From: anand@binah.cc.brandeis.edu (NAME)
Subject: Re: Lord Chaitanya's teachings
Reply-To: anand@binah.cc.brandeis.edu
Organization: Brandeis University
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 19:06:12 GMT

>
>Lord Chaitanya (b. 1486 A.D.) is supposed to have come to show how to apply
>Krishna's teachings in everyday life. Though he instructed his disciples to
>write books on the Science of Krishna; he himself has left us only eight verses.
>His followers are known as Vaishnavas (among whom there is no division based
>on caste or anything) . He had many Muslims as his followers. This is not to

Haridas Thakur is the most well known of Lord Chaitanya's Muslim disciples.
He was given the title of "Nama-acharya" for the zeal and devotion in
which he distributed the name of the Lord through the sankirtana movement
in Bengal and else where. There are many interesting stories associated with
attempts by the Muslim Kazi of Navadvipa to distract him from his devotion.
One of them was sending a beautiful prostitute to his house one evening; 
with the intention of maligning Haridas Thakur's name. So, as the story goes,
when the woman went up to him, he politely asked her to wait- until he finished
his japa (chanting on beads). The woman waited; he continued to chant till
it was daybreak; apologised profusely to her and said that the next 
night she could defintely get what she wanted. the same thing happened on the 
following night. she fell asleep at his doorstep. by the third morning when 
she woke up she found herself chanting the holy name of Krsna. Such is the 
attractiveness of the Lord's name.
She came to become a great devotee; renounced all material possesions etc.
 What i am trying to put across here is  that love of God can be recieved
by anyone; however fallen or elevated they may be in the material sphere;
irrespective of  caste,  religion or nationality. All this sectarian'ism
is man made, to result in more misery in this already miserable world.
 
>say that he is greater than Muhammed or something. It's difficult for any
>man who searches the truth to be oblivious to the presence of such glorious

>spiritual personalities. Many Hindus will not have any problem following
>Muhammad's lead if he appears today. It's time Muslims understand the difference
>between the Hindus and idol worshippers in Makka. I quote from him, as this is
>an exact replication of what he said and not distorted by anybody.
>One word of caution: When Hindus use the name of the prophet and the Lord, 
>interchangably; they do so as they are manifestations of the same essence.
>The prophet is but a mirror of the God and so are all the idols.
>
>The eight prayers:
>1
>	Glory to the Sri Krishna Samkirtan (chanting) which cleanses the heart
>of all dust accumulated for years together. Thus the fire of conditional life,
>of repeated births and death, is extinguished. This Samkirtan movement is the
>prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the
>benediction Moon. It is the life of all transcadental knowledge, it increases
>the ocean of transcadental bliss, and it helps to have a taste of the full 
>nectar for which we are always anxious.
>
>2
>	O my Lord! Your Holy name alone can render all benediction upon the
>living beings, and therefore You have hundreds and millions of Names, like
>Krishna, Govinda, etc. In these transcadental Names you have invested all Your
>transcadental energies, and there is no hard and fast rule for chanting these
>holy names. O my Lord! You have so kindly made approach to you easy by your
>Holy names, but unfortunate as I am, I have no attraction for them
>3
>	One can chant the Holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, 
>thinking himself lower than the straw in the street, more tolerant than the
>tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respects to
>others. In such a state of mind one can chant the Holy Name of the Lord 
>constantly.
>4
>	O Almighty Lord! I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor I have any
>desire to enjoy beautiful women; neither do I want any number of followers of
>mine. What I want only is that I may have Your causeless devotional service in
>my life--birth after birth.
>5
>	O Son of Maharaj Nanda, I am Your eternal servitor, and although I am
>so, somehow or other I have fallen in the ocean of birth and death. Please,
>therefore, pick me up from the ocean of birth and death, and fix me as one of
>the atoms of your lotus feet.
>6
>	O my Lord! When shall my eyes be decorated with tears of love, flowing
>constantly while I chant Your Holy name? When will my words be choked up when
>uttering the Holy name? And when will all the holes of hair on my body have
>eruptions by the recitation of Your name?
>7
>	O Govinda! Feeling Your separation I am considering a moment twelve 
>years or more, and tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain. I am
>feeling all vacant in the world, in the absence of You.
>8
>	I do not know anyone except Krishna as my Lord, and He shall always
>remain as such, even if He handles me roughly by His embrace; or He may make
>me broken hearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do
>anything and everything, but He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally.
>Arindam
>
>Arindam Ghosh		(OFF) 713-749-4451
>4402 Polk #3		(RES) 713-924-3069
>Houston TX-77023
>
>Asato ma sadgamaya, Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya,
>mrityorma amritam gamaya.
>[ From unreal to real, from darkness to light, 
>from death to immortality]