Thank you, Maharaj.

Hardly is a brief topic, neither do I consider you a layman, but I'll be as brief and concise as I can.

The Buddhist idea is is one that is, in my opinion, in question.

In question as to, there are so many versions of it now, so as to who's got the right version.

And I would divide that into two basic sections.

The larger section, Sunyavad, Which posits that there is no fundamental, substantial ground, if you will, of being.

There's just material nature, which includes mind, that is constantly in flux.

And

My question is, what is the middle ground between respecting what is sacred and at the same time drawing closer to Krishna's Madhurya? Thank you very much.

Yes, this is a tightrope.

It is walked by Vyās in the Bhāgavatam between Aishvarya and Madhurya.

One thing to understand is that the reason that Krishna is sweet, if you will, Madhurya, and human-like, attractive in this way, is because of his Aishwarya.

Otherwise he would just be an ordinary person.

But when he who is the source of everything makes himself available with intimacy, that constitutes Madhurya.

So we don't dismiss the Aishvarya.

I mean, I could hardly

I'm sure you've already elaborated on this in the past, but could you please comment again on the necessity for second initiation? Shall I aim for second initiation? Or is it also okay for my Krishna consciousness if I don't get it in this lifetime? Or am I somehow considered lazy if I don't even aspire for it? Thank you so much.

Yes, you're considered lazy for not aspiring for that.

And when your name came up, I thought, hmm, and she doesn't have second initiation.

And there you are asking about it.

It's very important.

And It's said that, for example, in Chaitanya Charitra, that Harinam is independent of diction, of initiation, so Nam may go anywhere.

Of course, if we don't receive the name from the guru and acknowledge the conduit, if you will, through which Krishna chooses to reveal himself in the form of his name, then that may constitute an offense to the name, which is guru-avagya, ignoring or disregarding the guru.

Right, right, okay.

Since these people would like to hear a deeper perspective before drawing any conclusions, I would like to ask you, Guru Maharaj, could you please explain how we should understand this controversy from the historical and Gaudiya Siddhanta perspective, particularly in relation to Diksha, Shiksha and the continuity of the Paramparaa, I feel that hearing your perspective could help them understand these differences more clearly and avoid confusion or premature judgments.

Well, I would say, first of all, that the devotees who are promoting this misconception If they themselves are converts, like someone was in ISKCON, for example, and then went to the so-called real tradition, and now is coming back and trying to convert other persons from ISKCON or Sri Chaitanya Sangha or other missions, which is usually the case, I would say that it's not very well thought out on their part to dismiss the spiritual authenticity and power of the very lineage from which they got their faith to begin with.

and in which, and through which, I should say, the very prediction of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, that his name would be heard in every town and village all over the world, let's say, put it another way, has been fulfilled.

It's not very well thought out to, on the basis of some details, hearsay, opinion to dismiss the spiritual vitality of the lineage and dispensation passing through Bhaktivinoda Thakur to Bhakti Siddhanta and so on.

That's not very spiritually intelligent.

If these ideas are coming from non-converts, let's say, or some guru from Bengal in one section of the Nityananda Paribhar, then I would say that it does not... it's not very becoming on their part, I'm giving a similar answer here, to ignore or not recognize the fact that Nityananda Prabhu himself was living in an empowered sense within the person of Om Vishnupade Sivapti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada.

What Prabhupada did is very extraordinary.

Hmm?

How can we be sensitive about that when sharing the meaning of the mantra while not watering down the essence? Thank you for your guidance.

Well, I don't think that in one sense the Maha Mantra lends itself much to interpretation, and I'll give you an example of that.

It's mentioned in the Antilila of Caitanya-caritamrita that Bala Bhacaraja was bent on trying to get Caitanya Mahaprabhu to hear his commentary on Krishnanam.

And of course the Mahamantra is made up of names of Krishna, right? Hare Krishna, Rama, all in the evocative case.

And Mahaprabhu refused to entertain his commentary.

And he said, all I know is that Krishna is Shamsundar, Yashodhanandan.

Mahaprabhu basically was saying that Krishna's name is not different from himself.

time.

So

another way to look at this, I think, is that we're talking about some positive development.

There's also a negative, if you will, development, a positive negativity, a removal of karma.

The body is a product of karma.

So one side is its transformation into something spiritual, And the other is the removal of that which is material.

That's also talked about.

In the beginning of Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu is something that, well, as I mentioned earlier, I think a verse is quoted, is by chanting once the holy name one becomes qualified to perform Vedic rituals, which is, for example, within Varnashram, the qualification that the Brahmins hold, having received niksa within Varnashram and training and so on and so forth.

right? But

Uh, I, I asked about the colors before, but this time more of, uh, if you can share a few words about, uh, different kind of flowers and the importance and meaning to our tradition, and, uh, if you'd like to share, if you have a favorite one or one, one really important one yourself.

[laughs] Well, uh, [clears throat] I think that, um- One of the things that I found inspiring about the flora and the fauna of Braj is the extent to which the Goswamis in their Lila Granthas and, um, their stavas and so forth, their poems, their pavia, how, how attuned they were, how aware they were of the natural, uh, environment.

It seemed as if they knew every flower, every, every species, and something about those species, and about those flowers, and those trees, and, and so on and so forth, that in the modern industrial society, we're very much, uh, distanced from.

Mm-hmm.

And I think that is, that's a great loss.

Mm-hmm.

So, um, uh, I, I always was very much inspired to see their kind of environmental, if you will, uh, you know, sensibilities, their respect, uh, for nature, and the way in which they found God in, in the flowers, in the trees, mm-hmm, in the, in the deer, and so forth.

So how to harmonize kind of those points?

Yeah.

Well, I'll give an example in the life of another acharya that may shed light on what I'm speaking about when I refer to the simplicity of Bhakti Kavitul Nanda Maharaj.

Once I was sitting with Pramod Puri Maharaj in Vrindavan, and someone in the assembly announced that a famous Mayavadi speaker was going to be in Vrindavan that evening giving a lecture many, many people would be attending.

When these speakers, they come to Vrindavan and they know all the commentaries of the Goswamis and what not and they speak from them and so forth.

But of course they have their own idea of the place of bhakti, which is different from ours.

Their idea is that bhakti is a means to an impersonal ends.

But aside from that, When it was announced that such a scholar was going to speak, Pramod Puri Goswami Maharishi acknowledged that he knew of him.

What to do in such situations?

and she says pranams maharaj since guru dev's departure i have been struggling to do my sadhana and i don't know what to do what do you advise in this case and thank you for yesterday's meeting

Well, I would say this would be the time more than ever to absorb yourself in sadhana, and certainly he would expect that of you.

So you have to consider what does it mean to associate with Sri Guru.

Once one of my godbrothers was sitting on the veranda of Bhujapachitamars, where he was speaking, and after he spoke, Then devotees got up to leave and this one devotee reached over and made an effort to touch his feet.

And there was a little bit of a commotion because he stumbled over another devotee.

And Sridhar Maharaj was trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

He was largely blind at that time.

How long did it take you to process Srila Prabhupada's physical departure? Also, how long did it take for you to find your new guru, even after hearing the so many instructions that Srila Prabhupada left regarding this aspect?