is only when one individually attempts to act independently that he or she fails pitifully and repeatedly.
When cleaning your room, you may want to consider bringing everything out into the open so you can see what you have deal with in your endeavor to clean and organize it. Although it required a considerable effort and although much was accomplished towards the goal, if anyone were to witness the result of your effort at the interim stage it would appear that you had actually made quite a mess of things. Now, in the case of our movement, Srila Prabhupada accomplished a great deal, but until we become more organized, based on the daivi or divine varnasrama system of cooperation and organization, the movement will continue to be, and appear like the room which still needs everything put in it's proper place. In the interim stage or in other words the first half of the process, although a great deal has been accomplished, and although our most valuable assets or confidential commodities [analogously referring to the brahminical community, who comprise the future leaders of society] are apparently hidden in the what may appear to be a big mess, if everything is simply put where it belongs, and everybody is educated and engaged in accordance with the potentials and propensities of each and every individual living entity people from all walks of life will be extremely surprised by what was accomplished in the beginning and what will be accomplished in the end. Remember, Srila Prabhupada said that if they knew what he was doing they would have killed him, and would not reveal everything about the future of our movement, "lest the plan be spoiled." They have no idea how powerful this plan is. Srila Prabhupada has done half the work already. If we simply follow his instructions for the execution of the second half of his plan it will come as such a surprise that the world won't know what hit it, nor will the people of this world be able to stop it from happening. They don't have any idea what were up to, because they presently consider us insignificant. This is part of the brilliance of Srila Prabhupada's plan. They see no plan or purpose behind what is going on in this movement, but now we can see. If they did know, they would do anything they could to stop it. Therefore the element of surprise will certainly be to our advantage. Of course this is all Lord Sri Krsna's divine arrangement, therefore there's no need for any anxiety, however, that does not mean we should be complacent, or feel like there's no reason for us to do anything. Srila Prabhupada taught that the devotees could, and verily should feel the transcendental mood of urgency. He literally shared this mood with his followers, and showed by his own personal example, how this state of ecstasy could be practically experienced by everybody. We should simply abandon all varieties of so-called religion, which include economic development, regulated sense gratification and religiosity, and constantly desire to be engaged eternally in any way that Krsna wants, and should not fear, hesitate or worry, because Krsna has promised that he will protect us from all sinful reactions. [Bg. 18.66]
We can be like the gopis, who when they heard that Krsna had a headache, were willing to do anything to relieve His "pain". Once, Krsna told Sri Narada Muni that He had a headache, and that the only way He would get relief from His headache, would be by putting the dust of the lotus feet of His devotee on His head, so he asked Sri Narada Muni to find a devotee, and get some of the dust from His devotee's lotus feet. When Narada Muni explained the situation to some neophytes, they exclaimed that they could not comply, because if they put the dust from their feet on the head of the Supreme Personality [Sri Krsna] they would surely go to hell. Then Sri Narada Muni asked a group of brahmanas, who replied that they also could not comply with the request, knowing very well the consequences of violating the scriptural injunctions, which prohibit such an action. Sri Narada Muni-ji then approached the gopis, who immediately after receiving the request, began to dance up a storm of dust. Sri Narada Muni then said, wait a minute, don't you understand what will happen if you put the dust of your feet on the head of God? They then replied, don't you understand, Krsna [God] has a headache? There is nothing they won't do for the pleasure of the Lord, and we should simply follow in their footsteps.
> it is much more practicle to work in a
> smaller atmosphere than try a world
> wide compliance system.
Srila Prabhupada has instructed his followers, and also taught by his own personal example, that we must "shoot for a rhinoceros." He said, that if someone shoots for a rhinoceros and misses, then everyone will simply say, "Oh well, it could not have been done anyways." But if you succeed in "shooting for the rhinoceros" he said, how glorious this will be.
> Please limit the quotations, anybody can
> muster quotes to prove his point, if we
> discuss, lets just make our point and
> move on.
> haribol, mahaksadasa
I'm very much interested in a discussion based on what is written and stated by the guru, found in the sastras and confirmed by the sadhus. According to these three sources of knowledge, we should be very careful to avoid being engaged in any conversations based on speculation.
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Dear Prabhus
Please accept my respectful obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Have I committed any offenses,
taken any quotes out of context,
made any mistakes, and/or
done anything I shouldn't have?
If so, I'm sorry.
Aspiring to be the sincere
servant of the servant,
Yours Truly,
Gauranga Prema Dasa
Hare Krsna