namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

Concerning the Enflaming of the Heart

I have been in China for over a week now, working and riding my bike around Kunming. There are lots of interesting temples here, but most of them did not fare well in the cultural revolution. I met a British tai-chi teacher the other day and was asking him about the spiritual history of the region. He told me that the monks in the temples here are mostly just government employed caretakers and any genuinely spiritual people around here head for the hills and keep to themselves. Seems like sane advice in an atheist society, which probably also holds for most western countries.

Positional leadership does not sit well with intelligent young people today. Anyone with a higher education is instilled with a deep distrust for institutions and authoritarian structures. From the perspective thus inculcated, when considering matters of spiritual insight and transcendence of the material plane, institution and authority has no place. This is why organised religion is declining in popularity, and more free-form new-age things are on the rise. As McLuhan famously declared: "the medium is the message".

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Foreign Correspondent does Bhutan. Well worth a watch. This is the best country on Earth!

Homeopathy seems to be popular with devotees in Australia and New Zealand for some reason. Being raised in a family of medical scientists, I was inculcated that this stuff is total quackery from when I was a young lad. I'm still to be convinced anything other than medical science is a scientifically valid form of medicine... kind of obvious when you put it that way.

The past few weeks I have mostly been writing on somewhat political points, so I think it is time to bring this thing back to the essence and talk about what is going on in my world.

In the 1840s, the struggle between North and South in the nascent United States was beginning to really develop. The issue of slavery was a central, but by no means exclusive, point of contention around which the polarisation hinged. The North contended their concern was based on an all encompassing humanistic moral imperative, which held the capacity for self determination to be the birth right of all human beings, regardless of race, class and creed. Political thinkers of the South countered that the system of wage slavery perpetrated by the North was in fact less humane.

I noted with interest Tri-Yuga's recent post on gender roles and, combined with the recent rustlings of discontent around Bhakta Corey's misogynistic blog posts, a picture emerges that within ISKCON the highly traditional archetype of gender roles is still the predominant cultural context. As I wrote previously, I agree that these natural roles exist, have a fundamental biological basis, and are undeniable in the face of observable psychophysical traits.

It seems that my last post pointing out some elements of traditional temple culture that act as a barrier to preaching was a little controversial. Sorry if I offended anyone, that certainly wasn't my intention.

Over the weekend I went to visit the Gaura Yoga centre in Wellington. It was very inspirational to see what they've done there. In my travels within ISKCON, I have seen nothing quite like it. Although there are many places trying to learn from its model, there is no substitute for the original. There are three aspects to what they do there which I think make it so special.

The Vedic cosmology surrounding Krishna Consciousness as we know it includes a pantheon of Hindu demigods, a geographical context fixed around the Indian sub-continent and a cultural context borne of Aryan civilisation. To what extent are these things essential elements of the transcendent Absolute Truth, and to what extent are they a narrative which brings the abstract into concrete focus through the application of conceptual reference?

I've been studying a lot of interesting stuff lately. On the work side i've been studying fluvial geomorphology and hydrological modeling. On the uni side i've been studying hillslope evolution and the social constructionist theory of representation in geography. Finally, on the really interesting side of things, i've been listening to a lot of Terence McKenna and Sadaputa Das lectures. These two have a surprising amount in common, although their conclusions differ markedly.

Last weekend I was in Sydney to visit friends. The last 4 days i've been in Canberra for work and to visit my family. I always look forward to travel, to the opportunity to experience some other environment. In reality, however, it is all the same. You come to a different place, and just do all the same things. The idea that you will go somewhere and find yourself there is a big illusion - to the contrary, it is more likely that you immerse yourself in the sensual experience of a fresh environment to run even further from yourself.

Today I read 'Dhritarastra quits home' in Srimad Bhagavatam. For those who haven't read it, it is about a prince who starts a fight with his own family, loses the battle, and finally takes refuge in the home of the victorious members of his family after losing everything in the fight. His younger brother, an enlightened sage, comes past and lays it down heavy. "Look bro, you are kidding yourself. You reckon you're a king?

This guy totally nails it, he knows what's going on. Sufis are my favourite mayavadis.

The whole idea of a civilised society is built on the existence of a surplus of production: once people are no longer concerned with gathering the bare necessities of their existence, they are freed up for other tasks. As the surplus increases, fewer people are needed to maintain the rest, and many people may undertake non-survivalist pursuits as a full-time occupation. In the world of state capitalism in which we live, these pursuits form the vertical relief of the value chain.

According to H.G Ravindra Svarupa's presentation on Varnasram Dharma, the best way to get there from here is for ISKCON to re-invent itself as a training institution. To become less a monastery and more a seminary college, focused on education of its members and supporting a wider community of devotees than are immediately housed within the temple. The implications of this suggestion are simple: structured education like bhakti sastri and a renewed emphasis on the role of brahmanas as the teachers of society. Down to earth on a practical level, there are also other pressing implications.

When I first met the devotees, I was so attracted to their character. It was like I wanted to wake up and have all their qualities transferred to myself. My realisation of late is that the Lord's devotees have unlimited glories. I've given up aspiring for their impeccable character and worship worthy attributes. I have no qualification to be a devotee, but somehow or other I have been allowed to associate with them. I pray that I may never lose the association of the most glorious human beings on the planet, the magnanimous devotees of the Supreme Person.

I recently watched the movie "Into Great Silence". It is a documentary about Carthusian monks in France, who are reputed to be the most austere monastic order in all of Christendom. They do not speak at all, except during their occasional walks in the countryside. They live in individual quarters as hermits, while simultaneously participating in a community.

The Nation of Gods and Earths, also known as the five percenters, were formed as an offshoot of the Nation of Islam in the 1960s by Clarence 13X. Their system of Supreme Mathematics is used to encode and disseminate esoteric messages amongst those who understand the Truth and want to enlighten the masses - the 5%. Popular music, media and culture is used a vehicle for this. In the words of Felipe Coronel, "It's improbable that the average intellect could understand; so I encrypted this into hip-hop that's in high demand".

I've recently started developing my side business in software development into something a bit bigger. I've registered a company and the marketing arm is gearing up. Already business is starting to flow in, but I am unequipped in one area: time. Reluctant to allow this to impact my sadhana more than it already has, I have to admit I need help.

Are there any devotee software developers (specifically web applications) out there who would like to work by the hour? I'm based in Melbourne, Australia, but physical proximity is of little importance. Drop me a line - david.jorm at gmail.com.

Avadhutas are important personalities in Gaudiya Vaisnavism, with Nityananda Prabhu being the most prominent. The avadhuta code of sveccacara has been promulgated in the western mystery schools by moderns like Crowley and his disciples, but the true antecendant of the teaching in the west is François Rabelais. A former Franciscan and Benedictine monk, he eventually returned to worldly affairs and wrote his masterpiece, Gargantua and Pentegruel.

In the Vajrayana traditions of Kham, the ultimate realisation is the innermost nature of mind, called Rigpa. This nature is said to be radiant, self-sufficient and equipoised. An initiate is formally introduced to Rigpa by his master posing the question, at the perfectly timed moment, "What is mind?".

I am no devotee, I have nothing. I'm just a puffed up mental speculator. I do everything wrong, but I am front row and center every time any kirtan or harinama is going on.  Sometimes I put on my headphones and walk around the place chanting along with some recorded kirtan. I get really into it and sometimes start shouting and dancing and rolling my eyes around in my head. People must think I am insane; maybe I am.