Reflections on Sacred Teachings: Harinama Cintamani (Volume- III)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

"Bhaktivinoda's Harinama Cintamani, where Haridasa Thakura discusses each of the offenses to the Holy Name, as well as, the stage of chanting in pure love, has already inspired books by Satsvarupa Maharaja, Sacinandana Swami, and Mahaniddhi Swami. Yet B.T. Swami's contribution is unique, as he explores subtleties of offenses, and explains how our daily lives in Krishna's service affect and are affected by our chanting.

Many topics that are of great importance to serious practitioners of bhakti are discussed here in direct and thought-provoking ways. B.T. Swami fearlessly writes of sexuality and celibacy, standards for guru worship, realizing our eternal spiritual form (siddha deha), rejecting fallen disciples, and tendencies to practice spiritual life as if it were a mundane "religion". His question and answer sections are so relevant that the reader will feel that his or her own queries are being addressed... One feels that B.T. Swami is our intimate, caring friend, gently yet directly admonishing us to cleanse our hearts and apply ourselves with joyful seriousness to the task of falling in love with Krishna through his Holy Name."

hakti Tirtha Swami was born John E. Favors in a pious, God- fearing family. As a child evangelist, he appeared regularly on television, and as a young man, he was a leader in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s civil rights movement. At Princeton University, he became president of the student council and also served as chairman of the Third World Coalition. Although his main degree is in psychology. he has received accolades in many other fields, including politics, African studies, and international law.

Bhakti Tirtha Swami's books are used as reference texts in universities and leadership organizations throughout the world. Many of his books have been printed in English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Macedonian, Croatian, Russian, Hebrew, Slovenian, Balinese, and Italian.

His Holiness has served as assistant coordinator for penal reform programs in the State of New Jersey, Office of the Public Defender, and as a director of several drug abuse clinics in the United States. In addition, he has been a special consultant for Educational Testing Services in the U.S.A. and has managed campaigns for politicians. Bhakti Tirtha Swami gained international recognition as a representative of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, particularly for his outstanding work with scholars in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe.

Bhakti Tirtha Swami directly oversaw projects in the United States (particularly Washington D.C., Potomac, Maryland, Detroit, Pennsylvania, West Virginia), West Africa, South Africa, Switzerland, France, Croatia, and Bosnia. He also served as the director of the American Federation of Vaisnava Colleges and Schools.

In the United States, Bhakti Tirtha Swami was the founder and director of the Institute for Applied Spiritual Technology, director of the International Committee for Urban Spiritual Development, and one of the international coordinators of the Seventh Pan African Congress. Reflecting his wide range of interests, he was also a member of the Institute for Noetic Sciences, the Center for Defense Information, the United Nations Association for America, the National Peace Institute Foundation, the World Future Society, and the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders.

A specialist in international relations and conflict resolution, Bhakti Tirtha Swami constantly traveled around the world and had become a spiritual consultant to many high-ranking members of the United Nations, to various celebrities, and to several chiefs, kings. and high court justices. In 1990, His Holiness was coronated as a high chief in Warri, Nigeria in recognition for his outstanding work in Africa and the world. In recent years, he met several times with then-President Nelson Mandela of South Africa to share visions and strategies for world peace.

In addition to encouraging self-sufficiency through the development of schools, clinics, farm projects, and cottage industries, Bhakti Tirtha Swami conducted seminars and workshops on principle-centered leadership, spiritual development, interpersonal relationships, stress and time management, and other pertinent topics. He was also widely acknowledged as a viable participant in the resolution of global conflict.

The most basic practice for members of the Hare Krishna Movement is the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami's (B.T. Swami's) exposition on Harinama Cintamani adds substantially both to the theological and practical understanding of chanting Hare Krishna. Bhaktivinoda's Harinama Cintamani, where Haridasa Thakura discusses each of the offenses to the Holy Name, as well as the stage of chanting in pure love, has already inspired books by Satsvarupa Maharaja, Sacinandana Swami, and Mahaniddhi Swami. Yet B.T. Swami's contribution is unique, as he explores subtleties of offenses, and explains how our daily lives in Krishna's service affect and are affected by our chanting.

Many topics that are of great importance to serious practitioners of bhakti are discussed here in direct and thought- provoking ways. B.T. Swami fearlessly writes of sexuality and celibacy, standards for guru worship, realizing our eternal spiritual form (siddha deha), rejecting fallen disciples, and tendencies to practice spiritual life as if it were a mundane "religion." His question and answer sections are so relevant that the reader will feel that his or her own queries are being addressed. Certainly this is an "insider" book, geared primarily to ISKCON members who have the courage to face their inner demons and enter into deeper and sweeter levels of chanting the holy name.

Ithough the chanting of the Lord's holy name may seem Asimple, the process contains many significant and profound points. In the Sri Harinama Cintamani, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeals to Srila Haridasa Thakura to speak high philosophy on the potency and efficacy of the holy name. From time to time we see how Krishna uses His intimate associates to relay important messages. For instance, He asked Ramananda Raya to discuss life's highest goals and continued questioning His devotee until he finally reached the topic of madhurya-rasa. Lord Caitanya also used Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya as a medium to explain the topic of liberation. A similar situation also occurred on the battlefield of Kuruksetra. In this case, Krishna Himself ultimately arranged for the deliverance of this important message by purposely bewildering Arjuna in order to induce him to ask specific questions. Krishna also used Srila Rupa Gosvami to explain the confidential topics relating to the ultimate associations of the soul in the spiritual world or rasa-tattva. He then described the progression of abhidheya, sambandha, and prayojana.

In this Sri Harinama Cintamani, Krishna is using Haridasa Thakura, who is a Mohammedan (Muslim), for a special purpose. This is significant because it shows that the Holy Name is not based on varna and asrama or on time, place, and circumstance. It has no connection with caste. As a matter of fact, it is just the opposite. Each of the previous ages offered specific yuga-dharmas, which could lead followers to perfection, but in Kali-yuga we do not perform any of these processes very well. Although in the past, a person could achieve perfection through meditation, temple worship or yajnas, in Kali-yuga it is much more complex and difficult. Consequently, we need special weaponry in order to penetrate such modes of material nature, which manifest as assaults on the mind, senses, and body. For this reason, as Srila Haridasa explains, the holy name becomes our greatest shelter in Kali-yuga. Therefore, whatever yajnas or rituals we do perform in this age, we perform in connection with the holy name.

In Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura's time, the devotees were chanting sixty-four rounds a day and were considered fallen if they chanted any less. However, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has given us an interesting dispensation by requiring a minimum of sixteen rounds every day. What does this mean? It means that we are definitely fallen in this age. Kalau sudra-sambhavah: "In the Age of Kali practically everyone is born a sudra." Although people basically have the mindset of sudras, it also indicates the power of the holy name and the mercy of the carriers of the holy name who give us such minimal requirements and then cover for us.

In earlier times, just the sight of a sinful person would prompt a devotee to jump into the Ganges and bathe for purification. Every day we are confronted with atheists and sinful people at our work place, on sankirtana, or through other types of interactions. Consequently we may think, "What hope is there for us if even Arjuna, in his position as a powerful ksatriya, fell into a state of bewilderment? What hope is there for us if even Lord Brahma has his moments of confusion? What hope is there for us if Lord Indra and the other devas become so disturbed by their egos, their positions, or their status that even they want to deny Krishna? What hope is there if even the demons sometimes become stronger than these devas? How can we, as tiny jivas, overcome such demons in our external environment as well as the demons in our own minds and senses?"

Book's Contents and Sample Pages